Bison Stories 3

Today bison reign over large areas of Yellowstone National Park. It hasn't always been so. Late in the 19th century, this iconic prairie species was almost extinct. The park was a rare refuge.

Bison relaxing by the Yellowstone River in. Now more than 5,000 bison inhabit the park, with thousands more on various refugees, parks, and Indian reservations.

Some of my favorite memories of Yellowstone come from bison experiences while teaching writing classes in the Lamar Valley. My friend and colleague Deborah Milton co-facilitated courses for the Yellowstone Institute over several years. Our goal was to empower writers to create from their hearts fearlessly. The park itself was a great fellow facilitator, with its abundant wildlife and dramatic scenery. The retreat center, called the Buffalo Ranch, had a cluster of simple cabins for sleeping and a house with a kitchen and meeting room for classes.

When I’d open my cabin door in the morning each day to head for the kitchen, sometimes I had to wait—there’d be a band of bison right at the edge of the front porch, munching on the grass. You don’t tell bison to leave and let you pass—you just have to wait for them to stroll along far enough away that it’s safe to descend.

The Lamar Valley is a favorite haunt for bison since it offered a shallow river for drinking and abundant grassland for grazing.

Bison sometimes dominate the valley by strolling along the road, slowing down traffic significantly.

All it takes to jam up the traffic is one plodding bison bull.

My favorite memory of Lamar Valley bison comes from the first summer after wolves had been returned to Yellowstone. Wolves had been seen as baddies that killed the animals that humans liked. So by the mid-1920s, all the wolves in the park had been shot. Without wolves, grazers like elk overbred, and in some years hundreds of them were shot so they wouldn’t die of starvation. The whole ecology of the park became unbalanced. Park managers realized that they needed to bring back the wolves. The first batch came in 1995.

That summer, I’d hoped at least to hear them howling while staying at the Buffalo Ranch to teach, or maybe even be lucky enough to see them. But there was no sign of any wolves by our last day, when I was saying good bye to my students. I had to let go of my hope and replace it with appreciation that the wolves were back.

Then a student came running over calling out “Wolves!! There are wolves across the river!” I grabbed the nearest telescope and set it up, focusing on the hillside across the river. There they were, a pack of 5 or 6 wolves, trotting along a path over a creek and up the other side, where a small band of bison grazed.

That’s me, focusing on the slope way across the valley on the other side of the river, where the wolves were trotting along the trail.

When the bison sensed the wolves, all but one of them galloped away into the forest. Only a big bull stayed behind to confront the predators. I watched while the wolves circled around him and quickly gave up the idea of attack, instead joining together with wagging tails and then taking off into woods. Wow. What a gift to view such a scene. I blessed my luck and happily packed up my gear, looking forward to returning the next year to teach again in that special place.

Over time, the wolves learned that deer and elk were easier to hunt, so they pretty much left the bison alone. But when in the park, I continued to enjoy watching the bison just being themselves as I kept my distance and felt glad they were there.

In my next newsletter, Bison Stories 4, I’ll take you to another favorite home to bison, this one completely within the state of Montana.