Buffalo Bibliography
Buffalo Bibliography
The McCracken Research Library at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West suggests the following bibliography for further reading on buffalo.
A selection of a few of the publications on the American buffalo held in our library:
Aune, Keith, and Glenn E. Plumb. Theodore Roosevelt & Bison Restoration on the Great Plains. The History Press, 2019. Focus on Roosevelt’s species preservation efforts for bison.
Bailey, James A. American Plains Bison: Rewilding an Icon. Sweetgrass Books, division of Farcountry Press, 2013. Looking at bison after a century of efforts to domesticate.
Belue, Ted Franklin. The Long Hunt: Death of the Buffalo East of the Mississippi. Stackpole Books, 2022. Originally 1996. Story of the Eastern buffalo in North America.
Branch, Edward Douglas. Introductions by J. Frank Dobie, and Andrew C. Isenberg. The Hunting of the Buffalo. University of Nebraska Press, 1997, reprint of New York: Appleton, 1929. One of the earliest texts to write western frontier history from the perspective of the destruction of the bison.
Burns, Ken, et al. The American Buffalo. Florentine Films and WETA documentary film, PBS, 2023. DVD. See the accompanying book Blood Memory by Dayton Duncan, Knopf, 2023.
Callenbach, Ernest. Bring Back the Buffalo! A Sustainable Future for America’s Great Plains. Island Press, 1996. Argues that bison are essential for modern western ranching economics.
Cody, William F., and Frank Christianson (ed). The Life of Hon. William F. Cody, Known as Buffalo Bill. University of Nebraska Press, 2011, originally published 1879. William F. Cody’s own account that includes stories of his buffalo hunting.
Cooper, Jo, and David Neufeld (ed). The Disappearance & Resurgence of the Buffalo. Ancient Echoes, 2002. Modern paintings with extended captions.
Dary, David. The Buffalo Book: The Full Saga of the American Animal. Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, Revised edition 1989, originally published 1974. Includes chapter on the bison as an American symbol and the buffalo nickel.
Davies, Henry Eugene, and Paul Andrew Hutton (ed). Ten Days on the Plains. DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University Press, 1985. Scholarly reprint, this is the story of the 1871 buffalo hunt organized by General Sheridan and guided by William F. Cody.
Di Silvestro, Roger L. Return of the Bison: A Story of Survival, Restoration, and a Wilder World. Mountaineers Books, 2023. Brings the story of the buffalo up to modern times.
Duncan, Dayton, and Ken Burns. Blood Memory: The Tragic Decline and Improbable Resurrection of the American Buffalo. Alfred A. Knopf, 2023. This book accompanies the Florentine Films and WETA documentary The American Buffalo: A Film by Ken Burns, 2023.
Ewald, Chase Reynolds, Audrey Hall, Henry Real Bird, and John Hylan Heminway. Bison: Portrait of an Icon. Gibbs Smith, 2021. Colorful photography of Audrey Hall with text.
Flores, Dan L. American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains. University Press of Kansas, 2016. Bison considered in their own chapter, with final comments on rewilding the Great Plains.
Franke, Mary Ann. To Save the Wild Bison: Life on the Edge in Yellowstone. University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. Ecological and political controversies over the American bison.
Frison, George C. Survival by Hunting: Prehistoric Human Predators and Animal Prey. University of California Press, 2004. Study of Wyoming Paleoindian big game hunting, including buffalo jumps.
Gates, Charles Cormack, and Len Broberg. Yellowstone Bison: The Science and Management of a Migratory Wildlife Population. University of Montana Press, 2011. Yellowstone National Park herd.
Geist, Valerius. Buffalo Nation: History and Legend of the North American Bison. Voyageur Press, 1996. From waging war on the buffalo, Native American legends, discussion of Canadian phantom “wood bison” sub-species, to population rebuilding in the 20th century.
Gilbert, Miles, Leo Remiger, and Sharon A. Cunningham. Encyclopedia of Buffalo Hunters and Skinners. Pioneer Press, v.1 2003, v.2 2006. Only two volumes published, with personal information on individual buffalo hide-hunters and topical appendices.
Harris, Adam Duncan. George Catlin’s American Buffalo. Smithsonian American Art Museum in association with D. Giles Ltd, 2013. Catlin’s artistic focus on bison and Plains Indians.
Hoagland, Serra J., and Steven Albert (eds). Wildlife Stewardship on Tribal Lands: Our Place is in Our Soul. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023. Includes the Intertribal Buffalo Council, pp. 110-119.
Hornaday, William T. The Extermination of the American Bison. Reissue edition, Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002. Originally published by Government Printing Office, 1889. The classic text that raised the alarm to both the general public and naturalists.
Isenberg, Andrew C. The Destruction of the Bison: An Environmental History, 1750-1920. Cambridge University Press, 2000. Interdisciplinary account of people and bison in North America.
Lott, Dale F. American Bison: A Natural History. University of California Press, 2002. Bison natural history, including diseases and interactions with other species.
McCafferty, Keith. Buffalo Jump Blues. Viking, 2016. Mystery novel with a buffalo jump as a central feature of the story.
McLeod, Malcolm, Mary Adele Rogers, and Robert Bigart. A Cowboy’s Life Is Very Dangerous Work: The Autobiography of a Flathead Reservation Indian Cowboy, 1870-1944. Salish Kootenai College Press, 2016. Cowboy for the Pablo-Allard bison herd, Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana.
Matthews, Anne. Where the Buffalo Roam. Grove Press, 1993. Frank and Deborah Popper’s plan for a national buffalo commons on the Great Plains.
Meagher, Margaret Mary. The Bison of Yellowstone National Park. U.S. National Park Service, Supt. of Docs., Govt. Print. Off., 1973. Scientific study that began as author’s doctoral dissertation.
Morgan, R. Grace. Beaver Bison Horse: The Traditional Knowledge and Ecology of the Northern Great Plains. University of Regina Press, 2020. Ecological relationships the beaver, bison, and horse had to the Indigenous nations of the Plains.
O’Brien, Dan. Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch. Random House, 2002. Personal, readable account of modern buffalo ranching in the Black Hills.
_____ Wild Idea: Buffalo and Family in a Difficult Land. University of Nebraska Press, 2014. Memoir of buffalo ranching in South Dakota.
Punke, Michael. Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West. Smithsonian Books/Collins, 2007. Grinnell and the American conservation movement.
Repanshek, Kurt. Re-Bisoning the West: Restoring an American Icon to the Landscape. Torrey House Press, 2019. Repanshek presents a forward-thinking approach to returning this keystone species to the West and improving the health of ecosystems.
Rudner, Ruth. A Chorus of Buffalo. Burford Books, 2000. Buffalo politics.
Sandoz, Mari. The Buffalo Hunters: The Story of the Hide Men. Hastings House, 1954. Historian and Nebraska homesteader, Sandoz relates the colorful yet tragic end of the frontier.
Scott, Douglas D., Peter Bleed, and Stephen Damm. Custer, Cody, and Grand Duke Alexis: Historical Archaeology of the Royal Buffalo Hunt. University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. Archaeology of Camp Alexis and the Royal Buffalo Hunt of Buffalo Bill Cody, Russian Grand Duke Alexis, and George Armstrong Custer in January 1872.
Smith, Victor Grant, and Jeanette Prodgers (ed). The Champion Buffalo Hunter: The Frontier Memoirs of Yellowstone Vic Smith. Revised edition, TwoDot, an imprint of the Globe Pequot Press, 2009. Buffalo hide hunter memoirs.
Stange, Mary Zeiss. Hard Grass: Life On the Crazy Woman Bison Ranch. University of New Mexico Press, 2010. The story of the Crazy Woman Bison Ranch in southeastern Montana.
Steelquist, Robert. Field Guide to the North American Bison: A Natural History and Viewing Guide to the Great Plains Buffalo. Sasquatch Books, 1998. Wonderful, concise booklet on viewing bison.
Webb, W. E. Buffalo Land: An Authentic Account of the Discoveries, Adventures, and Mishaps of a Scientific and Sporting Party in the Wild West. E. Hannaford & Co, 1873. William F. Cody guided this natural history expedition into the Big Horn Basin.
Wheeler, Richard S. The Buffalo Commons. First edition, Forge, 1998. Influential novel about establishing a modern buffalo commons grasslands on the high plains.
Zontek, Ken. Buffalo Nation: American Indian Efforts to Restore the Bison. University of Nebraska Press, 2007. Native peoples’ efforts to repopulate the Plains with a healthy, viable bison population.
A few children’s books on buffalo
Berman, Ruth, and Cheryl Walsh Bellville. American Bison. Carolrhoda Books, 1992. Grades 5-8, natural history of bison, with color photography by Bellville.
Berman, Ruth, and Cheryl Walsh Bellville. El Bisonte Americano. Carolrhoda Books, 1994. Spanish edition of 1992 first edition in English.
Freedman, Russell. Buffalo Hunt. Holiday House, 1988. The relationship between Plains Indians and buffalo is emphasized in this nonfiction work, with illustrations by Bodmer, Catlin, Miller, Russell, and other classic western artists.
Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw, and William Muanoz. The Buffalo and the Indians: A Shared Destiny. Clarion Books, 2006. Photography by Muanoz illustrates this young adult overview of bison and Native American inter-twined history.
Sample, Michael S. Bison: Symbol of the American West. Falcon Press Publishing Co., Inc., 1987. Young adult text with author’s own photography of buffalo in national parks.
Van Laan, Nancy, and Beatriz Vidal. Buffalo Dance: A Blackfoot Legend. Little, Brown and Co., 1993. A retelling of the Blackfoot legend about the ritual performed before the buffalo hunt.
Waldman, Neil. They Came from the Bronx: How the Buffalo Were Saved from Extinction. Boyd Mills Press, 2001. Bison transferred from Bronx Zoo to Oklahoma plains.
Wilkinson, Todd., Michael H. Francis, and John F. McGee. Bison for Kids. NorthWord Press, 1994. Elementary nonfiction text with colorful photographs and illustrations.
Winner, Cherie, and John F. McGee. Bison. Our Wild World series, NorthWord Press, 2001. Basic bison natural history for young readers, with vivid photography by McGee.
November 2025/Nathan E. Bender, MRL, BBCW