Dwindling of Bison Population

Bison robes, and later bison hides, were in high demand with the American traders in the Missouri River Valley. As Indigenous groups from the Canadian Plains increasingly traded with American traders competition over bison herds often resulted in violence and inter-ethnic warfare. The dwindling of the bison population resulted in common food shortages throughout the Plains. As the bison population dwindled competition increased among Indigenous groups and against Euro-American interlopers. The resulting period of increased and regular hostilities is sometimes referred to as the 'Buffalo Wars.'