In the spring of 1872 William Blackmore saw buffalo all along the Arkansas River. The following autumn the whole country was whitened, he wrote, by "bleached and bleaching bones." No buffalo were to be seen until deep within Indian Territory. The market hunter had arrived. This hunter was helped in his business by the coming of the railroads. They provided an easy means for getting buffalo hides and tongues to eager eastern markets. Most hunters were "hard cases" from the East and knew little about the plains or about caring for buffalo hides. Five buffalo died for every hide that reached market.In 1873 merchants engaged in the business and organized the hide trade. A professional hunter, picked for his shooting ability and his knowledge of bison, now led the standard hide party. His accomplices were usually two skinners and a cook, and their goal was to find a herd and make a stand. A stand was achieved by getting within thirty or forty yards of a herd and shooting a buffalo in the heart. It fell in its tracks and died without disturbing the others. In this way the animals could be shot as they fed. One report tells of 112 buffalo killed within a two hundred-yard area in forty-five minutes by a single hunter. Another successful method was to pick off the bison at a river as they came in for water. Between 1872 and 1874 about 4.5 million buffalo were killed. Before the end of the 1870s the great herds vanished.
Their disappearance also marked the end for the gray wolf. The largest canine in North America, the wolf had depended on the herds for food. With the buffalo gone, the wolf turned to livestock, and massive predator-control programs hastened its disappearance from the plains. By the time of the 1889 Land Run into the Unassigned Lands of Oklahoma Territory, only fifty-seven years after Washington Irving pursued bear, turkey, buffalo, and wild horses near present Norman, all these animals were gone. They had given way to farms, ranches, railroads, industry, and the promise of tomorrow.
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture Oklahoma Historical Society
Imagine the buffalo, secure in their vast numbers, eating sweet prairie grass. There’s an unexpected noise, and a buffalo quietly sags to the ground. “Huh,” another says, “look at that. Tom died.” The other buffalo glance over, shrug their great buffalo shoulders, and go on eating. Another noise. Another quietly drops to the ground. “Wow,” says the observant one. “Now George died.” A few look; most just keep cropping the grass.*
And so it goes. As long as nobody gets excited, the herd can be wiped out. They could trample the hunter into the dirt if they rushed him. Their size and strength and speed are of no use to them, because they never fully realize they have a problem.
I’m suggesting that average Americans today are in something like the buffalo’s position. We have been losing to sharpshooters picking us off --- a bankruptcy here, a foreclosure there --- a little of this, a little of that. The taxes we pay which could provide good schools and hospitals, bridge or highway repairs, support medical research and development of clean alternative energy sources, and more --- instead go to bail out corporations which have gambled recklessly to increase their profits. Tax dollars go to war profiteers who have cut corners and exaggerated costs to enrich themselves while our young men and women face the terrible risks of battle.
The same corporations which are picking us off here are also making huge profits overseas. When they bribe foreign government officials to allow the corporations to walk off with that nation's resources instead of protecting them, the resentment toward Americans grows.
To protect the corporations’ investments against that resentment, our government has built huge military bases around the world (more profits for other corporations that built the bases). The people of those countries see their poverty increase, and their rulers, who have cooperated with the corporate piracy, propped up and armed against the people with American weapons. Little wonder that enmity to America has risen around the world. When enmity toward the US increasing, as individuals we are more and more at risk in the world, and we’re told we must give up freedoms for our own safety.
We are being picked off. We need to stop saying, “Huh, Fred died” --- “Huh, our neighbor’s house is being foreclosed” --- “Huh, another corporation has to be bailed out” --- “Huh, there just isn’t enough money for good health care” --- and start looking for the hunters.
First, the classic rule: Follow the money.
Second: Remember, war is hugely profitable for some.
That’s a good beginning. After that we have to pay attention, and stop assuming that we’re too busy and somebody else will take care of things.
One more thing: Honest vote-counts --- like the sweet prairie grass, something we thought we could always count on --- are not likely to happen without brave and determined activists getting on the matter NOW.
*the buffalo's speech "Huh, George died" is not original with me. I remember hearing it some 30 years ago, but can't remember whose it was and couldn't find it online.
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