‘Blood Memory’ Review: Bison by the Numbers

I had never seen a buffalo until I moved to Lincoln, Neb., in my early 30s. But my first visit to the Pioneers Park Nature Center, southwest of downtown, hooked me on the shaggy creatures. I remember looking with awe upon the park’s small herd, as if beholding living relics of a distant past. They were not only majestic but also deeply affecting, with their dark, liquid eyes.

My fascination with the bison (the animal’s proper name, used interchangeably with “buffalo”) is shared by many. Consider that no less than three states—Kansas, Montana and North Dakota—depicted the buffalo on their coins for the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program, launched in 1999. Or that in 2016 the bison was named the national mammal of the United States. Such affection was slow in taking root, however: The estimated 30 million buffalo that roamed the Great Plains in 1800 were cut down to less than a thousand by the end of that century.