Harvesting Buffalo, No Arrow or Gun Needed

History in the American West is everywhere. On our way to Glacier National Park, we stopped at the First Peoples Buffalo Jump, a Montana State Park near Helena. We learned about the astonishing way that Native Americans killed buffalo (bison if you are in Yellowstone country) centuries before the European introduction of horse and gun to the continent.

Buffalo Jump near Great Falls MT

A buffalo jump is a high mesa where a group of buffalo was lured to plunge to their death through an elaborate ruse. More than a thousand buffalo jumps are documented in the country, as far south as Texas. Archaeology documents that the jump we visited was used for six centuries, 900  – 1500 AD.

A teenage boy was the typical decoy, known as the buffalo runner. He trained to learn the ways of buffalo; how to identify the lead cow, make sounds like a young calf. When the hunt began, a draped buffalo hide deceived the buffalo’s poor eyesight.

At First Peoples Buffalo Jump Interpretive Center

The buffalo jump required specific topography to carry out the ruse; gently sloping upward so that the precipice is hidden from view until close up. Acting and sounding like a lost or disoriented calf, the buffalo runner would target the lead cow and lure the group of buffalo toward the jump. As the buffalo neared the precipice, other Native Americans, hidden behind rock cairns constructed along the flanks of the slope, would rise up and startle the herd. The resulting panic sent the buffalo over the edge, where the rest of the clan were waiting to begin the harvest.

The view atop First Peoples Buffalo Jump

Buffalo were essential to Native American way of life, providing more than simply sustenance. The state park has a great interpretive center, and the view from atop the buffalo jump itself of high plains Montana is breathtaking.

Here is Wikipedia’s listing for buffalo jumps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_jump