- Term
buffalo
- Broader Term
animal
- Alternate Term
American bison
bison
buffalos
bison
buffalos
bisons
bisons
- Remarks
The American buffalo is not technically a buffalo, but a kind of bison (scientific name Bison bison). It originally ranged across much of North America. North American Indians on the western Plains and prairies relied on the buffalo for survival. They used its meat for food, bones for tools, hide for clothing and tipis, hooves for glue and sinews for bowstrings and twine. After Indians on the Plains got horses from Europeans, they began to kill larger numbers of buffalo, and to trade their hides for European and American trade goods. Between 1870 and 1883, nearly all the remaining wild buffalo were killed by hunters for their hides. In 1894, Congress passed the first buffalo protection law. Throughout the 20th century a few ranchers have tried to save the buffalo by catching wild buffalo and raising them on ranches.