Take Guided Tour of Sanson Homestead & Buffalo Jump, Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

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Rangers at Wind Cave National Park will offer a three-hour tour of the Sanson Homestead and Buffalo Jump. Participants will then car caravan out to the Sanson Ranch. The hike is moderately strenuous and will discuss last summer’s archeology investigation of the buffalo jump. Check with visitor center when tours are available. Carl Sanson and his family ranched this area for 105 years. Terrible weather, fires, and personal tragedies were just some of the many hardships he faced. However, like other ranchers, he cared for and protected the land and had many wonderful like other ranchers, he cared for and protected the land and had many wonderful experiences during his lifetime. Carl said ranch life in the Black Hills was “next-year country.” If things were bad one year, he hoped for things to be better the next year. The Sanson family operated the ranch from 1882 until 1987. Long before the arrival of horses to North America, native people hunted bison on foot, stampeding these massive animals over steep cliffs so they would fall to their deaths. This method of hunting was dangerous but the rewards could be enormous. A single jump could feed, clothe, and shelter the people for a whole year. Much planning went into this perilous endeavor. A cliff or steep slope was needed. Once a cliff was located the people had to prepare the area to make sure the buffalo would arrive. Many methods were used to attract these unpredictable creatures. One method was to use fire. A prairie fire would burn the grasses. Soon after the fire, if there was enough moisture and sunshine, the prairie plants would begin to grow again creating lush green carpets of vegetation. This new growth would attract various species of grazers - one of them being bison. Once the bison arrived the plan to chase them over the cliff could begin. At Wind Cave National Park there is evidence of such a buffalo jump on the Sanson Ranch. Researchers studying the jump area found tools such as a flake knife and scrapers used to prepare bison meat. Evidence suggests this jump was used at as early as 1,000 years ago. There is still more to be learned about the Sanson Buffalo Jump, but one thing is certain: extreme courage, preparation, and cooperation were required to stampede the bison over the edge to their deaths.

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