Because the Indians depended so much on the buffalo for their survival, their very religions were centered around the buffalo. The interdependence between Indian and buffalo is exemplified in the poetic words of John Fire Lame Deer:

"The buffalo gave us everything we needed. Without it we were nothing. Our tipis were made of his skin. His hide was our bed, our blanket, our winter coat. It was our drum, throbbing through the night, alive, holy. Out of his skin we made our water bags. His flesh strengthened us, became flesh of our flesh. Not the smallest part of it was wasted. His stomach, a red-hot stone dropped into it, became our soup kettle. His horns were our spoons, the bones our knives, our women's awls and needles. Out of his sinews we made our bowstrings and thread. His ribs were fashioned into sleds for our children, his hoofs became rattles. His mighty skull, with the pipe leaning against it, was our sacred altar. The name of the greatest of all Sioux was Tatanka Iyotake--Sitting Bull. When you killed off the buffalo you also killed the Indian--the real, natural, "wild" Indian."

The government also actively encouraged buffalo hunting for other reasons. A reduction in the buffalo population allowed ranchers to range their cattle without competition from other bovines. The railroad industry also wanted buffalo herds culled or eliminated. Herds of buffalo on the railroad tracks could damage or derail locomotives when the trains failed to stop in time. During winter storms, the massive herds often sought shelter in the artificial cuts formed by the grade of the tracks winding though the prairies and hills. As a result, buffalo herds could delay a train’s passage for several days and delays cost money.

By 1884, the American Buffalo was close to extinction and proposals were put forth to protect the buffalo. Recognizing the pressure on the species was too great, Cody was one of the most vocal proponents of measures to save the waning buffalo population.

In South Dakota, the herd of James "Scotty" Phillips was one of the earliest reintro-ductions of buffalo to North America. In 1899, Phillips had a goal to preserve the species from extinction and purchased a small herd from Doug Carlin. Carlin’s son Fred had roped 5 calves in the Last Big Buffalo Hunt on the Grand River in 1881 and transported them to the family’s ranch on the Cheyenne River. At the time of purchase there were approximately 7 pure buffalo left in the United States.

At the time of his death in 1911 at 53, Phillips had developed the herd to an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 head. Several other herds were also established from the 5 calves rescued at Grand River.

During that same time, two Montana ranchers, Charles Allard and Michel Pablo, invested over 20 years in assembling one of the largest collections of purebred bison on the continent. At the time of Allard's death in 1896, the herd numbered 300. In 1907, after the U.S. government declined to purchase the bison herd, Pablo entered into a contract with the Canadian government to ship the majority of his herd north to the newly built Elk Island National Park.

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