The Bison of Hot Springs County

THE BISON

OF HOT SPRINGS COUNTY

Major George “Sandy” Forsyth reported seeing herds of 5,000 bison in the Wyoming wilderness of Hot Springs County

The red hills were dotted with thousands of massive brown beasts, grazing in the pale green of the sage. Their huffs and thud of hooves filled the air. A giant bull threw himself down and rolled in a wallow, dust flying as he rubbed the flies and ticks off his thick hide.

The hunting party readied themselves, picking out their prey with anticipation. It was July 1877 and a party of cavalry soldiers and Sioux scouts, led by General Sheridan, had just spotted the enormous herd of bison. They had been exploring the Bridger Mountain Range in presentday Hot Springs County, then a relatively unknown region.

Major George “Sandy” Forsyth was the official recorder of the trip and his words recalled the plentiful bison that once roamed the area.

“We made camp on the side of a hill in a winding sort of valley – rough red earth and sage brush, filled with Buffalo – probably 5000 of them.”

“This P.M.,” he added in his small journal, “we were almost stampeded by our horses by the Indians driving some Buffalo nearly thro [sic] camp. So far today we have killed 40 Buffalo, Elk and Antelope.”

The hunting continued and on July 5th, Forsyth said, “Detail sent out from cavalry to shoot Buffalo which Indians reported just ahead. Crossed the Bridger trail. Hunters ran the Buffalo across the head of the column and killed 6.”

Major Forsyth and his companions were traveling through the Bridger Mountains. Their path took them through the Nowood country, east of modern-day Thermopolis. The land was still untamed and the Civil War veteran reveled in the beauty. He described the trout they caught, the wild animals they hunted and he marveled often on the deep blues of the flowers – especially the Forget-Me-Nots and Larkspur

“At 7 P.M. tonight,” Forsyth wrote, “a frightened Buffalo Bull dashed thro our camp. He came down a steep hill and right thro the camp, like a locomotive off the track.”

After this close call, with a beast that could weigh up to 3,000 pounds, the men nicknamed their camp, “Camp Stampede”.

Fourteen years after Forsyth witnessed the herd of 5,000 bison, it was rare to see the giant beasts. In January 30th, 1891, the Fremont Clipper reported such a sighting. “A writer to the Alamo Argus claims to have recently seen a large buffalo bull in the Big Horn Basin, near Fenton.”

The reporter added, “The man and his companion were within twenty yards of him, and could have killed him had they desired. He was lame in the left front foot. Paste this in your hat, and you will know him next time you come across him.”

One of the last wild bison sighting in Hot Springs County occurred in the 1950’s.

Longtime resident, Martin Andreen, was a young cowboy helping round up cattle with Dave Jones. They were in the Kirby Creek country and Jones was pushing his herd of cows into the corral. The cattle were moving along docilely - with a large bison bull in their midst! “Dave got down there where I was at with my herd,” Andreen explained, “and then all of a sudden the buffalo started to rolling and scattered our cows and scared our horse. When he took off, he took out about a quarter of a mile of fence when he hooked his horn into the fence and just kept running. He went up a hill and that was the last we've seen of that buffalo.”

The two cowboys had quite the time settling down their horses and cows after the bison was gone. Jones hypothesized that perhaps it had run off from a local ranch or, just maybe, it was the last of the bison that had once roamed the area.

You don’t have to worry about bison stampedes through your camp today, but visitors to Hot Springs County can have their own bison experience at the Hot Springs State Park. Wyoming’s State Bison Herd can be viewed year-round in the Bison Pasture. The bison can be seen from your car or you can enjoy the hiking trails throughout the park. As you stand above the park, you can imagine what it must have been like to see a herd of 5,000 of the majestic beasts spreading out to the horizon.