Map Illustrating the Extermination of the American Bison
- Title:
- Map Illustrating the Extermination of the American Bison
- Alternate Title:
- Extermination of the American Bison
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Hornaday, William T. (William Temple), 1854-1937
- Date:
- 1889
- Posted Date:
- 2015-08-25
- ID Number:
- 1102.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_1102_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1870 - 1899
- Subject:
- Disaster/Health/Environment
- Measurement:
- 61 x 48 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- Hornaday was the Chief Taxidermist for the Smithsonian Museum. After reviewing the Museum's collection and conducting a written survey, he recognized the rapid decline in the population of American Bison. He went west to collect specimens for the Museum in anticipation of the Bison's extinction, and was shocked at what he saw and learned: "Just as a carefree and joyous swimmer for pleasure suddenly is drawn into a whirlpool - in which he can swim but from which he cannot escape - so in 1886 was I drawn into the maelstrom." Bechtel 2012, quoting Hornaday's unpublished autobiography. Hornaday prepared a massive report for the Smithsonian on the extermination of the bison, filled with important observations and data.
But this map tells the story on a single page.The dark red circle on the map shows "the area once inhabited by the American Bison," and the dates in red tells the date of extinction in each locale. We learn there were bison in Indiana and Kentucky until 1810, and in Iowa and Missouri until 1825. The blue circles show the range of the herds in 1870, and the much smaller concentric green circles show the same just 10 years later.
Hornaday returned to Washington a changed man; he spent the rest of his life as perhaps the first effective voice for the preservation of species. He played a major role in the survival not only of the American Bison, but the Alaskan fur seal, the snowy egret and others (Ibid).
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- Hornaday, William T. 1889. "Extermination of the North American Bison With a Sketch of Its Discovery and Life History." In Report of the National Museum Under the Direction of the Smithsonian Institution 1887, pp. 367-548. Washington: Government Printing Office.
- Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.