The Bison
Why buffalo? Both Michael and Kathleen grew up in the rural West. In addition, as historians and archaeologists, we have been dealing with bison for all of our professional careers, usually in archaeological and historical contexts. Not only was there an academic interest, but given our experience with the cattle industry we were looking for an animal that was better adapted to the high Plains environment. Beef cattle originated in the forests of Europe. Bison have been in North America for at least three hundred and fifty thousand years and in that time they have adapted to the weather, the plants, and most of the parasites. They process native grasses better than cattle, they don't have trouble calving, and a late spring blizzard is a minor annoyance to them instead of a life or death affair.
Not only are the animals majestic but the meat is superb. With less cholesterol than skinless chicken and 70% less fat than beef, you can enjoy a T-bone steak without damaging your health. Bison are not raised with hormones, steroids, or antibiotics like modern cattle. Though the research is preliminary, it appears that bison meat is also high in Omega 3 fatty acids. People who raise bison are going out of their way to ensure that no animal products are fed to their animals. No bison has ever demonstrated BSE, or "Mad Cow" disease. Put succinctly: Bison meat is good for you.
That's the good news. The bad news is that you can't treat buffalo meat the same way you do a beefsteak. If you buy bison meat in the store and cook it yourself, remember that it has half of the fat you are used to in beef. Bison meat must be cooked at a lower temperature for a longer time. That means that if you order your beef well done, you want to order bison "medium" at most.
When we reintroduced bison to Red Canyon Ranch we had an emotional as well as intellectual interest. Humans came within a whisker of exterminating the bison. There might have been two thousand left when General Phil Sheridan lobbied the Texas legislature in the late 1800s to kill a bill that would have protected the bison. (Yes, that same Phil Sheridan who stole Wilmer McClean's little table from the surrender house at Appomattox.) Somewhere around one thousand bison survived in the United States and Canada. From them we have rebuilt the North American herds until over three hundred thousand are living -- mostly on private ranches -- in the U.S. and Canada. In contrast to what you will hear on the news, bison are not all diseased. All private herds are clean and healthy. Ironically the only two herds infected with brucellosis are in Yellowstone and Wood Bison Provincial Parks. Isn't it curious that government herds are the only pockets of disease?
We thought bison would make a logical and economic alternative to cattle. What we didn't understand was how they would affect our lives. When things aren't going well, taking an hour off to visit the buffalo brings the world back into focus. Look into a buffalo's eyes, you'll see God staring back at you. They provide us with a reference point for reality in a turbulent modern world.
The 2006 Red Canyon Ranch bison herd is composed of twenty three breeding females, five main herd bulls, and an assortment of calves, yearlings, and two year olds. All in all, we maintain an average of one hundred of the finest bison in North America. Why do we say the finest? Our animals have won trophies in international competitions. We place consistently at the Gold Trophy Show and Sale in Denver at the National Western Stock Show - the Superbowl of premium bison. We also have a growing collection of trophies from the Western Bison Association show Buffalo Classic held in Rapid City, the second toughest competition in the United States. Our herd is derived primarily from these shows and sales with the addition of the Canadian National Bison Association Show and Sale in Regina.
In putting our herd together we have chosen animals with large frames, solid bones, and good temperament. We use no growth hormones or antibiotics. The buffalo is such an exceptional animal to begin with, why screw it up with chemicals? This is especially important given the world-wide problems with domestic meat supplies. Our goal is to produce a red meat the way nature intended. That doesn't that we don't take the mental and physical health of our buffalo seriously. We vaccinate for clostridial disease, brucellosis, and BVD, and do our best to maintain everyone, even the "meat bulls" in a pleasant and spacious environment. Happy buffalo are healthy buffalo.
