The American bison occupies a legendary place in the history of North America. For centuries, these crown jewels of the "American Serengeti" were a source of sustenance, spirituality, and beauty for those living on and traversing the Great Plains. As icons of Native American culture and the American West, the elegant megafauna continue to capture the imaginations of people all over the world. But there was a time when swathes of buffalo hunters, availing themselves of absent hunting laws and federally sanctioned systematic exterminations, slaughtered the buffalo nearly to extinction. With a wealth of historical research and photographs, this book delves in to the beautiful and sometimes tragic history of the American buffalo--and the inspiring story of the conservation movement that rose to save them from being lost forever.