A Local Road to the Buffalo

Just past the Kootenai city limits, daily commuters sometimes catch a glimpse of Buffy the buffalo resting in her outside pen along Highway 200. If not seen for a few days, local Facebook pages become peppered with questions: “Where’s Buffy?” or “Anyone seen the buffalo lately?” Who is this shaggy beast who has become a treasured highlight of drives on our eastern side?

Buffy’s story is a happy one, thanks to the care and love she’s been given by her owner, Dawn Dempsey. Dempsey operates Survivors Rescue Inc., a rehabilitative sanctuary for abandoned, neglected, and abused horses. The nonprofit was born from Dempsey’s passion for saving horses and other animals after growing up next door to a horse slaughter ranch.

Dempsey met Buffy after she was contacted by the Bird Museum, which at the time was located in Sagle. Pamela Bird died tragically in a plane crash in 2015. Her husband, Dr. Forrest Bird, had passed away previously, and Buffy had been a Valentine’s Day gift from Dr. Bird to his wife. Now, with them both gone, Buffy was lonely. The museum hoped that Dempsey could take Buffy in. “They just wanted her loved and cared for,” said Dempsey.

Dempsey and Buffy became fast friends. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it. I’ve never dealt with a wild buffalo before. I would sit with her and eat my lunch, and she would come eat with me.” Finally, the day came to bring Buffy home to the farm on Highway 200. “When she came to the rescue, she acted like a brand new calf,” Dempsey recalled. “She was bucking and kicking; she was so happy.”

Life is good for Buffy, now in her retirement years (she’s 17 years old). She enjoys the apples that passersby sometimes leave hanging on the gate, and (like many people when they age) prefers spending time in her pen rather than roaming in the open pasture.

Dempsey fields comments from well-meaning observers about Buffy’s welfare. “A lot of people go by and then question it. ‘Why is there one buffalo? Why is it in a little pen?’ I had to make the transition that was comfortable to Buffy, not what everyone else thinks.”

She explained that Buffy has cataracts and is slowly going blind. “She’s in the pen because she wants to be there, but she has friends inside. When the chickens hatch their babies, they’re around her feet. She doesn’t hurt one little feather!”

Historically, Highway 200 was known as “the road to the buffalo” as it marked the trek to favored buffalo hunting fields near Ravalli, Montana where today the Bison Range (open to the public) on the Flathead Indian Reservation is home to around 400 adult bison. With Buffy, this western end of Highway 200 is now a literal “road to the buffalo” as well.

The Survivors Rescue operates 100 percent on donations. To give the nonprofit a boost, visit www.survivorsrescue. com. To learn more about the Bison Range, visit www.bisonrange.org.

– Beth Hawkins

that again. Someone with the passion and money to bring the Sunnyside Queen back to her glory days, so future generations can enjoy her like we did.

“The boat is aging and needs some love,” she added. If you’re interested in continuing this boating dream, contact the Larsons at 208-264-0444 or email at artnjaz@ gmail.com. Moorage and storage is available along with the boat.

– Trish Gannon