About Bison

The Lamar Buffalo Ranch occupies a significant place in the history of American wildlife conservation and management. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Bison once roamed the landscape in and around Glacier National Park. The rumble of their stampeding hooves has been silenced in the park since the 1800s. Park archeologists are working to uncover evidence of their use patterns by testing their remains for information on their age and diet. The research presents a unique opportunity to learn how bison may have used mountainous areas.

The National Bison Range is in the center of the 1,250,000-acre Flathead Indian Reservation and consists of 18,766 acres. The Bison Range is a pay-to-enter, fee-use area only. Visitors are to report to Visitors’ Center to pay for access. Tribal members were directly involved in saving the bison as a viable wildlife species and continue to care for them today. Many signs of Glacial Lake Missoula and massive water movement can been seen in the surrounding landscapes.

The National Park Service will increase collaboration with Tribes and increase the number of bison transferred to them.

The National Park Service is partnering with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to explore the potential for wood bison recovery actions in the Upper Tanana River area of Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

Glacier National Park aim to establish a wild, free-ranging herd of plains bison that move across reservation, park, and international boundaries.

The National Park Service will establish a new bison herd in the San Luis Valley of Colorado.

As a result of this project, the Department of the Interior will expand the number of herds, create new herds, and advance bison conservation.

It was here the company stored its yearly trade of buffalo robes, beaver pelts, and smaller numbers of muskrat, bear, otter, mink, marten, and badger skins. Added to this mix would be some tanned elk and deerskins, rawhide, and occasional stacks of horns and hooves. These warehouses had their own odor, a combination of smoked leather and liver grease, dust, and damp hair.

Bent’s Fort was built first and foremost for the growing bison robe trade. Ceran St. Vrain stated in 1847 that the fort was established “for the purpose of trading with the several tribes of Indians in its vicinity.” The primary offerings of these plains tribes were, of course, bison robes and horses. Even the fort’s location was determined with an aim toward best facilitating this robe trade. This trade would transform the southern plains.