The Plains Indians and Plateau Indians as far west as the Nez Perce of Oregon depended on the Buffalo for nearly ALL their needs, not just meat. The hides and parts of the animals were used totally in every thing from clothing to wigwam shelters with bags for carrying and cooking as well as storage, bone marrow for grease, various bones for tools and an endless list more.

Joe Meek, White Trapper, on "Express" for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was sent North from Northern Utah area to the Bitterroot Valley of now Montana to contact and solicit from the holed up free Trappers there, a promise to sell their "catches" to the Company he represented come "rendezvous time".

Running low on dried meat and mighty cold and exhausted from the strain of travel in dense snow, Ol' Joe did what any experienced Trapper or Indian would do under the circumstances; he shot a huge buffalo bull, opened it with his knife and climbed inside the still warm carcass in the snow covered waste and gleaned a few hours of much needed rest, protected from the wind and snow.

Sometimes they could be a bit too much of a good thing, as example, the Trappers set up Winter Quarters in what is now extreme North Eastern Wyoming, in a dense Cottonwood stand which helped break the wind. A vast herd of Buffalo shared that same common sense decision and attempted to move in with the Trappers. Much whooping shooting and hollering was needed to convince them to move on to the next grove, but the Trappers ate well.

The Official United States Governmental Policy was genocide towards the "troublesome" Indians. Gangs of hunters slaughtered buffalo to feed railroad crews. Thousands were killed for their tongues alone ( a great delicacy back east ). Untold thousands of buffalo hides were shipped East to cover white legs in sleigh rides and wagon travel. Huge parties of blood lusting city dude hunters were formed to ride out west on trains to shoot and mostly leave dead carcasses. The army had hunters that supplied meat to out lying troops at various posts, and of course the Indian still tried to find the rapidly diminishing herds to keep his family from starvation.

Starvation was the official HOPE of Government, as it would force the Indian to become a peaceful sod busting farmer like the whites. The Policy worked very well, and is still in effect if you look at Yellowstone and its Herds , nearly all Indians are under Government control and the wealth of their OWNED lands stripped for whites profits and mismanagement by the bureau of Indian Affairs. Many, many Milions of Dollars appear to have been either lost, stolen or totally mismanaged with no one knowing "WHO" in Government should be held accountable for the vast losses of Government controlled Indian Lands.

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