Podcast Summary: The American West – Ep. 17: "What Really Happened to America’s National Mammal?"

Host: MeatEater
Guest/Writer: Dan Flores
Date: December 16, 2025

Overview

This episode of "The American West," hosted by MeatEater and written/narrated by historian and writer Dan Flores, explores the complex and often-misunderstood history of the American bison (buffalo) – from its dominance across the continent to its near-eradication. Flores aims to disentangle myth from reality and confront the popular but inaccurate narratives, emphasizing the central role of unregulated capitalism, environmental change, and American values in the buffalo's dramatic decline.

Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. The Symbolism and Reality of the Buffalo

• The Buffalo as National Mammal:
  • Officially declared in 2016, long after ecological devastation had occurred.
  • "If history is instructive, then we should understand the real story of what befell the enormous herds that once spread across the western interior and defined North America to the world." (Dan Flores, 02:06)
• Perceptions of Out-of-Place-ness:
  • Modern drivers see buffalo as "ungainly holdovers from a past world" (02:52), viewed more as curiosities or mascots than as a fundamental part of American nature.

2. The Extent of the Buffalo’s Decline & Historical Narratives

• A Story of Sudden Loss:
  • "There were uncounted millions in one instant, and in another, there were none." (Dan Flores, 03:44)
  • The collapse is framed as a "watershed moment" in American history, paralleling or eclipsing the passenger pigeon’s fate.
• Challenging the "Cocktail Party" Version:
  • The common myth is that "what happened to the buffalo is just what happened globally when civilization met wilderness," an inevitability of "the march of progress." (Dan Flores, 05:26)
  • Flores dismantles the myth of a coordinated government/military conspiracy as the sole cause.

3. The John Cook/Sheridan Myth

• Debunking the Conspiracy:
  • In 1907, John Cook, a former buffalo hunter, wrote that the animals were exterminated by a secret federal/military plan to subdue Native Americans.
  • Cook attributed to General Philip Sheridan the infamous (but fabricated) quote urging the "extermination" of buffalo for "the sake of lasting peace." (Dan Flores, 12:37)
  • Flores shows there’s no evidence Sheridan gave such a speech or that Texas ever considered buffalo protection laws at the time.
  • Notable quote:
    • "The key phrase: 'Let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffaloes are exterminated.' There's just one problem here. The speech Cook included was in fact a complete fabrication." (Dan Flores, 13:32)

4. The Real Causes: A "Perfect Storm"

• Market Capitalism, Not Conspiracy:
  • The main driver was market capitalism and the lack of regulation – a pattern affecting beavers, passenger pigeons, and other wildlife.
  • "The inconvenient truth... is that while there were other contributing causes, the buffalo's demise was part of a horrific history of wildlife slaughter for money in America. And no, it was not inevitable. We could have stopped it, but... we failed to do it." (Dan Flores, 18:37)
• European and American Views on Animals:
  • Contrasts Indigenous concepts of kinship with animals to European, Christian, and capitalist views which reduced animals to commodities.
• Ecological and Environmental Contributors:
  • Changing climate on the Great Plains, particularly the end of the Little Ice Age (c. 1850s–1860s), led to droughts and declining grasslands, reducing carrying capacity for bison.
  • Competition from rapidly growing wild horse and cattle populations.
  • Introduction of Old World diseases such as anthrax and bovine tuberculosis.
  • Growing settler and Indigenous populations reduced habitat and escape options.

5. The Orgasmic Slaughter & Government Inaction

• Market Hunters:
  • After the Civil War, thousands of veterans with firearms expertise turned to bison hunting for profit, creating an industrial-scale slaughterhouse.
  • "The hide hunters turned the plains into an open air industrial factory slaughterhouse." (Dan Flores, 28:55)
  • Notable quote:
    • "There are two perfect words for this kind of callous disregard for life... Fucking pathetic." (Dan Flores, 34:28)
• Government Paralysis:
  • Federal government was wedded to "laissez faire" and stood aside, refusing to regulate the market.
  • Early legislative attempts at bison protection failed (e.g., the Fort Bills of 1874 & 1876), either not signed or overtaken by historical events.
  • Flores: "That larger principle was what Gilded Age America called laissez faire, a sacred belief that governments should never interfere in the higher laws of economic supply and demand." (Dan Flores, 37:20)

6. The Few Who Acted & The Bison’s Return

• Survival & Restoration Efforts:
  • Small numbers of bison saved by individuals such as Charles "Buffalo" Jones, Charles and Mary Goodnight, Native Americans like Lotati, Fred Duprees, and Metis James McKay.
  • William Temple Hornaday and the American Bison Society established bison ranges, but with limited vision for wild, free-ranging herds and little Indigenous participation.
  • Notable story:
    • Lakota wisdom during modern restoration: "They said they wanted to come back, Fred replied, but they said they didn't want to come back and be cows. They said they wanted to come back and be Buffalo. They said they wanted to be wild again." (Fred Dubray, as recounted by Dan Flores, 41:22)

7. Interview: Re-examining the Narrative

• With Randall (46:02 – End):
  • Significance of Revisiting the Buffalo Story:
    • "The stakes... are unusually big for this one because of the way the buffalo story stands as a set piece of the whole North American nature story." (Dan Flores, 46:02)
  • Confronting persistent myths in both public and academic realms.
  • The persistence of John Cook's fabricated narrative, even on modern merchandise.
  • On Market Forces:
    • "You're obfuscating and ignoring the role that market capitalism played in wiping out these animals." (Dan Flores, 49:07)
  • Discussion of changing attitudes toward wildlife (e.g., market hunters living into the age of Roosevelt and the conservation movement).
  • New research methodologies: using livestock census data, climate history, biology, and range management to uncover a more nuanced understanding.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Moment | |-----------|------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:06 | Dan Flores | "Why is the buffalo America's national mammal? If history is instructive, then we should understand the real story of what befell the enormous herds..." | | 03:44 | Dan Flores | "There were uncounted millions in one instant, and in another, there were none." | | 13:32 | Dan Flores | "The key phrase: 'Let them kill, skin, and sell until the buffaloes are exterminated.' There's just one problem here. The speech Cook included was in fact a complete fabrication." | | 18:37 | Dan Flores | "The inconvenient truth... is that while there were other contributing causes, the buffalo's demise was part of a horrific history of wildlife slaughter for money in America." | | 28:55 | Dan Flores | "The hide hunters turned the plains into an open air industrial factory slaughterhouse." | | 34:28 | Dan Flores | "There are two perfect words for this kind of callous disregard for life... Fucking pathetic." | | 37:20 | Dan Flores | "That larger principle was what Gilded Age America called laissez faire, a sacred belief that governments should never interfere in the higher laws of economic supply and demand." | | 41:22 | Fred Dubray (via Flores) | "They said they wanted to come back... but they said they didn't want to come back and be cows. They said they wanted to come back and be Buffalo. They said they wanted to be wild again." | | 46:02 | Dan Flores | "The stakes... are unusually big for this one because of the way the buffalo story stands as a set piece of the whole North American nature story." |

Important Segment Timestamps

• 02:00 – Dan Flores begins the main narrative
• 10:00 – Debunking the John Cook/Sheridan conspiracy
• 18:00 – The broader role of market capitalism
• 24:00 – Environmental and ecological causes
• 28:30 – Industrial-scale slaughter after the Civil War
• 36:00 – Governmental (in)action and failed protective legislation
• 40:00 – The effort to save the last bison and shifting attitudes
• 45:15 – Flores and interviewer Randall discuss historical reinterpretation and myth
• 56:00 – Discussion of methodological advances and future research

Concluding Insights

• The American bison’s near-extinction was not a tragic inevitability, nor chiefly the result of a government/military conspiracy – it was the foreseeable result of unregulated market capitalism, cultural attitudes, environmental change, and a loss of ecological stewardship.
• The revision of this history is necessary to understand both America's natural heritage and the roots of current conservation challenges.
• A powerful takeaway: "We need to look [this story] in the face and accept it for what it was." (Dan Flores, 50:37)
• Restoring the bison—and learning the lesson—means honoring its wildness and the place of wild nature on the American continent.

This summary covers all major discussion points, critical analysis, and moments of the episode for those who have not listened. Direct quotes and timestamps provide a pathway for further exploration of specific ideas.