The history of the American bison (or American buffalo) is linked to the U.S. government’s acrimonious relationship with Native Americans on the Western Plains. Buffalo hunting was a central aspect of the economy and society of the Plains Indians who lived on the grasslands of North America. Buffalo provided meat, and the bulky robes made from their pelts were invaluable for anyone traveling across the cold vastness of the Great Plains in winter. In addition, buffalo hunting was a spiritual practice for Plains Indians. By the start of the 1800s, however, the buffalo was under increasing pressure. After the European introduction of the horse and firearms, Native Americans were able to start exploiting the buffalo to a much greater degree than was previously possible. They became active participants in the increasingly lucrative buffalo market, centered on hides and leathers. The North American buffalo’s population began to collapse. This rapid decline was accelerated by a range of factors, including climatic changes, habitat loss, competition from horses and cattle, and the expansion of the ranch economy. White hunters arrived on the Plains in the late 1800s and brought industrial-scale hunting practices and technologies with them. Their arrival sounded the death knell of the buffalo. Repeating rifles, refrigeration, and railroads all enabled these hunters to kill off millions of buffaloes with startling speed, reducing a population that had once been in the millions to fewer than a thousand.