Trip to the National Bison Range

There is a cool story about how a Flathead Indian went on a buffalo hunt on the Plains just as the buffalo were disappearing. He captured six calves and brought them over the mountains to Pablo, Mt. Four of the calves survived. He babied those calves until he had a herd of 700. They were essentially the only buffalo left. Sad that we could go from some 30-60 million buffalo in 1800 to only fifty or so wild buffalo by 1890. Anyway, this Indian offered to sell his herd to the U.S. Gov't but the government refused. A local rancher by the name of Conrad bought some and the rest were shipped to Canada because the Canadian government bought them. Conrad's herd was used to stock the National Bison Range. They keep from 350-500 buffalo on the range. There is a sale every year. Do you need a buffalo?

See http://www.fws.gov/bisonrange/nbr/

I have this book in my library and highly recommend it for information about how the buffalo were saved by this one visionary Indian.

http://www.amazon.com/Will-Be-Meat-Salish-Reservation/dp/0917298845/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256616627&sr=1-6



This sculpture is located at the parking lot of the hospital in Browning, Montana on the Blackfeet Reservation. I would have liked to have taken many pictures in Browning, but the town has an appearance that us white people would say is trashy and it reflects badly on the people who live there. The Blackfeet deal with huge unemployment rates and they are poor materialistically, but not so poor in ways that white people don't understand. So, when a white takes pictures, it seems as though we are making judgement on these people and I really am not. So I don't want to look as though I am judging. Does this make any sense to you? The really interesting observation is that there is no leash law. Really. Know of any town in the U.S. that does not have a leash law? Dogs run free and there are a lot of dogs. This would be just like a Blackfeet village 150 years ago. I think, possibly, that allowing the dogs to run free is a statement about freedom in general. Indians believe in freedom and practiced such prior to the white's arrival. Real personal freedom that white people are uncomfortable around. We like to have a more orderly society. That need for orderliness is reflected in our yards. Indian yards are not so tidy. They let the grass and weeds grow naturally. Something to be said for such a belief. While I am mowing the yard and raking the leaves, my Indian counterpart is hunting and fishing. Now, I ask, who is the smart one? Hmmm.




Photographing every detail





And finally the buffalo on the range.


A herd of antelope were sighted in my favorite elk hunting spot. Now that is wierd.


There is more than bison on the range.

There are also elk, but we never had the fortune to see them. Might have to walk into the hills nearby for that.


What you see in the lobby of the National Bison Range at Moise, Montana.