Essay: The Plains of the Great West & Their Inhabitants by Richard Irving Dodge

The Plains of the Great West & Their Inhabitants was written by Richard Irving Dodge who was born in Huntsville, North Carolina on May 19th, 1827. He was a colonel in the United States Army and participated in the American Civil War as well as in the Indian Wars. During the time of his recordings on the American buffalo, Dodge was in command at Fort Dodge, Kansas which was one of the most important forts on the western frontier. Throughout his military career, Col. Dodge had the opportunity to explore the North American Plains and witness first-hand the life and customs of Native Americans. According to the Dodge Biographies, written by Wayne R. Kime, Col. Dodge was paradox in his views of the Native Americans by lamenting the end of their way of life, yet endorsing the need of civilizing the savages. As stated by Kime, this ambivalence was common for the general American public during the westward expansion. In analyzing his documentation regarding the American buffalo and its extermination, contradictory beliefs and behavior are clearly recognizable. In Chapter VIII Buffalo, Col. Dodge discusses his experiences with the American Bison, more commonly known as buffalo, in the early 1870s.
“As buffalo he is known everywhere, not only on the plains but throughout the sporting world; as buffalo he lives and moves and has his being; as buffalo he will die; and when, as must soon happen, his race has vanished from earth, as buffalo he will live in tradition and story.” – Col. Richard Irving Dodge
In this statement, the imminent extinction of this majestic animal is obvious. During the time of his observations in the early 1870s, Col. Dodge describes the American buffalo as a ferocious looking beast with a rather timid and inoffensive nature, even considers the animal stupid and unwary. These characteristics may have aided in the rapid decimation. Col. Dodge begins with a detailed description of the buffalo, the behavior of the herd, particularly when disturbed, and their pursuit and killing. His early observations depict immensely large herds of buffalo and underline his conviction that any killing for pleasure such as in sport hunting wasn’t considered a problem nor contributed to the extermination. During the construction of the railway, many animals have died running into oncoming trains out of fear in a stampede. However, at this point, Col. Dodge hasn’t mentioned any vanishing of herds which he acknowledged by saying that in the years 1871-72 there seemed to be no limit to the numbers of buffalo. This statement is quite contradictory when taking into account what he describes as the great breaks in the migration habits and dwindling numbers of the buffalo. According to Dodge, the first great break responsible for significant decimation of herds was due to an extraordinary winter in 1844-45 bringing large amounts of snow and ice, killing numerous herds. The next and second great break happened in the course of the Sioux movement into Pawnee territory after being driven from their own homes due to fast growing civilization in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The buffalo south of the Cheyenne (South Dakota) and north and east of the North Platte (Nebraska) were hunted in great numbers for their robes and the animals became nearly extinct in this area. As a result, the buffalo range became divided into the northern range (Powder River county and British possessions – now Wyoming, Montana and Canada) and southern range with the majority between the South Platte (Colorado/Nebraska) and Arkansas rivers.
The greatest impact on the buffalo population, however, was the discovery of the great marketability of buffalo hides in 1872. New ways of transportation such as the Union Pacific, Kansas Pacific, Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroads brought thousands of hunters from the East, eager for a profitable buffalo hunt. Due to the mostly unskilled hunters, approximately four or five buffaloes were killed for one marketable hide. Merchants expanded their supplies and offered arms and ammunition to the hunters. The buffalo slaughter turned into a systematical killing and business flourished. According to Dodge, by the fall of 1873, the buffalo population has been decimated significantly and congress considered interfering, but never did. This raises the question if, what seems to be an initially profit driven slaughter and extermination of the buffalo, had its benefits in the ongoing warfare against the Plains Indians such as the Sioux who were among the tribes that fought the westward move and occupation of their land most intensively. With the buffalo disappearing from the plains, the Natives lost not only their main food source, but also other means for subsistence, such as shelter, clothing and tools. The hunt and killing became increasingly organized by local merchants to achieve the highest possible profit. Nevertheless, due to the excessive overkill, it was sheer impossible to process the large amounts of meat and often, only the hides and certain parts such as the hind quarters or tongue were taken with the rest of the animal left for scavengers or to rot. Dodge describes the large areas of land, once crowded with large herds of buffalo, then scattered with carcasses covering the ground and air filled with the smell of decay. What once seemed to be a limitless resource has been eradicated within a very short period of time. By 1874, the number of hunters seemed to outweigh the number of buffaloes left on the plains. Some herds could still be found in Indian territory or have withdrawn to very remote, or as mentioned by Dodge, Indian infested land, which led him to believe that the buffalo would not be extinct for another few years.
While describing the skinning and processing part in detail, Dodge mentions that the most successful working parties killed about 125 buffaloes per 100 skins delivered to market. When requesting exact numbers and complete official statistics of hides transported through the railroad routes, Dodge was confronted with resistance. This reinforces the assumption that the mass slaughter of buffalo was not only a profitable business but from a political and military point of view a strategic campaign against Native Americans – although, this theory was not imputed by Col. Dodge. His conclusion on the matter was the assumption that officials feared that the publication of accurate numbers of buffalo killed may bring about legislation interfering with profits. After obtaining records, Dodge claims that the total number of buffaloes killed in three years, 1871-1873, amounts to nearly 4.5 million of which, when divided, nearly three fourth have been killed by Whites and the remaining part by various Native tribes. These numbers are certainly staggering. Although Col. Dodge laments the slaughter of the buffalo, he has been involved personally and guilty of killing many. In conclusion, it is obvious that the many reasons of the great buffalo slaughter are interlinked. As mentioned by an editor in the Daily Chronicle prior to the recordings of the buffalo slaughter by Col. Dodge, “their wanton slaughter brought profit and sport. But their departure opened the North American continent for human development.” Considering the ongoing Sioux wars and the imminent Black Hills war, Battle of Powder River, Battle of Rosebud and Battle of Little Bighorn, amongst others, strongly hints to an intended weakening of Native American tribes. The commodity buffalo was a profitable business for several years and most likely a means to an end and its aim was the systematic campaign to cut off Native Americans from an irreplaceable source of food and clothing.