Why did settlers begin to kill off the buffalo?
2 Answers
They wanted to build railways
Explanation:
Buffalos were slaid because they prevented railways from being built. William Cody(which was nicknamed "Buffalo Bill") worked for the Kansas Pacific Railway company and is known for killing over 4,000 buffalos in only eighteen months. He is a mythic figure of the Conquest of the West.
To destroy the power of the plains Indians.
Explanation:
The powerful plains Indian tribes depended on the Buffalo ( American Bison) for their way of life. The buffalo provided their main food source, their clothes, their shelter, teepee and strings for their war bows.
The Plains Indians were the major barrier to the settlers moving west. The destruction of the herds of buffalo forced the tribes to leave their nomadic way of life. The strength of the Lakota and Dakota was destroyed by the destruction of the herds of buffalo.
The tribes were forced unto reservations where they could be fed. The army lost several battles to the Sioux but won the war through the destruction of the buffalo herds.
