The Bone Era Begins

Eyewitness Testimony: How the Buffalo became “The Bone Boom”

After the buffalo disappeared and the hunters gone from the fields of slaughter, a great field of bleaching bones remained to speak in silent language of the unequal contest. No pen picture can every portray the full significance of these bones. They spoke of a slaughter unparalleled in the annals of history, of the passing of the animals that had been the savages’ principal wealth and support: of the passing of civilization’s last barrier in its westward march on the American continent, and told a story of hardships, suffering and endurance seldom equaled in the wild struggles for wealth; but when railroads were built across the country, affording convenient shipping facilities, these reminders were quickly converted into channels more profitable than sentimental. As these bones made excellent quality of fertilizer they readily commmanded from five to six dollars per ton and before the bone era closed, they sold for twice that amount.

Don Hampton Biggers
Pictures of the Past
1902