The Vanishing Bison

PORTRAITS

When William Temple Hornaday's exhibition of stuffed bison went on display at the Smithsonian Institution in 1888, it caused a sensation. Most visitors had never seen this majestic, hulking animal up close. And most probably thought it would be their only chance, since the bison had all but vanished from the wild.

Some 140 years later, Kirk Johnson, director of the National Museum of Natural History, realized that the iconic display itself had vanished from the museum's collection. So he went on the road to see what had happened to it.

In this episode, we trace the story of how the bison - or American buffalo - were driven right to the edge of extinction, severing a sacred relationship with Native people. Then we track how the species' catastrophic decline, as memorialized in a taxidermy masterpiece, gave rise to the early conservation movement that brought the bison back.

With guest Rosalyn LaPier.

See the artwork we discuss:

William Temple Hornaday, by George Rufus Boynton

Hornaday's taxidermy bison display

Theodore Roosevelt, by Peter A. Juley

Hornaday and Sandy

Also referenced:

The American Buffalo, a film by Ken Burns