The Last Buffalo Hunt
(In Iowa)
August 20th 1863
In this is a fascinating story. Tom Hall and Kevin Schmitt from History delights explores the old town of Rolfe Iowa in search of the site of the last Buffalo Hunt in Iowa.
Located just north of county road C26 on 270th Ave (2 miles west and 1 mile north of Rolfe). Western Iowa is a beautiful area of rolling hills called the Loess Hills, which are the foothills of the great plains, that are just to the west across the great Missouri River. The plains were once very abundant with deer, elk and buffalo.
Pocahontas County during this time was hunting grounds for both Indian tribes and settlers. The late 18oo's seen a great many buffalo hunted, and decimated populations of buffalo.
There is a historic marker northwest of Rolfe Iowa which shows the location of where the last buffalo in Iowa was killed.
According to information from a Pocahontas county website;
"The buffalo was shot by three men from Old Rolfe who headed west from Old Rolfe into the tall grass prairie area to hunt. After successfully spotting and downing the buffalo, two of the men returned to Old Rolfe to get a wagon to transport the meat. One man stayed with the buffalo while the other two retrieved the wagon; however, after waiting quite a while, the man left the buffalo to find his hunting companions. When the three men went back out to find the buffalo, they couldn’t seem to find it because of the very tall grass in the prairie. In an effort to find him, they walked in circles moving outward from the spot they thought the buffalo should be until they found the animal."
Historian Tom Hall Tells the story of
The Last Buffalo Hunt In Iowa
Video Narration by Tom Hall
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