****the “senseless slaughter” of the Plains buffalo by the white people.****
It makes for a good story but before the Indians had the HORSE they would drive whole herds of buffalo over cliffs, use what they could and leave the rest to rot.
Indians on a war raid would often kill a buffalo, eat part of the hump and leave the rest to rot.
The senseless slaughter by the White Man did take place, but in order to open the plains for farmers. Could you immagine what a herd of half a million buffalo would do to our farm land from Texas to Canada? Could we even have the modern cities on the high plains without the elimination of the buffalo? They would have to issue BUFFALO STAMPEDE ALERT on all the interstates and highways between Illinois and the Rockies.