The West Old & New Vol. III Issue III March 2014 | Page 11

The National Bison Range Moise, Montana
Established in 1908 the National Bison Range is administered by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the National Wildlife Refuge
System. It is the oldest Wildlife Refuge in the nation.
The 18,700 – acre range consists of native Palouse Prairie, forests,
wetlands and streams. Elk, deer, pronghorn, black bear, coyote and
ground squirrels share the area with 350 to 500 bison.
A drive thru park there are several different roads that can be taken.
The Prairie Drive/West Loop is a five mile long gravel road that travels
through the flats and is open all year long. The Red Sleep Mountain
Drive is a nineteen mile long one-way road which gains 2,000 feet with
switchbacks. This drive is open from mid-May to late October. The
Winter Drive is a ten mile gravel road through the flats and along Mission Creek. It is open from October to mid-May.
There is a day use and picnic area near Mission Creek with tables,
grills, water and accessible toilets. A covered pavilion is also available.
There are no garbage cans, so you must pack out what you bring in.
The bison on this range have a high level of genetic diversity. This
herd is closed from outside sources to retain the high genetic quality.
The relationship with the bison was the heart of the traditional way
of life for the Salish and Pend d’Oreille people. “Going to buffalo” was
part of the traditional cycle of life for these people. They developed a
wide-ranging, complex trail system throughout their vast territories to
the buffalo grounds. Often the river corridors were used by these Indigenous tribes for traveling to the buffalo.
The indigenous people used all parts of the animal and wasted nothing. The meat of the bison would be dried, pounded and packed into
parfleches. The hooves were boiled for food, and the intestines and organs baked. The neck hide of the bulls would be formed over stumps
and used for buckets or made into strong ropes after being cut into long
strips and pounded with stones. The hair of the bulls would be braided
and used for halters and bridles on horses. The bones were chopped and pounded with the bone marrow extracted. The horns were
used as drinking cups, and later for storing gun powder. The robes of the animal were highly prized for clothing and bedding. The
hides after tanning were sewn together to make lodges or tipis. Dried buffalo chips were used in fires.
The elders say that in the second to last year of the traditional buffalo hunts, hunters were able to kill only 27 buffalo. The following year that number was seven. Pend d’Oreille elder ́ͽ