The American Bison

In the southwest corner of Oklahoma, we saw the beautiful landscape of the Wichita mountain range, as well as the animals that dwell therein. Prairie dogs, Rocky Mountain elk, Texas longhorn cattle, scissor-tail fly catchers, Eastern Collared lizards, and bison are some of the indigenous animals that can be spotted throughout this beautiful wildlife refuge and game preserve. There is so much you can learn about bison!

The Indians of the Plains such as the Blackfoot, Sioux and the Nez Perce, saw the bison as a walking storehouse. They relied on the bison for their very survival. They found a use for nearly every part of the animal! The bones, beard, brain, bladders, blood, buckskin, chips, fat, gall, hair, hind leg skin, hooves, feet, dewclaws, horns, liver, meat, muscles, paunch liner, rawhide, skull, stomach contents, stomach liner, tail, teeth, tendons, and tongue, all had a part to play in the Native American’s lives.  It was not only a food source, but their tools and utensils, homes and decorations, clothes and many other items necessary to their livelihood.

In 1901, President William McKinley set aside 60,000 acres of the red Oklahoma land for a wildlife refuge and game preserve. With mixed grass prairie, ancient granite mountains, and freshwater lakes and streams, the land was, and continues to be well suited for the animal and plant life found there.  

Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Hornaday helped to re-establish the bison herds that were hunted down to extinction. Some say that the mass destruction of this animal was prompted by those wanting to exterminate the Native Americans, as they relied on it for survival.  Re-locating bison from New York by train, Oklahoma began what is now one of the best-preserved bloodlines of bison in the United States.

Buffalo and bison are often mixed up, and the names are thought to be interchangeable, but they are not. How do you tell the difference between the two? Bison have large humps at their shoulders and bigger heads than buffalo. They also have beards and thick coats which they shed in the spring and early summer. Another easy way to tell a buffalo from a bison is to look at its horns. The horns of a bison seem to come straight out of the head, whereas the horns of a buffalo have a helmet like shield across their head and then curve up. Buffalo live in south Asia and in Africa, whereas Bison are found in North America and parts of Europe.

Every year, the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge does a round-up of the bison. It took me by surprise to find that they now use trucks to do the work! In times past, of course, they used horses. In the past they have even utilized helicopters! These roundups are held to maintain a healthy and genetically diverse herd.

While perusing the grounds of the Wichita mountains, we spotted a little bison calf.  At first, we wondered if it was a rock.  It was as red as the  granite boulders in the area!  Now that I have seen one, it comes as no surprise that bison calves are called “red dogs.” They blend in very well with the red Oklahoma landscape.

The bison is an incredible creature that God made on day six of creation. I am always excited to learn more about God’s amazing creation. I am thankful for the first-hand opportunity we had in the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge to acquire a greater understanding of the majestic American Bison.

~Jayla