The article explores the rich history of Montana's landscapes, emphasizing the transition from vast herds of bison, hunted by Native tribes, to the prominence of cattle ranching. It starts from a historical site, the First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, where bison were driven off cliffs. The author reflects on the importance of these animals for survival before the near extinction of bison in the late 1800s due to settlers and the U.S. Army, leading to the rise of cattle, which became central to Montana's economy.
As I stood atop a rocky precipice in central Montana, the most striking thing before me was nothing. More precisely, it was space: the all-encompassing nothingness for which the West is famous.
At least 13 tribes used the jump, including Shoshone-Bannock, Nez Perce, Assiniboine, and Crow. The bone bed is 18 to 22 feet deep.
The history of Montana, where I live, is in many ways the history of cattle ranching. Native peoples hunted the great herds on these grassy plains for generations.
But by the end of the 1870s the bison had been nearly wiped out by settlers and the U.S. Army and were replaced by cattle, which could be more easily herded and driven to market.
Collection
[
|
...
]