“Driven to the Edge”

“Driven to the Edge” One of the most ancient methods of capturing buffalo in large numbers was the “buffalo jump”. In this method a funneling pathway was used to bring the buffalo to a shear cliff some twenty or more feet in height. The best jumps were at the edge of a good pasture, which sloped gently into a shallow draw and toward the rim. Hunters ran the herd in the direction of the cliff where the buffalo would then plummet through space and end in a mass. There the hunters finished them off, and the women set immediately to skinning them, since any meat not cut off, sliced and placed on drying racks before the next morning would spoil. This practice helped to thin the giant herds and was beneficial to both the hunter and the hunted.