A few weeks ago, I gave a presentation on America’s
first transportation industry to a local historical group. A portion of the sixty-minute talk covered a
wide variety of wood-wheeled vehicles produced during the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. As part of that
segment, I discussed a few examples of tall-sided western freighters and
included a rare photo showing a half dozen large wagons engaged in an
extraordinary event that took place in 1909.
Truth is, there was a lot of transitioning taking
place during that year. Henry Ford’s
Model T was only a few months old. It
was the last, full year of production for Moline wagons prior to being
purchased and rebranded by John Deere.
The world’s first military plane – The Wright Military Flyer – was purchased
in 1909 by the U.S. Army Signal Corp and legendary Apache leader, Geronimo as
well as renowned western artist, Frederic Remington, both passed away that
year. In the midst of so much change,
thankfully, one other fading part of America’s western landscape was being
rounded up and preserved.
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Michel Pablo’s buffalo roundup is documented with text and photos in this rare pamphlet published in 1909. |
For centuries, bison – by the tens of millions –
roamed America’s plains. They were a
powerful symbol of sustenance, freedom, culture, and the majestic lure of the
West. Nonetheless, by the turn of the
twentieth century, there is believed to have only been around 1,000 of these
creatures left in America. The biggest of
the herds was in Montana on the Flathead Indian Reservation. This herd was
originally started by Samuel Walking Coyote.
Begun from 4 orphaned calves, the herd slowly grew to just over a dozen
and was sold to Michel Pablo and Charles Allard. By 1900, Allard had passed away but the herd
numbered several hundred strong. All was
going well until Pablo lost his grazing rights due to the government opening up
the Flathead Indian reservation to settlers.
Pablo tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the herd to the
U.S. government. At the time, there
wasn’t sufficient support to purchase them.
Fortunately, the Canadian government did recognize the herd's value and made the deal with Pablo. There were just a few rather sizeable
problems. They had to be rounded up and
shipped via train cars to Canada. As the
work started, it became clear that the herd was much larger than expected. It meant more challenges and more time would
be needed to complete the task.
Ultimately, the roundups took years to complete. Also… these weren’t domesticated cattle. They were wild beasts with minds of their
own. They could be dangerous, running
through heavy fences and rail cars, trampling anything in their way. As the character, Pea Eye, on the legendary
western movie, “Lonesome Dove” warned, “Them bulls will hook ya!”
Some were able to be driven to the rails while
others had to be caught in remote pens and hauled to rail yards for shipment
to Canada. You might be wondering how
the bison were hauled? Specially-built,
tall-sided freight wagons were heavily reinforced for the cargo. I’ve never seen any size specifications of
these vehicles but, from the photo below, it’s clear they were a sight to
behold. Bulls, calves, and cows rocking
the wagons and hitting the thick sideboards would have made transporting difficult
and perhaps required more stops along the way.
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This rare photo shows the tall-sided, heavy duty wagons used to haul a number of America’s last buffalo to the protection of Canada. |
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Rounding up buffalo on horseback proved to be an enormous task for Michel Pablo. |
A recent story on Fox News highlighted the return of
a number of direct descendants of these buffalo to the same Montana reservation
this year. To read more about it, click here.
Over and over, America’s early wagon industry is
proven to be tied to some of this country’s most unique and legendary
events. From early freighting and mining
to ranching and farming, it’s an all-out historical rush, packed with stories
just waiting to be told.
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