Clark County, Kansas [two postcards]

[Daniel Kalal]

Clark County, Kansas [two postcards]

Bison have come a long way from when they were reduced to just dozens; there are a number of locations in the country (and in Kansas) where you can see them in something close to their natural setting.

The Clark County (Big Basin) preserve in southwest Kansas is one of the better places to see them.  It's undeveloped and hardly visited.  You are able to walk off from the dirt road to get a real feeling for the prairie.

In this case, there were a couple of Buffalo walking across Little Basin.  I figured the steepness of the sides would keep them from coming my way, but I was wrong.  The steep climb didn't slow them down one bit.

The smaller photo is of Jacob's Well which is a sink in Little Basin (also a sink) that never runs dry, and so has been a focal point for travelers for thousands of years.

[Gliderjohn]

 
GliderJohn

[Daniel Kalal]

The Maxwell preserve (about 30 miles north of Newton, Kansas) is a good place, too, but you really aren't encouraged to just go walking across the prairie--it's more a case of seeing them from the dirt road that runs through the preserve.  And, too, there are plenty of people visiting this place (for the fishing lake).

[Gliderjohn]

Speaking Maxwell when I was still working I drove by the east side of the preserve. It had been snowing and there was a group of buffalo that had their backs all snow covered. Didn't think about trying to use my phone camera for a pic. Would have been a cool one.
GliderJohn

[Tkelly]

There is also a herd just south of CedarVale you can ride through.

[oldbike54]

There is also a herd just south of CedarVale you can ride through.

 The Oklahoma Tall Grass preserve .

 Dusty

[Don G]

A neighbor has a pasture that contains about 80 head of Plains Bison, they make quite a sound when running, they emit a clicking sound along with a thunder of their hooves on the prairie, quite a sight.  DonG

[Thunderbutt]

Mid 1995 I flew out to Ft. Sil, Ok. when my son completed his Army Basic Training.   Little did I know that immediately afterwards he would be on a bus to Ft. HOOD, TX. for his advanced training.
I had rented a Ford Mustang convertible for the weekend.  With my son off to AIT, I decided to drive around the nearby national park. As I was driving on one of the roads a bison came up out of the brush and began walking on the shoulder parallel with my car.  This beast was so close I could have reached out and touched him! I can still recall that big brown eye looking inside my car and the huff, huff sound of his breathing as he walked alongside.  That animal was almost as big as the car I was in!  He walked alongside for about 20-25 yards then meandered back off into the meadow.   It really made me appreciate what the native American Indians must have gone thru to be able to harvest and live off these beasts.

[Don G]

The Natives usually herded the Bison over a sharp drop off so that they would be crippled and easier to deal with.  DonG