Buffalo

Saturday, July 13, Day 82

As we left our campground this morning, we went through the town of Custer.  It is considered the oldest town settled by European Americans in the Black Hills.  Custer and his 7th Cav were here in 1874 when he confirmed the presence of gold.  By 1875, Custer, the town, (then called Stonewall after Stonewall Jackson) was established.  However, the following year, 1876, MORE GOLD was found in Deadwood Gulch and most miners quickly moved on.  

What keeps the town running is the continuing mining of industrial minerals and precious metals.  And a few festivals and tourism.  So, we catch our first glimpse of Buffalo - not the live type but the artsy type!

However, just a little way out of town, close to the Wind Cave National Park, we spotted the real thing!
In fact, they were on the road in front of us.  They were huge, and in particular one large bull.

He was definitely the alpha guy.  The other younger bulls not only got out of his way, they jumped out of his way as he sauntered toward us.  They are noted to be unpredictable, so we wanted to keep our distance.

This herd is one of only four genetically pure bison herds left.  Some determined conservationists saved about a hundred in the early 1900's, and these buffalo are descended from that effort.  This herd had originally 14 buffalo, turned out on the prairie after having been raised in zoos.  One notable buffalo, called Sandy, became the first "wild" Buffalo to be born in a zoo and die in the wild.

This herd is estimated to be 250-400 animals.  Our big guy walked alongside of us, then laid down in a
classic Buffalo Wallow, throwing dirt over himself.  Back before their  almost extermination there were buffalo wallows all over the prairies.

At the time Columbus landed, there were an estimated 60 million buffalo on the prairies.   They were part of the largest biomass of animals in the world.

While Big Guy kept an eye on us, a younger bull came up to the truck and started rubbing his horns on the bumper.  John put the truck (still running) in reverse, and gently moved backwards, until the buffalo wandered away.   Later, he looked to see if the car had any paint missing, but it was all OK!

As we go through this area, we pass the cut offs to Wind Cave National Park,  the first cave to be designated a national park (Teddy Roosevelt at work again).  Wind Cave has 140 miles of explored caves, the 10th largest in the world.  Who knew?  There is Jewel Cave National Monument, and also the Mammoth Site at  Hot Springs, South Dakota.  We didn't know about any of them, and didn't have time to stop.  But I would definitely go back to explore these areas.  See, South Dakota has enough tourist attractions without blowing up the mountains and putting faces on them!