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Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West
THEDRAMATIC HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN BUFFALO—BY MICHAEL PUNKE, THE AUTHOR OFTHE REVENANT, NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO
Michael Punke's The Last Standtells the epic story of the American West through the lens of the American bison and the man who saved these icons of the Western landscape.
Overthe last three decades of the nineteenth century, an American buffalo herd once numbering 30 million animals was reduced to twelve. It was the era of Manifest Destiny, a Gilded Age that treated the West as nothing more than a treasure chest of resources to be dug up or shot down. The buffalo in this world was a commodity, hounded by legions of swashbucklers and unemployed veterans seeking to make their fortunes. Supporting these hide hunters, even buying their ammunition, was the U.S. Army, which considered the eradication of the buffalo essential to victory in its ongoing war on Native Americans.
Into that maelstrom rode young George Bird Grinnell. A scientist and a journalist, a hunter and a conservationist, Grinnell would lead the battle to save the buffalo from extinction. Fighting in the pages of magazines, in Washington's halls of power, and in the frozen valleys of Yellowstone, Grinnell and his allies sought to preserve an icon from the grinding appetite of Robber Baron America.
Grinnell shared his adventures with some of the greatest and most infamous characters of the American West—from John James Audubon and Buffalo Bill to George Armstrong Custer and Theodore Roosevelt (Grinnell's friend and ally). A strikingly contemporary story, the saga of Grinnell and the buffalo was the first national battle over the environment.
Last Stand is the story of the death of the old West and the birth of the new as well as an examination of how the West was really won—through the birth of the conservation movement. It is also the definitive history of the American buffalo, written by a master storyteller of the West.
Michael Punke's The Last Standtells the epic story of the American West through the lens of the American bison and the man who saved these icons of the Western landscape.
Overthe last three decades of the nineteenth century, an American buffalo herd once numbering 30 million animals was reduced to twelve. It was the era of Manifest Destiny, a Gilded Age that treated the West as nothing more than a treasure chest of resources to be dug up or shot down. The buffalo in this world was a commodity, hounded by legions of swashbucklers and unemployed veterans seeking to make their fortunes. Supporting these hide hunters, even buying their ammunition, was the U.S. Army, which considered the eradication of the buffalo essential to victory in its ongoing war on Native Americans.
Into that maelstrom rode young George Bird Grinnell. A scientist and a journalist, a hunter and a conservationist, Grinnell would lead the battle to save the buffalo from extinction. Fighting in the pages of magazines, in Washington's halls of power, and in the frozen valleys of Yellowstone, Grinnell and his allies sought to preserve an icon from the grinding appetite of Robber Baron America.
Grinnell shared his adventures with some of the greatest and most infamous characters of the American West—from John James Audubon and Buffalo Bill to George Armstrong Custer and Theodore Roosevelt (Grinnell's friend and ally). A strikingly contemporary story, the saga of Grinnell and the buffalo was the first national battle over the environment.
Last Stand is the story of the death of the old West and the birth of the new as well as an examination of how the West was really won—through the birth of the conservation movement. It is also the definitive history of the American buffalo, written by a master storyteller of the West.
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2007
168 people are currently reading
1,837 people want to read
About the author
Michael Punke
7books602followersMichael Punke is a writer, novelist, professor, policy analyst, policy consultant, attorney and currently the Deputy United States Trade Representative and US Ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He is best known for writing The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge (2002), which was adapted into film as The Revenant (2015), directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, with a screenplay by Iñárritu and Mark L. Smith, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
October 17, 2020
This book is a combination biography of George Bird Grinnell, account of the decline and eventual rescue of the American bison, and history of Yellowstone National Park. Throw in a few notable names such as George Armstrong Custer, John James and Lucy Audubon, and Theodore Roosevelt, and you have an entertaining and informative account of mid to late 19th century America. Grinnell had initially hunted the bison but recognized that the breed would be lost forever if nothing were done to prevent it. It took decades, but he eventually won the battle.
The American bison is colloquially known as the buffalo, which is the term used throughout the book. At the lowest point, there were only twelve animals remaining from a herd of 30 million. They were slaughtered for their skins and to drive native people into submission by removing their means of survival. Punke shows how, if left to the US government, they would have vanished, but due to the perseverance and dedication of Grinnell (assisted by others), they were rescued from the brink of extinction. It is a wonderful example of how one person can make a big difference.
On a personal note, I recently visited Yellowstone National Park. As we drove through the park, the bison were plentiful. They are massive, magnificent creatures. My first early morning in the park, we crested a ridge and viewed a vast expanse of grassland where a herd of bison were grazing. I took a photo of these dark brown beasts against the silvery steam rising from the geysers. It was an impressive sight. My visit to Yellowstone motivated me to read this book.
The American bison is colloquially known as the buffalo, which is the term used throughout the book. At the lowest point, there were only twelve animals remaining from a herd of 30 million. They were slaughtered for their skins and to drive native people into submission by removing their means of survival. Punke shows how, if left to the US government, they would have vanished, but due to the perseverance and dedication of Grinnell (assisted by others), they were rescued from the brink of extinction. It is a wonderful example of how one person can make a big difference.
On a personal note, I recently visited Yellowstone National Park. As we drove through the park, the bison were plentiful. They are massive, magnificent creatures. My first early morning in the park, we crested a ridge and viewed a vast expanse of grassland where a herd of bison were grazing. I took a photo of these dark brown beasts against the silvery steam rising from the geysers. It was an impressive sight. My visit to Yellowstone motivated me to read this book.
January 25, 2022
I stumbled on this book when it was referenced in another book I was reading. I happily devoured this well written book. The book is filled with a colorful cast of characters including Teddy Roosevelt and Custer. It focuses on the work of George Bird Grinnell in saving the buffalo from extinction. The book helps you appreciate just how close we came to loosing them and gives hope that one person can make a difference.
November 19, 2009
Full of historical anecdotes connected to the opening of the west in the second half of the nineteenth century as well as meaty information about the how and why of important events, all tied together in a story that kept me turning the pages. Inspiring and heartbreaking all at once.
July 31, 2012
A work of parts, first part and second part.
The first part has issues of fact and reliability. The author makes no use of the best, and evolving, literature on bison history, biology, and ecology. His account of the decline of the bison omits key elements (climate, disease) and includes outright misinformation. Such as the material about bison fertility on page 32--this exactly reverses the reality of bison biology. This may seem picky, but if you get the basics of bison biology wrong, then other things fall out of place, too. There even seems to be an unfortunate conflation of the robe trade and the hide trade. The role of the US Army in the demise of the bison, too, is misrepresented, with the repetition of unwarranted claims that the army was somehow directly involved. As for the repeated statements about how the Medicine Lodge Treaty applied to the Texas plains, I just don't know where that stuff came from.
The second part, on the politics of the conservation movement, is much better. Its weakness is that George Bird Grinnell frequently vanishes from sight, and even when in view, is only partially visible. You can't segregate Grinnell the conservationist from Grinnell the ethnologist or Grinnell the husband (oh, he had a wife?!). The sketchy treatment of Grinnell the man means that ideas, important ideas, are not developed.
Overall the work suffers from some weaknesses of the genre (popular history written by persons lacking historical chops), such as the lack of resort to manuscript material.
I feel OK using the work as reference on public and political developments around Yellowstone and conservation, but mistrust it as to anything west of the Mississippi.
The first part has issues of fact and reliability. The author makes no use of the best, and evolving, literature on bison history, biology, and ecology. His account of the decline of the bison omits key elements (climate, disease) and includes outright misinformation. Such as the material about bison fertility on page 32--this exactly reverses the reality of bison biology. This may seem picky, but if you get the basics of bison biology wrong, then other things fall out of place, too. There even seems to be an unfortunate conflation of the robe trade and the hide trade. The role of the US Army in the demise of the bison, too, is misrepresented, with the repetition of unwarranted claims that the army was somehow directly involved. As for the repeated statements about how the Medicine Lodge Treaty applied to the Texas plains, I just don't know where that stuff came from.
The second part, on the politics of the conservation movement, is much better. Its weakness is that George Bird Grinnell frequently vanishes from sight, and even when in view, is only partially visible. You can't segregate Grinnell the conservationist from Grinnell the ethnologist or Grinnell the husband (oh, he had a wife?!). The sketchy treatment of Grinnell the man means that ideas, important ideas, are not developed.
Overall the work suffers from some weaknesses of the genre (popular history written by persons lacking historical chops), such as the lack of resort to manuscript material.
I feel OK using the work as reference on public and political developments around Yellowstone and conservation, but mistrust it as to anything west of the Mississippi.
November 13, 2023
Excellent book on the establishment of Yellowstone National Park and the almost extinction of the buffalo, and the man who basically saved the buffalo. It is also a disturbing and disheartening story of not only the cruelty of man, but of the short sightedness of our forefathers. It is also a very familiar tale (sadly) about the conduct and motivation of our leaders in Washington. I alternated between sadness and anger while reading this book.
August 3, 2021
The buffalo of today is a fixture in American history. Its image is in our most iconic displays of state flags, and commemorative coins. Estimates of how many bison used to roam the Midwest, before European settlers moved in, range from 30 to 60 million and maybe more. Native Americans once lived in harmony with these migratory herds, while using the bison for food, their hides for clothing and shelter, and their bones for tools and weapons.
But the American settlers advancing from the east were hungry for more land and more resources, including bison. Hunters on cross-country trains would even take aim at the wild creatures from their windows and shoot down several at a time.
The hunting train would then slow to a stop for people to skin the animals for coats, or cut out their tongues for culinary delicacies in the cities along the Eastern seaboard. Unlike the Native Americans, these hunters left the rest of the bison to rot. Between 1830 and 1885, an estimated 40 million buffalo were killed. Today only 500,000 exist. This picture explains it all as it captures the extent of the buffalo slaughter carried out by American settlers.
I wonder how many Americans really know the history of the American Buffalo. You want to start with this book. Michael Punke has written a book that describes the methodical extermination of the American Buffalo from the 1850's to the late 1880's and the efforts of one person, George Bird Grinnell to keep it from extinction. Without his help the American Buffalo would be extinct. He also was a leading proponent for the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. The author's style of writing with articulate sentences, well-structured chapters and a wealth of background information kept me turning the pages learning about something I knew little about.
Thank god for the George Grinnell's of this world. His efforts as conservationist enabled him to see into the future and save the buffalo and the importance of preserving our environment.
But the American settlers advancing from the east were hungry for more land and more resources, including bison. Hunters on cross-country trains would even take aim at the wild creatures from their windows and shoot down several at a time.
The hunting train would then slow to a stop for people to skin the animals for coats, or cut out their tongues for culinary delicacies in the cities along the Eastern seaboard. Unlike the Native Americans, these hunters left the rest of the bison to rot. Between 1830 and 1885, an estimated 40 million buffalo were killed. Today only 500,000 exist. This picture explains it all as it captures the extent of the buffalo slaughter carried out by American settlers.
I wonder how many Americans really know the history of the American Buffalo. You want to start with this book. Michael Punke has written a book that describes the methodical extermination of the American Buffalo from the 1850's to the late 1880's and the efforts of one person, George Bird Grinnell to keep it from extinction. Without his help the American Buffalo would be extinct. He also was a leading proponent for the establishment of Yellowstone National Park. The author's style of writing with articulate sentences, well-structured chapters and a wealth of background information kept me turning the pages learning about something I knew little about.
Thank god for the George Grinnell's of this world. His efforts as conservationist enabled him to see into the future and save the buffalo and the importance of preserving our environment.
March 20, 2021
Alright guys, I said I was going to read a book a month this year and here I am finishing my first one halfway through March. Obviously crushing it.
I like nonfiction and stories about wildlife conservation. I know you guys do too. This one is about bison and Yellowstone National Park. I learned a lot about how bison got hunted almost to extinction but then preserved in YNP and allowed to persist to today! There was also some good history about persecution of Native Americans, railroads and the robber baron era of the later 1800s, and Yellowstone’s story. Also George Grinnell, who started the Audubon Society, did a lot of political work to protect YNP, and has a cool glacier named after him at Glacier NP. Maybe we could hike there!
Perhaps the best part of the book was the final paragraph. “The great lesson of George bird grinnell is that one person can make a difference, indeed all the difference. It’s why wild Buffalo still walk the earth today. It’s why there is still hope.� I can only hope that I will one day do some wildlife conservation work that will inspire a person to think this same thing! 🤞🏽
Anyway, the nonfictions are good for me for learning and occasionally inspiration. But they’re not exactly page turners so they take some time to get through and sometimes I take major breaks before I get through them eventually! Here’s the problem though.. I have like 5 other books with me and they are also nonfiction. Can I kick it into gear to meet my reading goal? Comment below!
I like nonfiction and stories about wildlife conservation. I know you guys do too. This one is about bison and Yellowstone National Park. I learned a lot about how bison got hunted almost to extinction but then preserved in YNP and allowed to persist to today! There was also some good history about persecution of Native Americans, railroads and the robber baron era of the later 1800s, and Yellowstone’s story. Also George Grinnell, who started the Audubon Society, did a lot of political work to protect YNP, and has a cool glacier named after him at Glacier NP. Maybe we could hike there!
Perhaps the best part of the book was the final paragraph. “The great lesson of George bird grinnell is that one person can make a difference, indeed all the difference. It’s why wild Buffalo still walk the earth today. It’s why there is still hope.� I can only hope that I will one day do some wildlife conservation work that will inspire a person to think this same thing! 🤞🏽
Anyway, the nonfictions are good for me for learning and occasionally inspiration. But they’re not exactly page turners so they take some time to get through and sometimes I take major breaks before I get through them eventually! Here’s the problem though.. I have like 5 other books with me and they are also nonfiction. Can I kick it into gear to meet my reading goal? Comment below!
February 16, 2025
Really well put together and researched story. I was shocked nearly every chapter with how much Grinnell’s life crossed over with individuals and events I was aware of but that I had never heard much of Grinnell, aside from hiking to Grinnell Glacier a few summers ago. Also provides an interesting and unique look at a piece American legal history in how long it took for Yellowstone to finally be able to enforce the laws that had been written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2021
This book concluded my reading of the settling of the west. What an adventure! Blood and Thunder, The Bloody Bozeman, The Revenant, and Ridgeline. I figure we travel through this area every year, we might as well know the history.
This book is not only about the buffalo but obviously Grinnell is a key reason we still have a National Park system. He is one amazing man who developed key friendships in the government and 20 years time to pull off this feat. We need more honorable men like him and unfortunately the government hasn't changed and still spins its wheels to this today. Sigh.
This book is not only about the buffalo but obviously Grinnell is a key reason we still have a National Park system. He is one amazing man who developed key friendships in the government and 20 years time to pull off this feat. We need more honorable men like him and unfortunately the government hasn't changed and still spins its wheels to this today. Sigh.
July 23, 2024
Excellent account of the fight to save the wild bison.
June 23, 2011
A very educational, but sad book about American's or mankinds nearly extermination of the American Bison. I know Buffalo, NY was named after the quantity of Buffalo's there, but it is remarkable to know that they once lived in pretty much every state except NH, Maine and Vermont.
This books describes the constant struggle and destruction that occured from 1860's to the 1880's and how a few men tried to save the Buffalo. Their determination is an inspration. I have since joined The American Prairie Foundation and The World Wildlife Fund. It has also opened my eyes even more on trying to help prevent needless destruction globally.
This books describes the constant struggle and destruction that occured from 1860's to the 1880's and how a few men tried to save the Buffalo. Their determination is an inspration. I have since joined The American Prairie Foundation and The World Wildlife Fund. It has also opened my eyes even more on trying to help prevent needless destruction globally.
April 15, 2018
Excellent book, I learned so much about how the conservation movement got started in the U.S. and about bison, of course. George Grinnell was important to the buffalo and the national parks, and yet I had never heard of him before.
September 1, 2020
Wonderful read with an array of American History covered including National Parks, Native Americans, and the development of the West. Thank god we had forward thinking people like George Grinnell otherwise these important and beautiful animals would have been lost forever.
March 23, 2011
A very excellent book about the most extraordinary you've probably never heard of. After reading this book, you'll wonder why you hadn't heard of him before.
April 6, 2018
This book provided great insight into early conservation efforts. The sheer number of buffalo that were exterminated is heartbreaking.
May 6, 2018
Excellent book! Great history of the Buffalo and Yellowstone NP!
November 6, 2019
An inspiration.
January 14, 2024
If you have ever had a chance to visit the American West, areas like Yellowstone National Park, and seen the wonder that are the herds of wild buffalo, then you know what a raw and exciting experience it is. The Lamar and Hayden Valley areas are known an the American Serengeti for a reason. The open plains, the brush with wildlife, the understanding of why America is such an amazing landscape. If you have seen this, it can be hard to believe that we almost lost all of this in the late nineteenth century. George Bird Grinnell is one of the men we can thank for saving this precious resource. He recognized that without proper conservation and protection, the American West would be plundered into devastation. For instance, the wild herds of bison went from 30 million to just 12 due to overhunting, poaching and fortune hunters, not to mention the racist views of those looking to destroy the Native American population by decimating their source of food, shelter, and tools. Grinnell used his influence in magazines, politics, the naturalist community, and the court of public opinion to shine a spotlight on the importance of saving these swaths of nature. Grinnell is, in my opinion, a hero whose legacy still remains today, and will hopefully be saved for generations to come.
As a reader and reviewer, I try to keep my thoughts non-political, but in this case, it is very hard to tamp my opinions down. As a devotee of Yellowstone and the entire National Park System, I could not recommend this book more. This book is a warning to those in power who continue to exploit our country and our world for temporary financial gain. The fact that we almost lost the American West to what can only be described as "robber barons", those who saw the pelt of an American Bison as dollar signs and not as heritage, is stunning to me. Add in the fact that white men were literally using the slaughter of the buffalo to destroy the Native tribes only adds insult to injury. What I find the most telling is the fact that it was the true sportsman of the late 1800's who understood the need to responsibly manage these preserves. Sadly, it seems like that idea has shifted, with many who call themselves "sportsmen" today willingly running ramshackle over this important social contract. Conservation and preservation insures that future generations will be able to marvel at the beauty that our world offers us. We need to be mindful of this with any decisions that we make as a society.
As a reader and reviewer, I try to keep my thoughts non-political, but in this case, it is very hard to tamp my opinions down. As a devotee of Yellowstone and the entire National Park System, I could not recommend this book more. This book is a warning to those in power who continue to exploit our country and our world for temporary financial gain. The fact that we almost lost the American West to what can only be described as "robber barons", those who saw the pelt of an American Bison as dollar signs and not as heritage, is stunning to me. Add in the fact that white men were literally using the slaughter of the buffalo to destroy the Native tribes only adds insult to injury. What I find the most telling is the fact that it was the true sportsman of the late 1800's who understood the need to responsibly manage these preserves. Sadly, it seems like that idea has shifted, with many who call themselves "sportsmen" today willingly running ramshackle over this important social contract. Conservation and preservation insures that future generations will be able to marvel at the beauty that our world offers us. We need to be mindful of this with any decisions that we make as a society.
December 26, 2021
Last Stand is a highly readable account of George Bird Grinnell 's life, especially focused on his decades-long effort to protect Yellowstone National Park and save the American bison from extinction. The early experiences that shaped him included being tutored in childhood by John Jay Audubon's self-sacrificing wife and joining one of last traditional Pawnee buffalo hunts in 1872. The latter, enriched by values instilled by the former, led him out of his father's world of finance and into the western worlds of vanishing wildernesses and indigenous people. Back east he turned his passion into creating organizations like the Audubon Society and the Forest and Stream outdoor magazine, which for 35 years was his pulpit for championing wilderness conservation as well as the force at the center of the first conservationist constituency, the ethical outdoor enthusiast, which he savvily built into a political force that successfully backed up his Boone and Crockett hunt club lobby. At home in wilderness and skilled behind a desk and (grudgingly) in the workings of politics, George Bird Grinnell's battle to save the buffalo would have been enough to define any individual's life. Amazingly, it is not the most widely known of his feats, but it is the one this book is about, and author Michael Punke nicely weaves it into the history of a west in transition, full of characters - villains, heroes, and ordinary men and women - who steered or rode the runaway train of "progress," (usually a positive-sounding way of saying rampant exploitation and subjugation) onto a new set of tracks that brought them safely into landscapes of preservation and protection. Punke concludes his book with a hopeful epilogue describing the visionary work of the American Prairie Foundation, which in 2006 witnessed the first birth of a genetically wild American bison on the plains of Eastern Montana in over a hundred years. Throughout the book, Punke reflects, as Grinnell did, on the sad but prescient perspective of one who sees the rapid transition of a world from wild and fresh to tamed and beaten, a theme plainly relevant today. If there is one thing that created a somewhat discordant note as I read it, it was the subtly old-fashioned, stereotyped, Eurocentric way of referring to and characterizing indigenous people and tribes. Many people would not pick up on this, but it was enough for me to make a quizzical face and shake my head to clear my ear out after reading a few of the affected passages.
November 29, 2022
I really enjoyed this book and found many unfortunate parallels in the present. The saying, ”men who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it� resonated so much. While manifest destiny (westward expansion), policies regarding the Indians (eliminate the buffalo and you eliminate the Indian resistance), and extremes in greed and capitalism are evident in what became of those massive herds of bison, the author also notes that basic survival and the need to make a living on the part of some of the hunters were also factors in the near decimation of the species. Another saying kept repeating in my head as I read this: "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." George Bird Grinnell played a major, if not key, role in the ultimate preservation of the Bison--one that isn't really all that well known. I also found it quite fascinating to learn that Yellowstone as a National Park struggled to survive and find its role in preserving a portion of this nation’s natural resources.
February 20, 2024
Pretty interesting read. Dragged in parts and was more of a history of Yellowstone in the second half of the book. Stories about hunters killing 5,000 Bison in a season were shocking. The sheer amount of waste as a result of the indiscriminate, barbaric slaughter of the Bison was hard to believe. The systematic destruction of the buffalo was a key factor in closing the final years of Native American "independence". The Indians lost a fundamentally important food source when the Bison was hunted to the absolute brink of extinction and their lives were uprooted when the Bison disappeared. The United States government seized upon this opportunity and quite literally starved the Natives into subjugation. Punke does an effective job conveying this grim policy to the reader. A tragedy that transformed the fabric of our Nation.
February 23, 2024
While dense with historical details on less central characters at times, Punke does an excellent job of chronicling the transition of the Old West to the New West, through the life of George Bird Grinnell. The first approximately half of the book describes the experiences in Grinnell's youth that informed his conservation ethic, while the second half tells the story of the frustratingly slow battle to protect Yellowstone. Through the experiences of Grinnell, the reader also learns about economy and industry in the Old West. Overall this book makes an excellent case for the power of individuals to shape conservation, and the role of formative personal experiences in shaping the decisions of key political players. It has many lessons for the conservationists of today about how to build political coalitions and change public opinion in the face of moneyed interests.
January 11, 2022
I likely would never have picked this book without a recommendation (thanks Natalie!), but wow was it good! I learned several fascinating facts about the buffalo, George Bird Grinnell and Yellowstone National Park.
February 26, 2014
A wonderfully written book on a topic that is probably not well known to most people. With the life of George Bird Grinnell as the vehicle, this book explores the death of the old west, the rise of the conservation movement, and the campaign to save the last herds of wild Buffalo.
At its peak the population of wild Buffalo in America ranged as high as 30 million individuals. In the course of 40 years that population had dwindled to little over 1,000. For Native Americans the Buffalo was the primary source of sustenance. For the United States Army, killing the Buffalo was a way to resolve the “Indian problem.� Add to that unchecked hunting of Buffalo for hides, robes and as decorative accouterments for Gilded Age homes, and there was no way it could survive the onslaught. It was only through the efforts of a handful of men that the last remaining individuals were saved.
George Bird Grinnell is probably someone who should be more well known. A central figure of the early conservation movement, he played a pivotal role as owner and editor of Forest and Stream magazine, lobbying for and finally achieving protections for Yellowstone National park and the remaining wild Buffalo that lived within its borders. That herd which had dwindled to only 23 by the early 20th century, now numbers about 4000 thanks to Grinnell and those he was able to enlist in his cause, including Theodore Roosevelt.
A scion of a wealthy family, his father became wealthy providing financial services to some of the great barons of the Gilded Age. Escaping that life through the influence of one of his college professors, Grinnell made several trips west on various expeditions were he interacted with many of the west’s most famous figures, including George Armstrong Custer and Buffalo Bill Cody. It was through these experiences, as well as the tutelage of Lucy Audubon, (John J. Audubon’s widow), that Grinnell developed a love of the west, and an ethic of self sacrifice.
The author made an excellent choice focusing on Grinnell because he represents in one man the transition from the conspicuous consumption and lust for wealth that characterized the Gilded Age, to an ethic that demanded America’s natural and cultural heritage be preserved even if it meant the sacrifice of profit � something we should be paying attention to today.
Though perhaps not intended by the author, this work should be regarded as a cautionary tale, as in many ways we are witnessing a return to the Gilded Age ethic that nearly destroyed our natural heritage and completed the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans. As we witness rollbacks in protection for the environment, denial of the effects of man made climate change, and a return to the mindset that the earth and its resources are here only to enrich us monetarily, we are forgetting the lessens learned by such short sighted behavior only 100 years ago.
I’m not all that familiar with the history surrounding the birth of the conservation movement or of the rise of the new west, so I cannot comment with any authority on the accuracy of everything in this book. I have seen comments that point to some inaccuracies. However, I have not seen any criticism of its value as a popular work of history, or that these few inaccuracies detract from the power of its message.
Highly recommended!
At its peak the population of wild Buffalo in America ranged as high as 30 million individuals. In the course of 40 years that population had dwindled to little over 1,000. For Native Americans the Buffalo was the primary source of sustenance. For the United States Army, killing the Buffalo was a way to resolve the “Indian problem.� Add to that unchecked hunting of Buffalo for hides, robes and as decorative accouterments for Gilded Age homes, and there was no way it could survive the onslaught. It was only through the efforts of a handful of men that the last remaining individuals were saved.
George Bird Grinnell is probably someone who should be more well known. A central figure of the early conservation movement, he played a pivotal role as owner and editor of Forest and Stream magazine, lobbying for and finally achieving protections for Yellowstone National park and the remaining wild Buffalo that lived within its borders. That herd which had dwindled to only 23 by the early 20th century, now numbers about 4000 thanks to Grinnell and those he was able to enlist in his cause, including Theodore Roosevelt.
A scion of a wealthy family, his father became wealthy providing financial services to some of the great barons of the Gilded Age. Escaping that life through the influence of one of his college professors, Grinnell made several trips west on various expeditions were he interacted with many of the west’s most famous figures, including George Armstrong Custer and Buffalo Bill Cody. It was through these experiences, as well as the tutelage of Lucy Audubon, (John J. Audubon’s widow), that Grinnell developed a love of the west, and an ethic of self sacrifice.
The author made an excellent choice focusing on Grinnell because he represents in one man the transition from the conspicuous consumption and lust for wealth that characterized the Gilded Age, to an ethic that demanded America’s natural and cultural heritage be preserved even if it meant the sacrifice of profit � something we should be paying attention to today.
Though perhaps not intended by the author, this work should be regarded as a cautionary tale, as in many ways we are witnessing a return to the Gilded Age ethic that nearly destroyed our natural heritage and completed the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans. As we witness rollbacks in protection for the environment, denial of the effects of man made climate change, and a return to the mindset that the earth and its resources are here only to enrich us monetarily, we are forgetting the lessens learned by such short sighted behavior only 100 years ago.
I’m not all that familiar with the history surrounding the birth of the conservation movement or of the rise of the new west, so I cannot comment with any authority on the accuracy of everything in this book. I have seen comments that point to some inaccuracies. However, I have not seen any criticism of its value as a popular work of history, or that these few inaccuracies detract from the power of its message.
Highly recommended!
August 23, 2017
A story of greed, survival, and redemption in America. Punke tells us how mankind can have a devastating impact on the environment and how one man helped turn it around.
This is more than just a book about how American thirst for land nearly destroyed the buffalo and how one man led a cause to halt it. Once again I am reminded of the way movies and cartoonish history books have shaped our views of the past and make everything seem so clean and noble. Most Americans likely believe that mere rugged individuals set out and tamed the wild west in a quest for adventure. Yee haw..the end. That sentiment is party true but it is not even close to the whole story. Oftentimes history and its cast of characters can be a paradox.
In the late 19th century the West was tamed, or plundered if you will, in part by the robber barons and railroad men of the Eastern US who held great influence over Congress. The frontier men doing the dirty work were generally Army deserters, fugitives, and men who could make more money poaching and panning for gold vs Army life, mining or ranching. Both groups of people knew that protection laws and Native American treaties barely had a penalty and rarely enforced, if they could be enforced at all. The robber barons made sure of that via their lobbyists in Washington during the scandalous Grant Administration. I find it ironic that the US Army was sent to patrol Yellowstone and prevent the further demise of the buffalo when just a few years earlier they were the very ones sent to help wipe out the Plains Indian in part by destroying the buffalo which they relied on for almost every need. That policy forced American Indians into the reservation system.
George Bird Grinnell witnessed this all first hand. He was born into a privileged class and could have been another robber baron but instead became a naturalist, author and editor of Forest and Stream, the leading natural history magazine in the US during a time of wanton greed and reckless over-hunting. Many of the characters such as Grinnell, Teddy Roosevelt and William Tecumseh Sherman, like Daniel Boone before them, would come to lament the passing of the wild frontier and the near extinction of the buffalo, something which they helped cause.
Like all history, context is important and it is difficult to judge the zeitgeist of the past by today's standards but there were people then who found some of these policies and ideas unjust and worked to change conventional wisdom and in some cases redeemed themselves from a deplorable past. To me people such as this are the true heroes of history yet Grinnell, who later founded the Audubon Society, savior of Yellowstone and the buffalo, among other great successes, was a man the NY Times called in 1938 the "father of American conservationism" remains an obscure historical figure.
This is more than just a book about how American thirst for land nearly destroyed the buffalo and how one man led a cause to halt it. Once again I am reminded of the way movies and cartoonish history books have shaped our views of the past and make everything seem so clean and noble. Most Americans likely believe that mere rugged individuals set out and tamed the wild west in a quest for adventure. Yee haw..the end. That sentiment is party true but it is not even close to the whole story. Oftentimes history and its cast of characters can be a paradox.
In the late 19th century the West was tamed, or plundered if you will, in part by the robber barons and railroad men of the Eastern US who held great influence over Congress. The frontier men doing the dirty work were generally Army deserters, fugitives, and men who could make more money poaching and panning for gold vs Army life, mining or ranching. Both groups of people knew that protection laws and Native American treaties barely had a penalty and rarely enforced, if they could be enforced at all. The robber barons made sure of that via their lobbyists in Washington during the scandalous Grant Administration. I find it ironic that the US Army was sent to patrol Yellowstone and prevent the further demise of the buffalo when just a few years earlier they were the very ones sent to help wipe out the Plains Indian in part by destroying the buffalo which they relied on for almost every need. That policy forced American Indians into the reservation system.
George Bird Grinnell witnessed this all first hand. He was born into a privileged class and could have been another robber baron but instead became a naturalist, author and editor of Forest and Stream, the leading natural history magazine in the US during a time of wanton greed and reckless over-hunting. Many of the characters such as Grinnell, Teddy Roosevelt and William Tecumseh Sherman, like Daniel Boone before them, would come to lament the passing of the wild frontier and the near extinction of the buffalo, something which they helped cause.
Like all history, context is important and it is difficult to judge the zeitgeist of the past by today's standards but there were people then who found some of these policies and ideas unjust and worked to change conventional wisdom and in some cases redeemed themselves from a deplorable past. To me people such as this are the true heroes of history yet Grinnell, who later founded the Audubon Society, savior of Yellowstone and the buffalo, among other great successes, was a man the NY Times called in 1938 the "father of American conservationism" remains an obscure historical figure.
August 11, 2008
This is actually I book which I read for work. A great book in order to learn about the history of the American bison. At times it seemed like I was reading a lot of dates etc, hence the four stars. I enjoyed it quite a bit though, and it's very informative and educational
September 1, 2017
A short thorough history of 19th century efforts to save the buffalo. The political environment feels like today. Great read.
February 23, 2018
A great book on a lesser known father of conservation George Bird Grinnell, his efforts to save the Buffalo, keep Yellowstone together and the establishment of Glacier National Park.
January 26, 2023
Worthwhile book
This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but that’s on me. The title of this book is “Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West�. The trick is to ask yourself: How could Grinnel � or anyone -- save the buffalo from extinction? And the answer, once you think about it, would have to be by [1] getting the public to demand that their government representatives get behind the effort to save the buffalo and [2] lobbying Congress to pass effective legislation that could actually stop the further killing of buffalo. So the “battle to save the buffalo� is essentially a battle using words & legislation fought between conservatives (trying to preserve the wildlife in the West) and businessmen (trying to exploit the resources in the West regardless of any resulting damage to wildlife or the environment). And, in fairness, the Amazon description does pretty much say that that was how the “battle� was fought.
Fortunately, there is much more to the book than just the “battle�. You learn about Grinnel’s early life, especially his experiences in the West. I found Grinnel’s early life interesting -- and the description of his early life also served to let the reader understand what life in the West was like before the wholesale slaughter of the buffalo began in earnest.
The most interesting and informative (yet also sad and disgusting) part of the book showed how evolving political and economic forces kept encouraging the hunting of the buffalo, driving them closer and close to extinction (and in a most wasteful fashion). And sadly, as the number of buffalo began dropping to precipitously low numbers, the prices paid for buffalo simply rose steeply in response, encouraging buffalo hunters to just continue hunting the buffalo despite their dwindling numbers. Eventually, the large buffalo herds disappeared from the plains so that, with few exceptions, the only remaining buffalo were located within Yellowstone Park.
Because saving the buffalo now meant keeping buffalo poachers out of Yellowstone Park, the history of Yellowstone Park is also a major topic. And because the park turned out to be key to preserving the buffalo, I found the history of Yellowstone Park interesting as well.
Bottom line: Worthwhile book. But the “battle� was much less interesting then the circumstances that forced the “battle� to occur.
This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but that’s on me. The title of this book is “Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West�. The trick is to ask yourself: How could Grinnel � or anyone -- save the buffalo from extinction? And the answer, once you think about it, would have to be by [1] getting the public to demand that their government representatives get behind the effort to save the buffalo and [2] lobbying Congress to pass effective legislation that could actually stop the further killing of buffalo. So the “battle to save the buffalo� is essentially a battle using words & legislation fought between conservatives (trying to preserve the wildlife in the West) and businessmen (trying to exploit the resources in the West regardless of any resulting damage to wildlife or the environment). And, in fairness, the Amazon description does pretty much say that that was how the “battle� was fought.
Fortunately, there is much more to the book than just the “battle�. You learn about Grinnel’s early life, especially his experiences in the West. I found Grinnel’s early life interesting -- and the description of his early life also served to let the reader understand what life in the West was like before the wholesale slaughter of the buffalo began in earnest.
The most interesting and informative (yet also sad and disgusting) part of the book showed how evolving political and economic forces kept encouraging the hunting of the buffalo, driving them closer and close to extinction (and in a most wasteful fashion). And sadly, as the number of buffalo began dropping to precipitously low numbers, the prices paid for buffalo simply rose steeply in response, encouraging buffalo hunters to just continue hunting the buffalo despite their dwindling numbers. Eventually, the large buffalo herds disappeared from the plains so that, with few exceptions, the only remaining buffalo were located within Yellowstone Park.
Because saving the buffalo now meant keeping buffalo poachers out of Yellowstone Park, the history of Yellowstone Park is also a major topic. And because the park turned out to be key to preserving the buffalo, I found the history of Yellowstone Park interesting as well.
Bottom line: Worthwhile book. But the “battle� was much less interesting then the circumstances that forced the “battle� to occur.
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