1. 16-3 Harvesting The Bison Herds
J.Wright Mooar, Buffalo Days (1933)
Steven Nguyen Period 5

2. Buffalo Days
Series of short stories about a buffalo hunter
Stories take place in late 1800’s

3. Historical Contexts AFTER the Civil War (Reconstruction 1865-1877)
Railroad building continues
Buffalo population has already been exterminated in certain areas
Tensions between U.S. and Indians rise
Historical Contexts

4. Why did we have a sudden interest in buffalo?
The closest food source for railroad workers building west was buffalo
Homestead Act in 1862
Paid to hunt buffalo
Buffalo robes became a trend
It was fun
"Let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffalo is exterminated, as it is the only way to bring lasting peace and allow civilization to advance."
- General Philip Sheridan

5. Intended Audience Published in 1933
About 34 years apart from Mooar’s story
Most likely those curious about the life as a buffalo hunter
Intended Audience

6. Purpose To describe the life of a buffalo hunter
Shows how the lack of buffalo affected buffalo hunters and the Plain Indians
Purpose

7. The point of view is through the eyes of a buffalo hunter
Shows what the hunters think about the Plain Indians
Point of View

8. Synthesis
The Plain Indians were similar to the victims of the Holocaust
Taken out of their homes
Often pushed to different areas
Both did little to no harm to those who attacked them
Many of them were killed off

9. Outside/extra Information
Sand Creek Massacre (1864)
Battle Of Little Bighorn (1876)
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West (1883)
Dawes Severalty Act (1887)
Outside/extra Information

10. John M. Chivington Sand Creek Massacre 1864, Colorado
Surprise attack on a Cheyenne settlement that was supposedly promised immunity
Cheyenne surrendered without putting up much of a fight
Colonel John M. Chivington disregarded surrender and killed the small settlement
John M. Chivington

11. Battle Of Little Bighorn
A Native American attack in 1864
Sioux and the Cheyenne
Attack against the Americans encroaching on land
American Colonel George Custer and all his men were killed
Battle Of Little Bighorn

12. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West
A circus-esque show
Created by William Frederick, a war scout
AKA “Buffalo Bill”
Romanticizes the Wild West
Depicts cowboys as heroes and the Native Americans as the aggressors and villains
Popular for having “real” actors
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West

15. An attempt to force the Native Americans into assimilation
Gave acres of land if they took farming
Most Indians did not take up the act which made a lot of extra land
Extra/lost land sold to the Americans
Dawes Severalty Act of 1887

16. What do you see?
Chief Red Cloud’s Bedroom