Haunting Historical Photo Reveals Humanity’s Deadly Footprint

Human activity has driven unprecedented species extinction, but history offers earlier examples of ecological devastation. The 19th-century extermination of North America’s bison is a stark case of human impact, captured in a haunting photograph of bison skulls outside Michigan Carbon Works in 1892.

At the start of the 18th century, up to 60 million bison roamed the continent. By the time of the photograph, their numbers had dwindled to just 456 in the wild. Increased colonization, combined with demand for bison hides and bones, led to their large-scale slaughter, wiping out most herds by the late 1870s.

This iconic image of skulls piled like a man-made mountain symbolizes both the sheer scale of destruction and the interconnected relationships lost with the bison. Indigenous Nations, whose lives and communities were deeply tied to bison herds, suffered profound cultural and ecological loss. The Buffalo Treaty of 2014 highlights the ongoing spiritual and material ties between Plains Indigenous peoples and bison, underscoring the species’ role as a relative rather than a mere resource.

Bison: Keystone Species and Guardians of Prairie Ecosystems

Bison were also keystone species, shaping ecosystems and sustaining biodiversity through grazing, wallowing, and migrating. Their extermination disrupted habitats for countless species, altering the balance of prairie ecosystems.

The presence of men in suits among the skulls in the photograph also reveals the commodification of bison. Their bones were processed into fertilizers, glues, and fine china, shipped to markets via colonial infrastructure like railways. This transformation of living beings into commodities epitomizes the extractive industries of settler colonialism that devastated biodiversity and ecosystems.

Today, around 31,000 wild bison remain in conservation herds, thanks to efforts like the Indigenous-led Buffalo Treaty and InterTribal Buffalo Council. While their survival is a testament to resilience, the losses represented in that photograph remind us of the lasting consequences of unchecked human impact. Protecting the species and its ecosystem relationships remains critical to preventing further extinctions.

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