National Bison Day 2026

Every year since 2013, the U.S. Senate has passed annual resolutions designating the first Saturday in November as National Bison Day.  This year, National Bison Day will be celebrated on Saturday, November 7. 

On May 9, 2016, President Barack Obama signed the Bison Legacy Act, designating the American bison the national mammal of the United States. 

 

Highsmith, C. M., photographer. (2015) American bison, also known as buffaloes, roam a field in Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming. Yellowstone National Park United States Wyoming, 2015. -09-13. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017685815/.

So why so much fuss about the American bison?

Bison are an animal unique to and emblematic of North America. In prehistoric times, bison species roamed nearly all of what we now call the United States, and then some…from Alaska to Mexico, from the west coast east through the Appalachian Mountains and onto the eastern seaboard. Bison were vital to the livelihood of Native American tribes, providing sustenance, shelter, tools, clothing, fuel, and a focus for spiritual practice. In turn, they helped feed and clothe European settlers when they arrived.

European settlers and their descendants, as a group, did not maintain a symbiotic, respectful relationship with these important animals, though. By the Centennial of the US, bison, which once numbered in the millions across the Great Plains, were nearing extinction. Westward expansion, the railroads, and attempts to disrupt and subdue the culture and movement of Native American tribes led to widespread slaughter of the buffalo herds. In just the 3 years preceding 1876, it is estimated that one million bison were killed; not for food, clothing, shelter, and tools, but to make room for cattle, railroads, and crowds of settlers pouring into the western states. Since buffalo hides were valuable, they were harvested to sell, but the long-standing Native practice of using every part of the animal with respect and thanks was not followed by the American hunters and soldiers. Secretary of the Interior Columbus Delano, along with Generals Philip Sheridan and William T. Sherman, supported the eradication of the buffalo as a military strategy to force the nomadic Plains Indians onto reservations. Early photographic images of piles of skulls and corpses rotting in the sunshine are dark reminders of those violent times.

(1874) Slaughtered for the Hide. , 1874. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2004678777/. 

Efforts were made to stop the slaughter. In 1874, H.R. 921 was introduced “to prevent the useless slaughter of buffaloes within the territory of the United States.”  It was passed by both the House and Senate but was stricken down by a pocket veto from President Ulysses S. Grant, who neglected to sign it, allowing it to die without formally addressing it. 

In the early 20th century, the tide began to turn for the American bison, as individuals and groups began to advocate for their protection. Today, bison live in all 50 states in protected areas, on refuges and Tribal Lands, in national parks, and on private land and farms. Yellowstone National Park is the only area in the U.S. where bison have lived freely and continuously since prehistoric times.

The last large herd in this region was recorded on the western bank of the Susquehanna River in 1773.