Wednesday, July 30, 2008

An Old Cowboy's Thoughts about the Return of the Buffalo

Wally McCrae

Wally McCrae, a 70-year-old cattleman who has 30,000 acres in northeast Montana, is a third-generation rancher in the area. In a recent interview for public radio, McCrae, whose land is not far from a Cheyenne Indian reservation, gave his thoughts about the re-introduction of buffalo to the area: "People around here are more concerned about buffalo than they are about weeds. It's just an easy thing to be opposed to because they don't know anything about them. There's nothing wrong with a buffalo. I wouldn't mind somebody having buffalo across the fence from me, as long as he had a good fence and kept the stupid things in. Maybe a few buffalo scattered around wouldn't hurt. We stole the land and stole the way of life and religion and language from the Native Americans. Maybe we ought to keep a few token buffalo around somewhere to remind us what a bunch of jerks we were when we stole it all away from them."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How sad the buffalo is viewed in that way, Tom.

I've always wanted to see a white buffalo, as they are greatly revered. I've read about them but apparently they are extremely rare.

Have you ever seen one?

Happy trails,

Connie :)

Tom Rice said...

Haven't seen a white buffalo, Connie. The closest one is in Wisconsin.