The Extermination of the American Bison facts for kids
The Extermination of the American Bison is an important book written by William Temple Hornaday. It was first released in 1889 by the Government Printing Office. This book was actually a longer version of a report Hornaday had written earlier. He prepared that report for the famous Smithsonian Institution between 1886 and 1887.
This book, often called Extermination, tells a very detailed story. It covers the life of bison and how their numbers almost completely disappeared in the United States. A key message of the book is why it was so important to protect the few bison left. Many of these remaining bison were living in Yellowstone National Park.
Contents
About the Book: A Story of Bison
This book is split into three main parts. Each part helps readers understand the history of bison. It also explains why protecting them became so important.
Bison Before European Settlers Arrived
The first part of the book talks about how bison lived long ago. It describes their habits and where they roamed across North America. It also tries to guess how many bison there were before European settlers came to the continent. Back then, huge herds of bison covered vast areas.
The Great Bison Hunt
The second part of the book explains how the bison population was almost wiped out. This happened because of very large-scale bison hunting. The book points out that the bison disappeared very quickly. This was due to too much hunting and a lack of rules to protect them. People hunted bison for many reasons. Sometimes it was for food, but often it was just for their hides or even for sport.
Saving Bison for the Future
The third part of the book describes a special trip. The Smithsonian Institution sent an expedition to Montana in 1886. Their goal was to collect examples of bison for the National Museum of Natural History. They wanted to do this before all bison disappeared from North America. The book also shares a count of bison from January 1, 1889. It showed that only 256 bison were known to be alive. These bison were either in the United States or in other countries.
Why This Book Is Important
Many experts believe Extermination is a very important book. Some scholars say it was the first major text for the American wildlife conservation movement. This means it helped start the big effort to protect wild animals in America. It showed people the need to save species from disappearing forever.
