Trail Tradition

“Heavy, fleet of foot, capable of covering scores of miles a day, the buffalo tore his roads [traces] from one feeding ground to another . . . these wild roamers of the prairie in great masses thronged from water course to timber belt in search of water and food. That the prairies here were once the home of vast herds is well known by accounts left us by the early French explorers.”
- From J.O. Cunningham, The History of Champaign County, Illinois, 1905

I'll be running with the herd, my buffalo trail running buddies, after work tonight at the Buffalo Trace Trail. This is the ninth year of running every Thursday evening from March through October at the 5-mile long trail. The trail is near the route of a very old buffalo trace, created by herds that traversed the area to reach the waters of the nearby Sangamon River and to munch on the tallgrass prairie. It is likely that buffalo roamed on the very ground we run on today. Large sections along the trail have been replanted with the original prairie grasses native to the area. This replanting is an ongoing project and is carried out by Grand Prairie Friends, a group that restores and preserves natural areas in east-central Illinois. The trail is on an abandoned livestock farm, but it is hoped that one day the entire trail area will be much like the original prairie again. It's happening slowly but surely. The original buffaloes that roamed here were all gone by 1830, but our "human herd" (a.k.a. the Buffaloes) has embraced the area. Free-range buffalo, you might say.