1889 Map Illustrating The Extermination of the American Bison

This is a disconcerting map of North America, illustrating over 100 years of decline of the America Bison through habitat loss and systematic methods of extermination. The map was originally published in of W.T. Hornaday’s “Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for the Year Ending 1887,” this example in Part II, 1889. The map shows the gradual decline of the Bison range from herds were documented along the Alleghany Mountains as far back as the 1730s to 1889 when only a few herds survived in small areas along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. In terms of sheer numbers, what was once the most prolific animal of the continent with and estimated population of 30 – 60 million in the early 1700s would be reduced to approximately 800 by the time of this map’s publication. Dates and different colored lines illustrate this historic decline in phases that are described in an explanation at lower left. The link between the bison and the American Indian, esp