This was a time that was a major part of western history, a sort of baptism of sweat and blood. Great buffalo herds covered mile after mile, and hide hunters swarmed the plains. They were hard-riding and reckless and killed buffalo by the tens of thousands, bringing on near extinction. The invasion was part of the great western migration, and it caused major confrontations with such Indian tribes as Comanche, Kiowa, Arapaho, and others. The buffalo existed to furnish food, clothing, and shelter for the tribespeople. This was when the buffalo were said to be “as many as the sands of the river bottoms.” Back then the paleface, who was to drive the tribes into the vastness of the arid hills, was unknown and undreamed of. Only infrequent battles of life marked the serenity of the Indian lives. They were often on the move following the animals for sources of life and many of the encroaching hunters were out-and-out bandits. It was definitely no place to be for the faint of heart. Listen for the wild days of the early western frontier.
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