Observe buffalo from the safety of your car
If you have two hours to spare, the National Bison Range is an excellent side trip on your way to Glacier National Park or to the city lights of Missoula. And there’s nothing like viewing some scary wildlife from the safety of your vehicle.
Buffalo may not appear fierce as they eat and lounge on the grassy Montana prairie, but they are quick, agile and can run as fast as a horse.
The tail is the way to tell what a buffalo is thinking. A tail that’s switching casually indicates the animal is cool and probably doesn’t have plans to stomp you. A straight, drooping-on-the-end tail means the buffalo is getting irritated. A completely straight tail means you better melt into the ground or hope an alien ship beams you up; running is futile.
After reading about the buffalo’s unpredictable mood in the tour brochure, the “stay in your car” tip was quite easy to remember.
By the way, “buffalo” in this case are actually “bison.” “Buffalo” has been used to refer to the American Bison for so long that the two terms are used interchangeably. Real buffalo live in Asia and Africa.
I learned this from the exhibits in the Visitor Center, where we paid $4 for the carload – me, John and our dog, Kah-less – to take the Red Sleep Mountain Drive.
The lady at the counter pointed out places on the loop where we might see antelope (pronghorns) and a spot to watch out for black bears. She also mentioned there were about 200 bird species that live or feed on the nearly 19,000-acre range.
Outside the center, Kah-less sniffed a stack of sun-bleached antlers and checked under it, expecting to see another animal there to size up. Hundreds of male elk and deer shed these antlers. They grow new ones each spring in time for rutting season.
On the day we were there, the bison were being moved from grazing land on one side of the range to another near the corrals. The herd of 350 to 500 is rotated about every six weeks to maintain the native Palouse Prairie bunch grasses from being overgrazed.
This intensively managed species once claimed turf stretching from eastern Oregon north into Canada and eastward almost to the Atlantic Ocean. Thirty to 70 million were said to roam North America. People described the tremendous numbers, saying the plains were black and moving – a sea of buffalo.
Traditionally, bison were a major resource for Native American tribes who ate the meat and used the skins. Bones were often used to carve tools and adornments.
In 1805, during the Corps of Discovery’s famous expedition, Toussaint Charbonneau made buffalo sausage, stuffing the meat mixture into a buffalo intestine – which he didn’t bother to wash out, as noted by Meriwether Lewis. Yet, Lewis wrote: “This … we all esteem one of the greatest delicacies.”
High demand for leather and irresponsible hunting led to the dramatic decline in bison on the American landscape. The unsporting practice of shooting as many bison as possible from the comfort of the newly built train also contributed to their near extinction.
At the time, the government wasn’t concerned about the fate of the buffalo. They were seen as an obstacle to further settling the West; if the bison were not plentiful, the government thought Native Americans would adapt European ideas of living and farming a single piece of land.
One stagecoach passenger commented that for a 30-mile stretch in Montana “the bottoms were liberally sprinkled with the carcasses of dead buffalo. … ‘Tis an awful sight. Such a waste of the finest meat in the world!”
By 1883, the buffalo were too few to even bother with; commercial hunting for hides was over.
Public outcry followed the sale of a large private herd to Canada. To be fair to the rancher, he did try to sell it to the U.S. government first.
The American Bison Society formed in 1905 and pushed President Theodore Roosevelt and Congress to set aside rangeland. Three bison reserves were established. The National Bison Range near Moiese, Mont., was set up in 1908. The other two reserves are located in Okalahoma and South Dakota.
They may not freely roam the plains as they once did, but bison are no longer threatened by extinction. About 140,000 exist in North America, with the majority in private herds.
On our tour of the range, we followed the Red Sleep Mountain loop as it climbed into forested hills of Douglas fir and ponderosa pine. Four antelope ran across a meadow below us.
A car ahead of us stopped. A wooly, brown bison lay near the road, almost in it. More lay and stood under trees, looking for a bit of shade on this hot, muggy day.
The car drove on and we neared the spot for our chance to see bison up close. The backseat car window rose to muffle Kah-less’ barking. He had no idea what these were.
I quickly snapped digital photos. Then we drove on. We didn’t want to be too paparazzi.
The bison sat still in the shade. To see more animation in these animals, try visiting mid-July to August during mating season. They are said to be ill-tempered during this time, and roar and battle.
We stopped for a brief hike on the quarter-mile Bitterroot Trail, watching for bears that might be in the woods. The High Point Trail further up the road also offers a short walk with great views.
The Bitterroot hike leads out into rolling, green alpine meadows. Deep yellow flowers flanked the worn footpath on this summer day. A ridge of hazy peaks encircled the valley.
A young girl, about the age of 4, held a large set of binoculars so her small eyes could take in the big view as she walked the trail with her family.
Meadow larks were the soundtrack to our visit as we continued the loop drive. A sign we passed marked the highest level of ancient Lake Missoula, which flooded and shaped the Northwest terrain of several states.
Our final glimpses of wildlife at the Bison Range included the main bison herd and a large group of antelope.
We ended our day in Moiese, population four – no, really, just four people. There are about that many buildings there, too.
A sign outside the little general store asked folks to wipe their boots before coming inside. Next to the store, a small hamburger stand offered, among other things, bison burgers. We had to have one.
The burger was simple (not a lot of mustard and mayo). The meat was lean and tender, with no chunks of fat or gristle.
Despite that positive review of buffalo sausage from Capt. Lewis, I think I prefer my buffalo meat on a bun, instead of inside unwashed intestines.