Theodore Roosevelt’s First Buffalo Hunt

Theodore Roosevelt’s First Buffalo Hunt

One September morning in the late 1880s, Theodore Roosevelt had a sudden desire to hunt buffalo on the western prairie. He had been honing his ranch-craft by staying at a cow camp a few miles up the Little Missouri River from his ranch in the Badlands of South Dakota....
Taking the Sacred Beast

Taking the Sacred Beast

He caught a glimpse of something white among the herd, its body illuminated by the setting sun–he recognized the animal as an extremely rare white bison. The fall was changing into winter and the buffalo hunters were getting ready for the huge herds to gather on the...
Rising Buffalo

Rising Buffalo

Instead of just two bulls, Theodore Roosevelt and his party were suddenly confronted by a huge herd of angry Cape buffalo. The buffalo rose like massive black warriors from the papyrus swamp. Theodore Roosevelt and his party had just come face-to-face with one of...
Buffalo Dream, Bison Nightmares

Buffalo Dream, Bison Nightmares

No time to fart or fumble, on my belly with a beast that had tried to kill a man only the day before. Willard Sumption had a buffalo ranch a little south of Aberdeen in that rolling country east of the Missouri breaks. Willard had one bad eye from the time two of his...
Buffalo Around the World

Buffalo Around the World

This week on Sporting Classics with Chris Dorsey… We’re celebrating the different subspecies of buffalo from around the world, including the animal known to kill more hunters in Africa than any other, the Cape buffalo. While other subspecies of buffalo –...
The Buffalo’s Demise

The Buffalo’s Demise

No one was fully aware of the buffalo’s impending demise, not even the countless hidemen who rushed out West to hunt the huge beasts. John and George rode silently across the snow-covered plain, staying to the windward side of the big herd. The buffalo were...
The Last Buffalo  

The Last Buffalo  

On the floor, on either side of my fireplace, lie two buffalo skulls. They are white and weathered, the horns cracked and bleached by the snows and frosts and the rains and heats of many winters and summers. Often, late at night, when the house is quiet, I sit before...