It’s difficult to imagine a time when millions of buffalo* roamed the plains of North America. It’s disturbing to think that the wanton killing of these great herds eventually reduced their numbers to less than 2000. They were on the verge of extinction.** Though buffalo will never return to their former numbers, protection and breeding have increased their current population in the US and Canada to about 500,000.
Two of the best places to see wild buffalo are Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Custer State Park in South Dakota. If, instead of typical sight-seeing, you’re looking for a special buffalo event , you may want to check out the Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup. Every fall visitors are fenced in for protection while local cowboys and cowgirls roundup a herd of approximately 1,300 buffalo and drive them into an enclosed area where they can be tested, branded and vaccinated.
This year’s event was the 50th annual roundup, and with great weather in late September there were record crowds. If you go you will encounter long lines of cars slowly weaving their way to one of the two designated parking and viewing areas. If you’re hungry, you will encounter a long line of people (only one line) waiting to buy breakfast. If you’re a coffee drinker, you will encounter long lines of people (fortunately, more than one line) waiting to use the Porto-Potties. Then you will wait in a crowd of people for the buffalo to finally come over the hill, chased by men and women on horses and in pickup trucks.
After the roundup you can go over to the corrals where you will encounter a long line of people waiting to buy lunch. Then you might want to drive back to town and enjoy a nice art fair with food, music, and plenty of artists.
I was glad to have attended this year’s event, but once is enough. For my tastes there were too many people (~21,000) and too few buffalo (it only looked like ~500 to me). If you’d like to see buffalo roaming in the wild and prefer more elbow room, I recommend that you take a trip to Yellowstone National Park.
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* I know that the correct name for this animal is the American Bison. Since this event is termed a “Buffalo” roundup, however, I use that term.
** This is a photography website, not a historical nor a political one, but it needs to be remembered that the destruction of the buffalo herds also had a devastating impact on the Native American tribes of the plains.