Near Huntley in Big Horn County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Buffalo Country
The Eastern Plains of Montana
Photographed By Rev. Ronald Irick, July 13, 2016
1. Buffalo Country Marker
Inscription.
Buffalo Country. The Eastern Plains of Montana. The great plains of eastern Montana was home to thousands of buffalo before Euro-American hunters nearly wiped them out in the early 1800’s. The animals were central to the Indian lifeway. In the dog days, hunters herded buffalo into corrals where they were killed. They also stampeded the shaggy beasts over cliffs, called pishkuns. With the arrival of the horse in the 1700s, hunting methods changed. As much a sport as a necessity, hunting buffalo with bows and arrows on horseback was dangerous and exciting. A fat cow buffalo was the choice for meat. Women preserved the meat by making jerky and pemmican. Pemmican was dried and pulverized meat mixed with bone marrow and fat. Wild berries gave it flavor; the ascorbic acid in the fruit acted as a preservative. Pemmican, packed away in skin bags, kept indefinitely. Indians used tanned buffalo robes and rawhide for clothes, teepees, bedding, tools and utensils. Buffalo figured prominently in religious practices, and disputes over prime hunting grounds frequently caused intertribal conflicts.
The great plains of eastern Montana was home to thousands of
buffalo before Euro-American hunters nearly wiped them out in the
early 1800’s. The animals were central to the Indian lifeway. In the
dog days, hunters herded buffalo into corrals where they were killed.
They also stampeded the shaggy beasts over cliffs, called pishkuns.
With the arrival of the horse in the 1700s, hunting methods changed.
As much a sport as a necessity, hunting buffalo with bows and arrows
on horseback was dangerous and exciting.
A fat cow buffalo was the choice for meat. Women preserved the
meat by making jerky and pemmican. Pemmican was dried and
pulverized meat mixed with bone marrow and fat. Wild berries
gave it flavor; the ascorbic acid in the fruit acted as a preservative.
Pemmican, packed away in skin bags, kept indefinitely.
Indians used tanned buffalo robes and rawhide for clothes, teepees,
bedding, tools and utensils. Buffalo figured prominently in religious
practices, and disputes over prime hunting grounds frequently caused
intertribal conflicts.
45° 46.951′ N, 108° 0.183′ W. Marker is near Huntley, Montana, in Big Horn County. Marker is on Interstate 90 at milepost 478. Marker is in the west bound Christiansen- Graham rest area at exit 478 on I-90. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Huntley MT 59037, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Rev. Ronald Irick, July 13, 2016
2. Buffalo Country Marker
marker as seen from the rest area parking lot
Credits. This page was last revised on October 25, 2016. It was originally submitted on October 23, 2016, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. This page has been viewed 443 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on October 23, 2016, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
