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Buffalo Jones: The Man Who Saved America's Bison
Buffalo Jones The Man Who Saved America's Bison Author:Carol A. Winn In this true story, Charles Jesse "Buffalo" Jones undertakes a treacherous 1800s Texas trail ride, risking his life to rescue baby buffalo and save America's bison from extinction. The animals he saved are the ancestors of many of the more than 25,000 buffalo living today. When Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, it is estimated tha... more »t more than sixty million buffalo (technically called American bison) ranged from southern Canada through central Texas. During the 1870s, noisy black steam engines plowed through huge herds of buffalo and many travelers shot the slow moving creatures for entertainment, leaving hundreds of buffalo carcasses rotting alongside the railroad tracks. Others shot buffalo for profit. Between 1871 and 1873, hunters killed as many as 1,250,000 buffalo each year and sold their hides to leather companies on the East Coast. By 1889, fewer than 600 buffalo remained in the wild. When Charles Jesse "Buffalo" Jones, himself a renowned buffalo hunter, realized that the great herds were rapidly disappearing, he took action. With gumption and good humor, Jones rescued baby buffalo and took them to his ranch in Kansas. By the end of the nineteenth century, Jones owned the largest buffalo herd in North America. Because of his efforts to prevent the extinction of the buffalo, Jones became known as the Preserver of the American Bison. BUFFALO JONES, is a fun, fast-paced, well-researched story packed with authentic details, numerous black and white illustrations, a glossary and bibliography. (Ages 10-14)« less