Fall Buffalo Gals Luncheon – Bison: Busting the Myths

Bison: Busting the Myths

With W. Michael Gear & Kathleen O’Neal Gear

Join us for a delicious lunch and presentation by Michael and Kathleen Gear, authors, archaeologists, and former bison ranchers! Just $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Space is limited and reservations are required. Please register using the form at the bottom of this page or by calling the Membership Office at 307-578-4008.

Bison have been on the North American continent for around 200,000 years.  Michael and Kathleen Gear know the animals well, since they owned Red Canyon Buffalo Ranch near Thermopolis for thirty years. This presentation uses paleontological, archaeological, and historical evidence to establish when and where bison were during that time, but it will focus on the fascinating behavior they observed living with buffalo for three decades.

About the speakers

Michael and Kathleen Gear are nationally award-winning archaeologists and New York Times bestselling authors with 18 million copies in print.  They have published 88 books and over 200 non-fiction articles that have been translated into 30 languages. Fifty of those articles are bison studies.  Their bison have won 167 national or regional bison awards, and they have won 42 national and international writing awards.

Jointly or separately, they’ve been inducted into four halls of fame: the Western Writers Hall of Fame, the Women Who Write the West Hall of Fame, the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame, and the California State University Hall of Fame.  As well, in 2015 they were honored by the United States Congress with a “Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition.”  They received the Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement in western literature in 2021, and in 2023 received the Frank Waters Award for exemplary literary achievement that embodies the spirit of the American West.  They live in Cody, Wyoming.

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