Truth or Fiction

      I wanted to be a cowboy as a kid.  I have been a student of our great western history.  I was always told and believed that the great American buffalo herds were almost exterminated by hunting.  I never stopped to think about what a fabricated story this was. 

     The undisputed facts are that the buffalo numbered around 60 million at one time.  These mighty herds roamed the great planes of the United States and Canada.  The annual crop of new calves numbered about 7.5 million. 

     William F. Cody earned the name of Buffalo Bill because he killed 4,280 buffalo in eighteen months to supply meat to the Kansas Pacific railroad.  This was an amazing accomplishment, but an insignificant portion of a 60 million herd.  Cody was not the only hunter killing buffalo for meat, but probably the most recognized. Buffalo were also hunted for their hides that were worth $3.00 to $3.50.  Sometimes they were killed just for their tongue, worth $1.  And sometimes they were just killed for sport. 

     In spite of all this the highest estimates of the number of buffalo killed annually was about 2.5 million.  If only 2.5 million were killed each year and the annual calf crop was 7.5 million, hunting obviously did not exterminate the American buffalo. 

     The American Buffalo almost became extinct, so what was the cause?  We will never know for sure, but an article by Dr. Sam Fadala called “Was the Buffalo Hunted to Near Extinction?” suggested that tick fever carried by longhorn cattle might be the cause.  A simple microbe was the culprit, just like the black plague was for humans.

     My point is that since it is so obvious that hunting did not bring the American buffalo close to extinction, why has this lie been perpetuated until it is now accepted and believed.  Why do history writers, the media, and our education system perpetuate these lies?  Is it just ignorance and laziness, or is there a political agenda? 

     This same phenomena may be seen in other disciplines and especially in politics.  When I lived in Cedar Rapids, I was invited to a small luncheon the Chamber of Commerce was having for a high level bureaucrat from the Department of Commerce.  The city has several grain processors including Quaker Oats and General mills.  Cedar Rapids’ claim to process and export more grain per resident than any city in the world was a topic of discussion.  The Chamber referenced the Department of Commerce as the source for this claim.  The individual from the Department of Commerce said they referenced Cedar Rapids as the source.  Was the claim true?  Who knows?  It reminds me of the so-called experts’ claim that man’s carbon emissions are causing global warming and quoting each other with no verifiable data.

     Tell a lie often enough and it becomes true in the public’s mind.  The public is more vulnerable to accepting lies as facts if they hear, read, and see the lie frequently in print or on TV.  I think the media has an obligation to make the public aware of lies that are being promoted as facts. 

     Politicians that have no experience, qualifications, or record of achievements to promote must resort to lies.  We are already seeing ads that are absolute blatant lies for this year’s election.   Please get the facts and vote accordingly.