Ada McColl gathering buffalo chips near Lakin, Kansas
Creator: McColl, Polly
Date: 1893
In this photograph, pioneer Ada McColl of Kearny County collects buffalo chips. In areas of western Kansas where trees were scarce, these chips were a convenient (and plentiful) source of fuel. This is an abridged version of an original photograph including Ada's brother Burt. The photograph was taken by Polly McColl, Ada's mother. For more information on this photograph, see the link to Reflections (Summer 2008) below.

Ada and Burt McColl gathering buffalo chips
Creator: McColl, Ada
Date: 1893
Ada and her brother Burt McColl (in a dress) are gathering buffalo chips to use for heating and cooking fuel. An abridged version of this photograph without Burt is very common. For more information on this photograph, see the link to Reflections (Summer 2008) below. A family member confirmed that Burt (or Bert) was a boy.

A hold up on the Kansas Pacific 1869
Creator: Standard Photogravure Company, New York
Date: Between 1913 and 1914
This ink on paper drawing by M.S. Garretson depicts the artist's conception of a herd of buffalo descending onto railroad tracks as hunters attempt to kill the animals. In the background, a steam locomotive has been stopped as the killings take place.

Bison Skull Fragment from the Country Club Site, 14CO3
Date: 1400-1725 CE
The back portion of the skull shown here was attached to the uppermost vertebrae, the atlas or C1, of a bison. The skull fragment shows evidence of burning and polish, which may be pot polish or a sealant used to help preserve bone. The skull fragment was excavated from a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) village in Cowley County during Phase IV archeological investigations in 1995. The site had been much impacted by a water line, golf greens, roads, and highways. Excavations had been occurring at the site since 1916.

Bison on the Tall Grass Bison Ranch near Auburn, Kansas
Creator: Cooper, Craig
Date: October 2001
Twenty slides showing bison on Wayne Copp's Tall Grass Bison Ranch near Auburn, Kansas.

Buffalo
Creator: Kansas Industrial Development Commission
Date: Between 1960 and 1966
A photograph of an adult buffalo.

Buffalo
Creator: Webber, E. H.
Date: Between 1900 and 1920
View of a buffalo herd grazing in an unknown location.

Buffalo, Gage's Park, Topeka, Kansas
Date: Between 1911 and 1915
A postcard showing two buffalo or bison at Gage Park in Topeka, Kansas. The first herd of bison at Gage Park was delivered January 16, 1911. They were donated by Joshua Hill. Hill started his career as clerk for the Kansas legislature, and after the 1870 session, he moved to Fredonia, Kansas where he started an insurance and real estate business. Later Hill moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where he purchased a stock farm. The bison were raised on his 400 acre farm near Pontiac, Michigan.

Buffalo chips or Kansas coal, Ellsworth County, Kansas
Date: Between 1890 and 1899
This black and white photograph shows a pile of buffalo chips in Ellsworth County, Kansas. The text reads "Buffalo Chips or Kansas Coal." Buffalo chips were a convenient and plentiful source of fuel on the Great Plains.

Buffalo herd
Date: Between 1950 and 1970
This sepia colored photograph shows a buffalo herd at the Canton Preserve in McPherson County, Kansas.

Buffalo herd
Date: Between 1880 and 1899
This sepia colored photograph shows a buffalo herd in Ford County, Kansas.

Buffalo herd
Date: Between 1950 and 1970
This sepia colored photograph shows a herd of buffalo in a unidentified location in Kansas.

Buffalo hides in Dodge City, Kansas
Date: April 4, 1874
This photograph, taken in Dodge City, Ford County, Kansas, shows a large pile of buffalo hides obtained from hunting expeditions in western Kansas. It is estimated that the pile contains around 40,000 hides. Charles Rath, who purchased the hides, is seated on the pile. The men in the background are operating a hide baling machine. Dodge City was located on the Santa Fe Trail. During the period in which these hides were gathered, American hunters decimated the bison heards in the West, leaving Native American tribes without one of their primary sources for food, clothing, and tools.

Buffalo hunt
Date: 1869
This photograph depicts a buffalo hunt along the Big Timber River, located in Ellis County south of Hays, Kansas. Some more well-known members of the hunting party include General George Armstrong Custer, Hill P. Wilson, Captain Tom Custer, and General Samuel D. Sturgis.

Buffalo hunter's home, Sheridan, Kansas
Creator: Benecke, R.
Date: 1870
This is a photograph of a buffalo hunter's home on the Kansas Pacific Railway, Sheridan, Kansas. It is part of Benecke's series "On The Kansas Pacific Railway."

Buffalo skulls and bones
Date: Between 1870 and 1890
This black and white photograph shows a view of a pile of buffalo skulls and bones possibly near Wichita, Kansas.

Buffalo wallow in Haskell County, Kansas
Date: Between 1870 and 1879
This is a photograph showing a man seated by a buffalo wallow in Haskell County, Kansas. These were large shallow areas where the bison (buffalo) rolled in the earth, covering themselves with dust or mud to ease the torment of flies, ticks, and other insect pests.

Bull train carrying buffalo hides in Dodge City, Kansas
Creator: Douglas & White Photographers
Date: 1874
Stereograph of a bull train transporting 900 buffalo hides in Dodge City, Kansas. People on the bull train were: John C. Fry, driver of the tail wagon; Bill Campbell, train master; Joe Mason, scout; Fred or Bill LeGrande; Horace Greeley, ____ Pratt; and ____ Myers of Myers & Leonard. The train traveled about 20 miles a day.

C. F. "Buffalo" Jones' herd
Date: 1885-1899
A photograph showing buffalo and cattalo on the ranch of C.J. (Buffalo) Jones, about four miles southeast of Garden City, Kansas. Jones had a plan to breed cattle with the hardy buffalo, producing a stock able to survive the high plains and yet gentle enough to herd and brand. He captured a number of calves and brought them back to his Garden City ranch where he bred them with cattle. This early experiment with "cattalo," the name Jones used to advertise the new animal, ultimately failed because the species could not survive independently.

C.J. Jones' buffalo herd, Garden City, Finney County, Kansas
Creator: Wolf, Henry L. 1850-1924
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
The photograph shows C. J. Jones' buffalo herd in Garden City, Finney County, Kansas. A man is also visible at back right.

C. J. Jones' herd of buffalo in Garden City, Kansas
Creator: Wolf, Henry L. 1850-1924
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
The photograph shows part of C.J. Jones' buffalo herd in Garden City, Finney County, Kansas. The photograph also shows a fence and a grassy background.

Charles Jesse Jones (Buffalo Jones)
Date: Between 1885 and 1895
A photograph showing Charles Jesse "Buffalo" Jones seated in a cart driving a team of buffalo.

Clara Frost to Joseph Snell
Creator: Frost, Clara
Date: May 05, 1978
This is a letter from Clara Frost, Seattle, Washington, to Joseph Snell, Kansas Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas. In the letter, Frost recounts what her childhood was like growing up in the late nineteenth century in Hugoton, Kansas. NOTE: In the letter, Frost refers to the election of David Overmeyer as Governor of Kansas but that is incorrect. He was a candidate for that office several times.

Dick Bishop riding a bison (buffalo), Council Grove, Kansas
Creator: Kansas. Centennial Commission
Date: May 10, 1961
A photograph showing Dick Bishop from Hugoton, Kansas, riding Grunter a bison (buffalo) in a Santa Fe Trail reride at Council Grove, Kansas. The event was part of the Kansas State Centennial.

Dodge City, Kansas
Creator: Knight, J. Lee
Date: 1872
This photograph of a street scene in Dodge City, in Ford County, depicts three of the town's buildings. The building on the left was the first dance hall in Dodge City, owned by a man named Jones. The second building was a grocery and general store owned by George O. Smith and J. B. Edwards, and the third building, also a general store, was owned by a man named Wolf. Also visible are a crowd of men standing in the street, and two horse-drawn wagons loaded with buffalo hides. Dodge City is located on the Santa Fe Trail in western Kansas.