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Show approximately 232 at last count Many local ranchers, who fear that the migratory grazing habits of the large herd are impinging upon the limited grazing of the area, claim that the figure is much higher. DWR acknowldges a natural competition between bison and cattle where the two are grazing side-by-side, with the buffalo usually the victor. Cattle and bison eat predominantly grasses so that competition between the buffalo and deer, for example, is not so great. Garfield County's Henry Mountain herd ranges in terrain accessible only by four-wheel drive vehicle or horseback and care should be taken by those unfamiliar with the area. MHMm mn IH I , 4 .1 1 I - I it f , : "f r-..' -?-. . : . ;. . ., v 4 -'. - ' v. --iV -" 1 desert east of the Henry Mountains. These two, both . cows, moved eastward to the ; Robbers Roost country j where they were Joined later i by a young bull which had ; been roped by a local rancher, ran-cher, trucked in to his ranch and released to the care of the two females. Originally the main herd wintered on the Burr desert south of Hanksville, migrating to the steep rugged Henry Mountains for the summer mostly on Bureau of Land Management lands, with the altitude varying 5,000 feet from summer to winter. Naturally migratory, the herd rarely stays in one area more than three days. The herd is fairly closeknit and when it moves, moves together. Occasionally the herd will split into several smaller groups and later reassemble. Under good conditions estimates indicate a buffalo herd will increase about 20 percent annually, depen-' depen-' ding, of course, upon the composition of the herd. In 1980 the makeup of the herd consisted of 69 bulls to every 100 cows, a much higher percentage of bulls than preferred for a properly balanced herd. There were about 49 calves for every 100 cows, fewer than 50 percent. Managed by the Division of Wildlife Resources out of : their Price, Utah office, the Henry Mountain herd has grown from its original 18 to Stirring dust as it moves along, the only free roaming buffalo herd in the nation Jim Weta photo. roams the Henry Mountain area east of Captiol Reef National Park. Only Free Roaming Herd Of Buffalo in Nation the Robbers Roost area north of the Dirty Devil River on the San Rafael desert where some six weeks later the bulls scattered, two going north and one going south. The following spring another release of five bulls was made with the cows baited into a corral for the occasion. Two days later the gate was opened and three more heifers joined the herd. Later, in the summer, all but two moved to the Burr Hunted indiscriminately for years, the enormous herds were reduced almost to extinction. American folk heroes such as Buffalo Bill and Kit Carson gained much of their fame from their skill at killing the big, bulky buffalo. Slain mostly for sport, the buffalo found little value on the glutted market where its hide brought little. Buffalo tongue was a prized delicacy and the animals were often killed for their tongues which were cut out, with Only in the Henry Mountain area of Garfield County can today's American see what early Americans commonly saw a free-roaming herd of giant buffalo. In the 1900's some 60 million buffalo (bison) roamed freely like a giant black seas across the prairies. They provided food, clothing and shelter for the American Indians, but by 1889 there were barely a few thousand of the magnificent animals remaining. perhaps the hide removed and the rest of the animal left to rot on the plains. The Indains, who watched the source of their food, clothing and shelter disappear with each rifle shot, went on the warpath. Ultimately a few voices made themselves heard and Congress took note of the carnage before the buffalo disappeared completely from the American scene. Like their red-skined contemporaries, con-temporaries, they were provided with reserved land and government protection. Utah'a buffalo herd, over 200 strong, ranges in some of the roughest and toughest terrain in the state. Consequently, Con-sequently, few people except ranchers, hunters, or cowboys living in the remote Henry Mountain area ever have the exciting experience of watching a scene from America's past as the herd stirs the dust as it moves along. The herd was started in 1941 with three bulls and 15 heifers obtained from the Yellowstone National Park herd. They were released in |