What really makes this area unique is that it has never been touched by man," Quinton says, "The grass is as true as it ever was." Quinton is a park ranger at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Oklahoma, like many states in the West, has several hidden gems and the refuge is one of them. The rolling prairie makes way to beautiful mountains, some of the oldest on earth. The mountains are home to many stories of history - such as the Wichita people saying that their ancestors came from the rocky points of the points and, of course, legends of hidden Spanish gold.
Beyond the natural beauty, the most prominent reason people stop from all over the country is the Bison herd. The Bison (interesting fact: buffalo do not live in the United States and they never have. They reside in Asia and Africa. It has always been bison here, though the two are very similar in appearance which is the reason for the misnomer) are descendants of a herd that basically saved bison from extinction. Bison almost went extinct in the 19th century because of a military tactic. The settlers knew the native people, particularly the Sioux, hunted bison, so the response to get the Sioux to do what they wanted (live on reservations and stop attacking settlers) was to destroy their livelihood. The army, as well as rich people from the East, would come to hunt the animal for sport and kill many of them in one session. The tactic was effective and left many Natives on reservations without a way to live like they used to and made the bison, once numbering around 30 million, to a few hundred in the wild.
Ironically, a president and government who supported the slaughter (Ulysses Grant) eventually made way for a president who realized the bison needed to be protected - Teddy Roosevelt. The American Bison Society started in 1905, demanding protection for the peaceful animal. The Bronx Zoo and the American Bison Society worked together to bring the bison to the Wichita National Forest. On the refuge's website, it recalls, "There was great excitement in the little southwestern Oklahoma town of Cache when the train pulled in with the heavily-crated buffalo. The great Comanche Chief Quanah Parker was among those who came to the station. The crates were transferred to wagons and hauled the 13 miles to the Wichitas. People from the whole countryside flocked into the Wichita Forest to see the shaggy beasts. Mounted braves and their families rode in to see the bison of the plains that had provided meat and teepee skins for untold generations of their ancestors."
The herd now is closely monitored and numbers about 650. "650-700 is about how much the land here can support," says, "And we do many studies to ensure the bison are healthy and will be for a long time." and his team gather hair samples and take DNA samples to check the diversity of the herd, the more the better. They plant a microchip in each of the bison's ear that has all of their DNA information. If the herd gets too big, they allow hunting (the same with elk) to keep the herd in a sustainable arrangement with the land.
Many years after most of the bison were gone, they retained an important part of American history. Of course, Plains Native American cultures collapsed without the bison and were pushed to reservations, but also the settlers and cowboys of the old days lamented their disappearance. In Lonesome Dove, the quintessential western, Gus McCrae sees bison up in Montana and says he hasn’t seen them for years in Texas. Then he proposes chasing them, something his partner, Pea, thinks is ridiculous. Gus responds, “You don't get the point, do you Pea? I mean chase 'em, because before long, there won't be any left TO chase.” The bison are so important to American culture even today that in 2016 President Obama signed a law making Bison the first National Mammal, alongside the bald eagle.
Besides bison, there are often sightings of elk, longhorn cattle, and prairie dogs. Prairie dogs are exciting for a lot of visitors because they sometimes come up right up to visitors and their daily doings are cute, to say the least. A recent review on google says, “Beautiful place with the most amazing scenery and is worth stopping to see even if you are just passing through. The prairie dogs alone make it worth it with their shenanigans.”
The refuge is not just a refuge for the animals, but a places of research and recreation. “We get a lot of repeat visitors because there is a lot to do here,” explains , “We get a lot of hikers and rock climbers because there is a lot of places to climb.” Beyond the light recreational activities, they have a campground with electric and educational activities and seminars for a wide range of people. Rangers do a wide array of work with different schools and universities to study the effects of wildfires, study different animals, and other ground-breaking research. It is a place of reflection and refuge, for visitors as well as animals.