Originally, the Native Plains Indians of North America used just about every part of the bison. Their lives revolved the availability of bison whose original range was from Alaska to Mexico to the Florida panhandle. But by the 1890's this all changed as the bison were being eliminated by European settlers. This occurred for 2 reasons.First, there was the greed factor. For a good part of the 1800's bison were considered to be in limitless supply. For non-native buffalo hunters they were the equivalent of a gold mine on 4 legs. This group hunted bison from trains and horseback for their tongues, hides, bones and little else. The tongue was, and still is, considered a delicacy. Hides were prepared and shipped to the east and Europe for processing into leather. Remaining carcasses were, for the most part, left to rot. By the time nothing but bones remained, they too were gathered and shipped via rail to eastern destinations for processing into industrial carbon and fertilizer. By the 1890's with numbers nearing extinction, the bison "gold rush" was over.
