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P1060906
P1060906

The Dude. The Big Lebowski. The Bull. Head Honcho. Heading up herd mentality. American Heritage. Proud survivor.

This small heard of Bison seen at LBJ State Park in the heart of Central Texas' Hill Country has an interesting and important history. This herd is a remnant of the last of the Southern Bison, a variant of Bison distinct from their more familiar and increasingly well known cousins in Yellowstone and other National Parks. According to Texas A&M source, this herd, descendants of the Goodnight Ranch herd which populates Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle, part of all that remains of the vast herds of Bison which roamed the vast plains of North America up until the 19th Century. The Goodnight Ranch is an epic Texan story of taming the wide open spaces of the short grass prairie better known as the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plains. Parts of the old Goodnight - Archer Ranch comprise Caprock Canyon and Palo Duro Canyon State Parks and Trailways:

tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/caprock-canyons

As I recall, Mary Goodnight began collecting Bison calves whose mothers were killed for the European-American Bison market. She would hear the bleating cry of orphaned Bison and resolved to save as many as she could. Her husband tried marketing Bison meat and ranching, but cattle was his primary enterprise. Nevertheless, the Goodnights amassed several hundred Bison over time, and those Bison today populate the two state parks in the panhandle and LBJ State Park in Stonewall. The Bison of these three parks hold the remnants of all what's left of the Great Southern Herd. And that's what makes them special and wholly wild.

© All Rights Reserved
Taken on: January 6, 2010
Sets appears in:   • Cattle, Cows, Calves, Bulls, Bison, Longhorns and other Bovines    • Animals including Reptiles, Birds and Fish, Naturally    more » • Bison of LBJ State Park, Stonewall, Texas    • Lyndon B. Johnson State Park    • Texas Hill Country    « less
Groups appears in:   • Texas    • U.S. City, State and National Parks    more » • US Wildlife    « less
Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ30, f/3.6, 1/50 sec, 37.9mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ30
Aperture: f/3.6
Exposure Time: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Focal Length: 37.9mm
ISO: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Program AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Spot
White Balance: Auto
Gain Control: High gain up
Saturation: High
Sharpness: Hard
Color Space: sRGB
Software: Ver.1.0
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P1060906

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