This Bison information is from the Texas Bison Association, some of which has adopted from an earlier material printed by the National Buffalo Association (now a part of the National Bison Association). It's intended use is for the informational and educational purpose of creating again a better common knowledge and relationship of the general public with and about the Great North American Bison.

Bison belong to the same family, Bovidae, as cattle. They have cloven hoofs and are ruminants (cud-chewers) with unbranched horns present on both males and females. Horns consist of a bony core, a permanent part of the skull, covered with a horny sheath. Bison are larger than beef cattle. Bison have 14 pairs of ribs compared to cattle's 13. The forehead is convex rather than concave. Their legs are larger than a cow's legs and they can jump higher and longer. Bison eyes are large and their eyesight is good. Bison also have an acute sense of hearing.

A distinguishing feature is the huge shoulder bump that makes their hindquarters look tiny. The hump is pure muscle hitched to extra-long shoulder spines which serve as gin-pole, giving leverage to lift the huge heavy head. Their hair coat is shaggy and thick during winter. The winter coat is amazingly good insulation: after a hard frost or snowstorm, the upper surfaces on a bison are silvered in frost or snow which does not melt from the animal's body heat! In warm weather, bison shed to a slick summer fur. Bison groom themselves using their long tongues (a cow grooms her calf below).

A mature bull stands six feet tall at the hump, weighs between 1,800 to 2,000 pounds, and can clear a 4 foot fence. Cows are about five feet tall and weigh from 900 to 1,200 pounds. A healthy adult cow can broad jump 8 feet from a standing-still start. Bison reach sexual maturity at age three instead two as do cattle, but live 20 to 40 years compared to just 10 to 15 for cattle. Bison cows are known to have calved as late as age 30.


Approximately 25,000 years ago the genus Bison passed from Asia, over the Bering Strait land bridge, to North America. Fossil bison from this era were twice the size of modern day bison, weighing around 5,000 pounds with 6 foot horn spans!


Bison adapted well to the environment of the North American Great Plains, and flourished in huge numbers (an estimated 60 million animals were present in the 1700's). Their geographic range extended from Canada to Mexico and from Buffalo New York west to the Rocky Mountains (Geographic Range). Surely there was never a shortage of food for the Indians who inhabited these great grasslands.


Plains Indians lived very well during those days. Bison was not only their main diet, but also provided materials for shelter, clothing, and many other things (ways Indians used Bison) The staples of Indian lives were all derived from the bison. Bison was their life, their blood, their culture, and their future; only the Great Spirit himself was put above the bison.

Bison were hunted in various ways. One of the earliest methods was to encircle the animals with tribe members on foot. By getting the animals to mill within the ring they formed, Indians were able to fire large volleys of arrows into the herd until they downed an adequate number. Other methods were: stampede herds over a cliff, drive the animals into a large natural trap or into bogs or blind canyons.

In the 16th Century, when horses were acquired by the Plains Indians, bison hunting became easier. The most famous hunting technique and also the most proficient was the "horse surround." Several hundred riders would form semicircles on two sides of the herd, then move in until they created a circle around its entirety. As pressure was applied by the oncoming riders, the bison would begin to get confused, start milling and eventually stampeded into a frenzied milling mass. At this point, riders would move in and begin the slaughter with showers of arrows or plunging lances.

Virtually every portion of the bison was used by the Indians. These Indians invented numerous ways to prepare bison meat for consumption. Some parcels were eaten raw, some were cooked and other portions were dried as pemican, or jerky, a dried meat and fat concentrate. Hump roast was considered a real delicacy. Hides were used to make footwear, clothing, bedding and shelter. Bull hides were too heavy for teepees (cow hides served this purpose) but were used for floors and sleeping mats. Sinew was used for sewing and binding. Bones were utilized as tools. Bison played a part in practically every aspect of Indian life.

Early explorers and pioneers found bison trails to be level and safe passageways, extolling them because they were well packed down and did not lead to swamps or quicksand. In "Rising from the Plains" (1986, pages 60-61), John McPhee states: "Indians, of course, had used the gangplank for who knows how long before General Dodge suprised them on the Laramie summit. They had crossed it on their journeys from the Great Plains to the Laramie Basin and on up to hunting grounds in the Medicine Bow Mountains. And the Indians, from the beginning, were themselves following a trail. Buffalo discovered the gangplank. "It was a buffalo trail. Buffalo were the real trailmakers -- trails you wouldn't believe. They were as good as the best civil engineers. It remains true today. If you're in Yellowstone, in the backcountry, and you have trouble finding your way across swamps, mountains, and thermal areas, you look for a buffalo trail and you'll get through." In fact, many of our modern day roads and interstate highways were once bison trails!

Megaherbivores, including elephants, rhinos, and buffalo, evolved large size in part to avoid predators -- thus they exhibit little fear and stand their ground when approached by a puny human being. Of course, humans invented gunpowder and ecologically unfair weaponry which allows us to kill anything, even the great whales. In the late 1800's, Bison were almost driven extinct. Both the railroads and the Army encouraged their mass slaughter. For $10, people took luxury train trips to shoot bison from the windows of the trains crossing the plains.

General Sheridan said that buffalo hunters did more in 5 years to defeat the Indians than the U. S. Army could do in 50 years. Professional buffalo hunters shot hundreds of bison daily until their gun barrels were bordering on red hot. Most bison were killed for their tongues and hides and their remains were left behind to rot on the prairie. Bison herds were depleted so quickly that some of the same people who killed them later collected mountains of bison bones to be sent east by rail and crushed for fertilizer.


By 1885, fewer than 1,000 animals remained. But thanks to some early pioneer ranchers (like Charles Goodnight in west Texas) who caught and began to replenish herds through closely guarded breeding programs, bison are now once again prolific and have reached a number which exceeds 350,000 head in North America alone. Bison are much gentler on the land and grasses than cattle because they move around more and do not crop so closely. They will thrive on fodder that won't support cows. Hoofprints of European bison may even have inspired the design of horseshoes! Their hoofprints leave depressions that collect water and their dung serves as a powerful fertilizer: both assist in seedling germination and establishment. Bison meat is leaner and has less fat and cholesterol than beef.

Let us re-introduce you to the majestic North American Bison; nature's # 1 environmentalist, America's most historic animal, who won the trust of America's first settlers, and has lived up to the name given him by the great Sioux Nation, "Tatonka", "The Spirit Animal."