Why US Army tried to exterminate US buffalo

Darkroom (Vox, July 30, 2021); Xochitl, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Why the US Army tried to exterminate the bison

(Vox) They killed them then took credit for “saving” them. In 1894, a notorious white poacher named Ed Howell was caught in Yellowstone National Park slaughtering bison, which were on the brink of extinction.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz & Dina Gilio-Whitaker

US Army soldiers patrolling the park brought him into custody, and the story led to the first US federal law protecting wildlife. The soldiers were thought of as heroes for stopping the killer. But it was the US Army that had been responsible for driving bison to near extinction in the first place.

In the mid-1800s, a cultural fiction, an unfounded belief, known as “Manifest Destiny” dictated that white settlers were the rightful owners of the entire North American continent – even though Native Americans had inhabited the land for thousands of years.

In order to clear land for white settlers, the US Army engaged in violent scorched-earth tactics against the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains. One big part of that campaign was to eliminate their crucial food source: the bison.

Not a Nation of Immigrants (R. Dunbar-Ortiz)

By the end of the 1800s, a combination of commercial and recreational hunting, plus the actions of the US Army, had depleted the bison population to under a thousand, down from tens of millions at the beginning of the century.

Around the same time, the US government set aside some of the land once inhabited by the Plains Indians as a national park, and in 1872 Yellowstone was established.

A key mission of Yellowstone was to conserve the land and the animals that roamed there, including the bison.

Today, the soldiers who once patrolled the park are celebrated for having “saved” the bison in Yellowstone, obscuring their own violent contribution to the animal’s near extinction.

ABOUT: Darkroom is a history and photography series that anchors each episode around a single image. Analyzing what the photo shows (or doesn't show) provides context that helps unravel a wider story. Watch previous episodes: youtube.com/playlist...

Sources and further reading:

"The extermination of the American bison," 1887 Smithsonian survey by William T. Hornaday: repository.si.edu/handle... "Poaching Pictures," by Alan Braddock: jstor.org/stable... "The frontier army and the destruction of the buffalo," by David T. Smits: studylib.net/doc... Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out vox.com. Watch our full video catalog: goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: goo.gl/U2g06o or Twitter: goo.gl/XFrZ5H

"Sweet Veggie" vegetarian buffet (SGV)

Veggie editors, Wisdom Quarterly; Mr. and Mrs. Minion (facebook.com/SweetVeggieLA)

Going vegan/vegetarian just got easy. The San Gabriel Valley has a great new buffet restaurant hidden on Valley Bl. in the sketchy town of El Monte next to the river, near the big bus station: Sweet Veggie with multiple locations.

Newest location opens in El Monte, SGV

This place is incredible with tons of vegan sushi, salad, and Chinese food favorites -- popcorn chik'n with basil, stir fry, build-your-own tacos, mushrooms, savory soups, all kinds of tofu dishes, self-serve ice cream (six flavors), desserts, drinks, pizza, French fries noodles...and so much more.

Call first because the place is packed.

It's all you can eat and drink at only about $10. It's incredible, authentic, non-profit, and delicious. The delicious part is the amazing thing for authentic vegetarian Chinese Buddhist temple food and mock meats, seafood, and dumplings. Some of the food

• 10478 Valley Blvd.
• El Monte, California 91731
• (626) 453-8876
• facebook.com/SweetVeggieLA
• instagram.com/SweetVeggieLA
• twitter.com/SweetVeggieLA
• Now also attend veggie cooking classes!
• Also in West Covina, Walnut, Diamond Bar, and spreading

Stocks surge: Money lost?

WQ Economics Bureau

How are we lied to, how are we misled? The popular media makes people regret not being greedy by spotlighting imaginary losses. The gains one would have had, could have had, should have had IF ONLY... It's a canard. The following is another example from the right wing media.

Stock surge burns some
The market's big rally is making many investors who dumped stocks regret their timing. Bought high, sold low

• 11 steps for a stronger portfolio
• Search: Does buy and hold work?

There will be no story when people are non-greedy and stay financially secure as a result. That would not profit the giants who pull the strings. False run-ups on the way down in a collapsing market is a classic way of milking investors, particularly the institutional variety. Easy profits are not the norm for the stock market -- unless one counts isolated blocks of time and 20/20 hindsight. Ask Warren Buffett about his massive losses or Alan Greenspan about his pending ignominy.

There has been a bubble forming in American finance for a long time. It was false inflation based on easy credit, consumerism, and debt. This is the lesson to learn from the current world financial crisis. No lesson learned means no end in sight. The first ZEITGEIST MOVIE explains why. But the "Federal" Reserve, the Treasury, and Wall Street is happy to keep us in the dark, to keep investors afraid, and to be bailed out by any administration in office. America, after all, has the best politicians money lobbyists can buy.