When you talk about buffalo being hunted nearly to extinction, Germ, that was due to two things. Market hunting, due to the demand for buffalo hide robes back east. Secondly, the federal gov't encouraged it. Buffalo hunters could go to any military post and pick up FREE AMMO! Why? The goal was to take away the Plains Indians source of food and materials on which their entire culture was based and either starve them into extinction or force them onto reservations. Which is ultimately what happened.