Last spring Wingman Tony and I were offered access to a privately owned Buffalo Jump, to detect and to hunt Indian points/artifacts on. A few weeks ago we took advantage of the offer, and took a break from our normal haunts; to give the buffalo jump a go.
But first… what is a Buffalo Jump?
For more than 1,000 years, and some think for nearly 2,000 years, prehistoric men and women of the Montana Great Plains hunted bison by driving them over cliffs. Called “pishkuns”, some of the largest buffalo jumps in the world were right here in Montana, and were used as jump sites between 900 and 1500 A.D. Below the cliffs that can stretch more than a mile, the soil reveals compacted bison bones sometimes over 10 feet deep.
Captain Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark, describe how Buffalo Jumps were used in writings from 1805: " ...one of the most active and fleet young men is selected and disguised in a robe of buffalo skin ... he places himself at a distance between a herd of buffalo and a precipice proper for the purpose; the other Indians now surround the herd on the back and flanks and at a signal agreed on all show themselves at the same time moving forward towards the buffalo; the disguised Indian or decoy has taken care to place himself sufficiently near the buffalo to be noticed by them when they take to flight and running before them they follow him in full speed to the precipice; the Indian (decoy) in the mean time has taken care to secure himself in some cranny in the cliff... the part of the decoy I am informed is extremely dangerous."
Horses weren't introduced to the Indians of the Northern Plains until the early 18th century. So, they didn’t hunt on horseback until then and had to gather meat in other ways. At least 2,000 years ago, the ever-resourceful tribes devised a simple way to provide their food, clothing, shelter and tools often without firing a single arrow or bullet, or even giving chase to the prey. At the Buffalo Jumps, the Blackfeet, Salish, Shoshone, and possibly many other tribes gathered their families around the cliffs. They then would herd bison nearer and nearer the edge, until they could stampede the animals, forcing them to fall to the ground below.
Once the animals had fallen to their deaths the families camped below the cliff went to work. After the bison had been butchered for their meat, their skins and horns were harvested for tipis, hides, blankets, and tools. The horns were made into spoons and tools, as were the bones. It took an average of 18 hides to make one tipi, with larger ones using as many as 30. Any meat that wasn't needed immediately was dried on long racks to make jerky. The meat kept for a whole season and was sometimes mixed with berries and carried in pouches for emergency provisions on long winter hunts.
Tony and I were hoping this site would yield some tools, points, scrapers… anything.
Here is the site we walked… we walked the entire length of cliff on the right… and the entire hill terrain off in the distance.
Here is the main kill area, we spent most our time walking these terrain features and looking for artifacts. Mostly we found bones… the bones of Bison killed by pre-historic Native Americans between 500 – 1000 years ago. The erosion on these hills is terrible and is exposing more and older bone every year.
These cliffs have been picked over since the 1860s for arrowheads and other tools. The chances of finding anything is only fair at best, locals have been collecting off this area and one of the Montana Universities conducts archaeological digs on rare occasions. They have left gigantic holes behind… full of bone debris… very unsightly.
Can you see the entire row of teeth in a circular pattern here? Do you think the entire skull is below that? I never checked…
Tony digs for broken or lost points near some bones…
One picture of me before hiking the entire hill pictured in the background… we took no camera, tools, or detectors and of course, wish we did. It was a great two mile hike that produced some broken points for Tony and some flakes and worked stone. Tony say’s the material was obsidian, jasper, flint, and chert and maybe some coffee agate. Tony has been picking points his whole life and I am point-tarded on all accounts.
Here is what we found – it’s not much, but it’s enough to make us go back there after a good rain and hunt points in earnest.
looks like ya need to do alot of digging.i know i would.looks like the skull is there still.they are just so dang brittle.go right after one of them big rains.i would also be checking the bluff on top all over.it wont be long before you score something sweet.post it when you do find it cant wait.just a few fossils in my pic.
looks like ya need to do alot of digging.i know i would.looks like the skull is there still.they are just so dang brittle.go right after one of them big rains.i would also be checking the bluff on top all over.it wont be long before you score something sweet.post it when you do find it cant wait.just a few fossils in my pic.
Steve... we know it's out there... and yes, the bones are everyplace and brittle as heck. I know the deeper bones are in much better shape.
We also know we can find more stuff... either by digging or hitting it after the rains. We have permision to detect (useless), dig (awesome), and collect whatever we want... the only thing we need is time.
We did check the bluff, and tops of the cliffs, and all the terrain we could get to - this first trip was really just a "scouting" mission.
Tony is a points freak having collected them in Ohio and South Dakota his whole life... he even has a bucket full of petrified sabertooth tiger scat... not THAT"'s a serious collector! This is all new to me... and it's a blast!
dude all that is way cool.Reminds me when I was digging a campp in SD looks just like that area.Have you ever just walked the ridges with your detector looking for camps? I know how wide open it is there,because Ive been there myself,but it does pay off.BTW! Im still looking for my 1st Mammoth tusk or tooth myself.Daniel
Great post Jim. Really a nice quality post and you can tell that you took your time and added some really good pictures. Appreciate you sharing the trip with us as it looks like a dream spot. You know, you are taught history in school but living in modern times as a kid you never think that any of that stuff still exists. You think that it was way in the past and that now it is buried under a strip mall or taco bell or something of that nature...But this post shows that there are still spots that are PRESERVED and look the way they did hundreds and even thousands of years ago. I LOVE THAT FEELING of walking through history. You guys have alot more of it out there in the west especially the serene and untouched Montana, but over here in the East it is MUCH more rare to walk in history like that as most historical sites are no longer or they have been turned into parks. HOWEVER, my research has revealed to me many hidden and forgotten about forts, camps, earthworks, redoubts, even colonial sites. Sites that are all but forgotten about but still exist untainted in that patch of woods that you have never set foot in. They exist still in the nooks and crannies over here and you would never know they were there unless you do your research. It is a awesome feeling to set foot in a Confederate Redoubt (Fort) and see the cannon emplacements and feel the history, just as I KNOW it would be a AWESOME feeling to stand at the foot of that Buffalo Jump!!! Sounds like it was a unbelievable opportunity to walk in history and feel the past. Wish I couldnve been out there as well....Great post and thanks for taking the time to do it well.
Way cool Jim ! I can remember reading about the buffalo jumps when i was a kid.That would have to be an awesome site to visit for sure.Remember no place is hunted out.All that activity going on ya know there's gotta be tons of cool artifacts there somewere ! Hey ya might even find some "petrified Indian scat" in onea them hidey holes !
Jim, those are very cool photos of that BJ area. I'd love to be out that way again.
The last time I visited my daughter in Montana, we drove out to the Madison Jump just west of Bozeman.
you guys always have a good time...and the photos are neat as heck.. and thank you for the history lesson. it was extremely interesting too.... I love that stuff.
Live your life in such a way, that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, satan shudders and says, OH CHIT, SHE'S AWAKE.
I always enjoy going on a trip with you and Tony, even if it just in pictures I feel I'm right there with you. Thanks for the history of the buffalo jump, awesome pics as always too.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by steve71
