The Problem of Buffalo's Extermination and Its Causes

The buffalo's extermination was down to the descent of civilization as when the American settlers arrived the numbers of buffalo declined. Even though the natives had also engaged in the killing of buffalo before the descent of civilization.

The native tribes relied heavily on the buffalo as hunting them provided food from the meat, clothing from the hide, tools, and weapons fashioned from the bones of the buffalo. The hunting of buffalos was shown to be a common practice in the native American tribes and they would use the whole of the buffalo to provide for themselves in order to survive. However, the native American tribes could not cause the extermination of the buffalo single-handedly as they had been doing this for a decade-plus, without a dramatic decrease in the population of the buffalo, suggesting that the Native American tribes were not and could not be responsible for the extermination of the buffalo.

Some thoughts on the extermination of the buffalo are that it was not mainly down to the descent of civilization as there has been evidence of possible disease affecting the buffalo which was killing them. This theory can be seen to have weight through the modern world as we have seen diseases that affect one type of animal and spread fast. However, the volume of buffalo that inhabited the Americas would not plausibly be exterminated solely through disease.

The American settlers observed the reliance on the buffalo from the native American tribes and exploited this. As they made the connection that if the buffalo weren't there the native American tribes would have to move into a reservation and be reliant on food provided to them by the American settlers. The descent of civilization onto the land of the native American tribes triggered the hunt of the buffalo as the fewer buffalo meant less resistance from the native American tribes as they are reliant on the food, shelter, and clothes that were being provided by the American settlers.

Furthermore, the American settlers noticed the money that was in the hunting of buffalo and set up markets in the east that sold buffalo meat and hide for robes. This gave them a large wealth intake as the other settlers would want these commodities that were unique to these settlers as these animals were never seen by them before. The descent of civilization on the native American lands caused the buffalo to be hunted at an unprecedented rate which did not allow the buffalo to repopulate, it was not sustainable for them to do this.

Furthermore, the American settlers hunted buffalo for sport as it was a new and intense animal to hunt. The settlers would chase and kill the buffalo as a form of entertainment which increased the volume of buffalo being killed because of the descent of civilization onto the Native American lands. As well as this the settlers would gain money from hunting them for sport as they would sell the buffalo they had hunted to the markets in the east which would sell the meat and hides. However, some settlers would not even sell the buffalo they had killed but they would leave it where it was killed as they no longer had a need for the animal as they had gained the entertainment and adrenaline from killing it. The descent of civilization caused the extermination of the buffalo due to the civilizations needing to be entertained in this new place and to see how to kill these new beasts.

The buffalo were hunted to also provide food for the railroad workers, the railroad was just being built and to feed the many workers they would use buffalo. Due to the size of the buffalos, one could feed many railroad employees which financially benefited the settlers who were to pay for the food for these men. Furthermore, railroads were being built all over the Americas at this time which meant there were lots of men that needed feeding, the buffalo was also seen to be essentially a never-ending source as when the settlers arrived the lands were roamed by many buffalo. The greed of these settlers ensured that they kept hunting till the last buffalo they found was killed and used for greed of these settlers. The descent of civilization caused the extermination of the buffalo as the building projects that the settlers brought caused a disruption to the land the buffalo lived on as well as increase the volume of people who were using the buffalo to feed and clothe themselves.

In conclusion, I firmly agree with the statement ‘ the primary cause of the buffalo’s extermination, and the one which embraced all others was the descent of civilization' as the main causes of the extermination of the buffalo all link back to the descent of civilization onto these lands. These problems with the number of buffalo are not seen before the settlers as the native American tribes did not have the efficiency in killing as the settlers did (guns) so the native American tribes would be unable to kill the volume of buffalo seen by the settlers.