Where the Buffalo Roam

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Long before towns like McPherson, Salina, or Hutchinson existed, central Kansas was part of a vast prairie ecosystem roamed by countless American bison. Prior to European contact, an estimated 20 million buffalo inhabited the Great Plains, including what is now Kansas. Enormous herds grazed the rolling hills and river valleys – early explorers described seeing bison "from horizon to horizon," especially in central regions like the Smoky Hill River drainage.

For the Indigenous peoples of the Plains, the buffalo was absolutely central to life. Tribes such as the Wichita (who lived in Quivira near present-day Rice County), Pawnee, and later the Kiowa and Comanche all depended on buffalo herds in this area. 

In 1541, the Coronado expedition crossed central Kansas and marveled at the "crooked-back oxen" (their term for bison) that covered the plains without any fences or owners. Coronado's chronicler noted that the local inhabitants ate buffalo meat – sometimes even raw – and lived in buffalo-hide shelters.

The mid-1800s brought dramatic changes to central Kansas and its buffalo herds. American settlers began arriving in the region (Salina was founded in 1858, Hutchinson in 1871, and McPherson County saw homesteaders by the late 1860s). In the early years of settlement, buffalo could still be seen near these new communities. Pioneers occasionally relied on them for meat.

As the railroads pushed across Kansas – the Kansas Pacific line to Salina and beyond, and later the Santa Fe line – they opened the floodgates for commercial buffalo hunting. The railroad companies actually encouraged the extermination of bison, since large herds crossing the tracks could delay trains or damage locomotives. Hunting cars and special excursions were arranged for adventurers to shoot buffalo from train windows or on guided hunts. In 1872, even Russian royalty came through Kansas: the Grand Duke Alexis joined General Custer on a highly publicized buffalo hunt on the plains.

Professional hunters converged on Kansas in the late 1860s and early 1870s to harvest buffalo hides and meat for profit. Towns on the prairie became shipping centers for buffalo products. Dodge City was one of the busiest: in just the first three months of 1872, over 43,000 buffalo hides and nearly 1.5 million pounds of bison meat were shipped out on the Santa Fe railroad from Dodge City to eastern markets.

Local lore during this era captures just how commonplace – and then suddenly scarce – the buffalo became. In the early 1870s it was not unusual for residents of Reno or McPherson counties to see stragglers from the great herds. In March 1873, a lone buffalo bull wandered into Hutchinson from the prairie. It trotted right down Main Street at dawn and crossed near the Presbyterian church. The beast was promptly shot dead by a local citizen near the railroad tracks, supposedly the last wild buffalo ever seen in Hutchinson. Old-timers later recalled that in 1874 buffalo were still "thick" south of the Arkansas River – providing plenty of fresh meat until they were finally all gone. These anecdotes illustrate how rapid the decline was.

By the mid-1870s the destruction was largely complete. Famous hunters like William "Buffalo Bill" Cody had done their part as well – Buffalo Bill earned his nickname here by killing over 4,000 buffalo in 1867–68 to feed railroad workers. Such exploits, along with the relentless hide-harvesting, pushed the species to the brink. Historians note the last wild Kansas buffalo was likely killed in 1886 or 1887 in the far western part of the state. This eradication was no accident – it was fueled by profit and policy, as eliminating the buffalo devastated the Plains tribes and cleared the way for railroad expansion and farming.

There were as few as 300 to 500 bison in the entire country when the U.S. finally enacted protections in 1889.

In 1859, a settler named Henry Gault Maxwell homesteaded in McPherson County and brought a small herd of bison with him to graze his land. Maxwell had the unusual vision of protecting a piece of the original prairie for future generations. While his idea was ahead of its time, it set the stage for a lasting legacy.

The Maxwell Wildlife Refuge in McPherson County was established in the 1940s on land donated through Henry Maxwell's estate. This 2,800-acre refuge about 6 miles north of Canton became a sanctuary for buffalo. In 1951, a starter herd of seven buffalo cows and three bulls were brought to Maxwell and thrived. Today Maxwell Wildlife Refuge maintains a herd of around 200 bison, which roam the prairie alongside a resident elk herd. 

The Rolling Hills Zoo near Salina and some county parks also have kept a few bison to help educate the public about prairie history.

While central Kansas's wild buffalo are gone, the species as a whole is not endangered today. Nationwide, bison numbers have rebounded to about 200,000 (mostly in commercial herds). In Kansas, a few thousand buffalo now live on ranches or wildlife preserves. At places like the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (in the Flint Hills) and Konza Prairie (a research area near Manhattan), herds of bison have been reintroduced to help restore ecological balance – grazing the grasses just as their ancestors did centuries ago.

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