In western Montana, Walking Coyote had become discouraged with his buffalo herd and talked of selling them. A neighbor living on the Flathead reservation, Michel Pablo, was interested at once. Pablo was the son of a Mexican father and a Piegan mother, and had been raised in Montana. He and a part-Indian friend, Charles Allard, who also liked buffalo, entered into a partnership, scraped up the $2,000 in gold coin that Walking Coyote demanded, and took over the herd of thirteen.
Under Pablo's skilled management the herd increased more rapidly than before, even though some animals were lost to buffalo rustlers in spite of Pablo's watchfulness and his promise of a reward of $100 for the capture of the rustlers. In 1893 the partners bought twenty-six head of buffalo from Buffalo Jones, bringing in two new breeding strains, one from Manitoba, the other from the Texas Panhandle, to mix with the Milk River stock.
When Charles Allard died in 1896, the herd was divided, one-half, 150 head, going to Pablo, the other 150 being divided among Mrs. Allard and her four children. Mrs. Allard sold her share to Charles Conrad of Kalispell, Montana, who later supplied most of the initial stock for the National Bison Range. The daughters and one son sold their shares to Howard Eaton, who later supplied the first eighteen cows for the Yellowstone Park herd. The other son sold to Judge Woodrow, who later shipped them to the 101 Ranch in Texas. As a result of this dispersal, it was estimated that in 1900 more than 80 percent of the buffalo in the United States could be traced to the Pablo-Allard herd.
Once Michel Pablo had sole charge of his herd, it increased at a rapid rate, from 150 in 1896 to more than 600 in 1906, and he had sold more than fifty head to various zoos. The large herd outgrew the pasture, and Pablo asked the federal officials for a long-term lease on public range lands nearby. They refused, and Pablo learned that they were planning to open the Flathead reservation to homesteaders, which would mean the end of his present range. He then petitioned the federal government to buy his herd. While President Roosevelt and many conservationists favored the purchase, Congress balked at appropriating the money. Pablo then applied for grazing rights in Alberta.
By then the Canadian government was deeply interested in the problem of buffalo survival. After the Canadian plains had been cleared of buffalo and the Montana herd was slaughtered in 1883, the only important herd left consisted of possibly 300 or 400 head of wood buffalo in northern Alberta, too few and too far away to attract the hide hunters. In 1889 the Canadian government placed a permanent closed season on all its buffalo and delegated the Northwest Mounted Police to protect the Alberta herd, which had grown to about 600 animals. Under this protection the herd increased steadily.
When the Canadian government established Banff National Park in 1897, T. J. Blackstock of Toronto purchased three buffalo from Charles Goodnight and donated them to the park as a tourist attraction. The following year brought the gift of another animal, and a few young buffalo were brought in from the north. In twelve years of good management this herd had increased to over a hundred head and needed new range.
When Pablo had asked for grazing land in Alberta, the officials refused, but offered to buy his entire herd at $200 each for all animals delivered to a railroad station in eastern Alberta where a new large range had been set aside for buffalo. During this same period the Canadians also bought thirty buffalo from Charles Conrad.
The roundup of the Pablo herd attracted widespread interest throughout the west. For a period of five years buffalo were rounded up each summer for shipment, but in the end several of the stubborn old bulls had to be left behind. The driving and loading of the buffalo was a wild and woolly affair with plenty of excitement, especially for the riders. A good roper on a first-class roping horse had little trouble if he knew when to run away for a time. Even with twenty-two hands to help, Pablo had his hands full shipping out the first 200 of the tamer animals and loading them in specially reinforced stock cars. One of the big bulls even broke through the side of the car after he had been loaded, and was allowed to go back to the range.
This purchase of the Montana buffalo for shipment to Canada and the publicity given the roundup helped spark interest in the United States in establishing herds in the west. First Congress set aside 20,000 acres in the Flathead country for the National Bison Range. Although this was across the Rockies from the original buffalo country, it had proved suitable for the Pablo herd and the buffalo have prospered there. Another herd was started in Yellowstone Park and gradually merged with the few wild buffalo that had survived on the upper Lamar River.
By 1915 it was obvious that the buffalo as a species had been saved. From the available breeding stock any desired number of animals could be raised, the only limitation being the amount of pasture that could be set aside for their use. At the present time, 1969, private individuals may purchase either live buffalo or carcasses from the government herds each year, and there are quite a number of private herds with surplus animals to sell.
To help the herd in Yellowstone Park when it was small and adjusting to the new range, hay was furnished each winter, but this feeding of the herd in one spot was finally considered undesirable and was discontinued. Now the herd is allowed complete freedom on its range, and if the winter feed is short or the snows extra heavy, the weaker animals are allowed to die. In this way the park officials hope to preserve a truly wild buffalo herd under conditions very close to those prevailing on their ranges before the coming of the white man.
Appendix
Where to See the Buffalo
In the first edition of this work, Francis Haines provided two pages of text telling readers where they might see live buffalo. Although most of his references to the locations of government herdsfederal and statehave not changed during the last twenty-five years since 1970, an increased number of private citizens now raise buffalo for fun and profit. The state-by-state list below is a representative sampling of where live buffalo may be seen today. The buffalo are not always in the communities listed but are nearby, and often can be seen from public highways and roads. Remember, buffalo are wild animals and are potentially dangerous. Government herds are generally large, whereas privately owned herds are smaller in number and are more inclined to change hands. Inquire locally as to the exact location of buffalo.
Birmingham Zoo
(all supervised by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game)
Big Delta, Chitina, Copper River, Farewell, and Healy Lake areas
House Rock, Arizona Fish and Game Commission
Mesa, Triple Bar S Ranch, Inc.
Phoenix Zoo
St. Johns' Municipal Park
Two Guns, Raymond Ranch
White Mountain Lake, Buffalo Ridge Land and Cattle Co.
Fayetteville, University of Arkansas
Melbourne, Jack M. Haley
Mountain Home, Joe and Rose Kern
Alturas, Diamond C. Ranch
Avalon (Catalina Island), Doug Propst
Fresno Zoo
Grass Valley, James Bostick
Joshua Tree, R. L. Hammond Buffalo Ranch
Los Angeles Zoo
Newberry Springs, High Desert Bison Ranch
Orinda, Mysterious Valley Ranch
Ramona, Kings Villa Bison Ranch