MISSOULA — The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) Bison Range is a peaceful journey back in time with its expansive grasslands, various elevations and beautiful vistas free of technology.
Scattered throughout the nearly 19,000-acre preserve west of St. Ignatius, the stars of the trek are a large herd of bison. But that's not all you can see as elk, bighorn sheep, mule and white-tailed deer, bear and others call the Bison Range home.
Our guides for this adventure were tribal members Antoine Paul and Willie Stevens and it's not long before we encounter a smaller group of bison.
The gathering was just a tiny representation of a species that once numbered in the tens of millions at its peak. It’s still a memorable sight to see bison roaming free and grazing.
“So. right now the buffalo are kind of scattered in smaller herds,” Stevens noted.
He added that's normal for this time of year for the herd to break apart after the mating season.
"And then the older bulls, they're always alone, by themselves, you know,” Stevens explained. “They don't want to be bothered by the young kids."
Bison are the largest mammals in North America with males weighing up to 2,000 pounds.
Stevens and Paul took us off the path reserved for tourists to get a better look at a couple of bulls and with their permission and supervision, they allowed us to get out of the truck to get an even closer look.
But normally, walking away from vehicles is prohibited at the bison range except along designated trails or the fishing access area.
"Just watch that tail; when it starts standing straight up, we gotta go,” Paul advised.
When a bison raises its tail — not to go to the bathroom — the animal is irritated and could charge. Bison can move up to 35 mph, charging with the intent to gore.
Tribal leaders say the herd at the Bison Range are healthy, numbering around 450 and are the most genetically pure bison in the entire world.
"Because this is where most of the buffalo came from,” Stevens explained. "They were brought here, yes, and then distributed all over."
"The Bison Range was started in 1908, and it was started for the reason of trying to perpetuate the bison species back into an existence of meaning rather than near extinction,” CSKY Supervisory Biologist Shannon Clairmont noted.
Clairmont says the founding herd consisted of a handful of orphan calves brought here from the Northern Great Plains by a past tribal member.
“He brought them back to this valley and started perpetuating the herd on his own,” Clairmont said. “The land was open for tribal use; it was exclusively for tribal use.”
The Bison Range eventually ended up in the hands of the U.S. government, but in 2020, Congress returned it to the tribes.
“It is very important to the tribe itself to have the bison here. It's a connection to the past,” Clairmont told MTN. “As you know, the bison played a huge role in the survival of the tribes back when we were nomadic.”
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes say they have an ancient relationship of respect and reverence for the American bison.
An adventure at the Bison Range where the animals roam free like in days long ago might give visitors a new appreciation for a majestic creature that played a key role in Indigenous culture and survival.
