Uncategorized
Book Review The Last Buffalo Hunt & Other Stories
Published
12 years agoon
Posted By
AdminThe Last Buffalo Hunt & Other Stories (Adventures in the Great American Outdoors) by J. I. Merritt, Pennington, New Jersey: South River Press, 2012.
By Anne Marie Mistretta Explorebigsky.com Contributor
The guns are getting oiled, and the dogs are working with the bumper. These are sure signs that my husband and dogs are going hunting. With my recommendation, the Last Buffalo Hunt & Other Stories by J. I. Merritt will also be along during opening weekend. This history of noted hunters and adventurers provides fodder for the existential conversations whispered in the blinds and can be served up as a side dish of reflection at day’s end during the bunkhouse dinner.
The Last Buffalo Hunt & Other Stories contains short biographical sketches of outdoorsmen and adventurers across the American continent, from the late 1700s “long-hunter,” Daniel Boone, to the early 1900s Custer Wolf tracker, Harry Williams. All of Merritt’s men pressed and extended American frontiers—either along the wilderness or along environmental technological landscapes.
Initial chapters capture the exploits of men who used hunting for subsistence. Some following, such as the one from which the book takes its title, retell the destruction of a species.
The centerpiece chapter recounts the story of Sitting Bull, the Little Big Horn battle victor, who led his Lakota Sioux warriors from Standing Rock reservation confinement to hunt the buffalo, both a nutritional and cultural staple. Certainly, the near extinction of what is today one of our national symbols can be attributed to men like “Yellowstone Vic” Smith, the “champion buffalo hunter,” whose rough apologies in his memoirs recount daily slaughter of thousands of buffalo in the Dakotas: “When we got through the hunt, there wasn’t a hoof left….wish my aim hadn’t been so good.”
However, the buffalo’s fate was already sealed once the Indians learned—sometimes before even meeting a white man—that the animals’ pelts could bring horses and firearms through the trade route. The Lakota Sioux’s last hunt in 1883 was sadly symbolic, like the buffalo’s image struck on the Indian Head nickel.
Other chapters are antidotes to the seeming rapaciousness chronicled here. Merritt dedicates space to the fabled conservationist and naturalist John Muir; the father of modern archery Ishi; pioneer fish culturist Livingston Stone; Teddy Roosevelt, whose obsession with the hunt led to a love of preservation; and to taxidermist Carl Ackely, whose obsession with preservation has educated millions who seek adventure in the halls of New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. Perhaps the best “shots” in the book are those of photographer William Henry Jackson, who while accompanying the U.S. Geological surveys in the 1870s, captured the Wild West without a gun.
Merritt’s attempt to tell of America’s great adventurers sometimes reaches too far. Yet in many instances it’s not inclusive enough. The William Bartram chapter is not satisfying due to its brevity. Readers will have to go to Andrea Wulf’s The Brother Gardeners to learn more about the Bartrams. Also, Merritt fails to include female adventurers, except for a passing reference to Mary Jobe, who makes an appearance as Carl Akeley’s second wife. Jobe was an explorer and naturalist in her own right before her marriage to Akeley and their subsequent safaris to Africa. While Akeley built dioramas for museum patrons, Jobe in 1916 had built Miss Jobe’s Camp for Girls, a saltwater camp in Mystic, Conn., where young women learned outdoor survival skills. Where is Dora Keen, the first person to climb Alaska’s Mount Blackburn? Ah, you have to read Dorcas Miller’s Adventurous Women, The Inspiring Lives of Nine Early Outdoorswomen to understand women adventurers’ perspectives.
Despite some shortcomings, Merritt’s stories chronicle American experiences, capturing the outdoorsmen’s trek across the continent and the formation of our culture of adventure.
You may like
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before 9/10/2024:
more
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before
9/10/2024: Kindergarten
enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year can be completed by following the
registration process now.
Children
born on or after September 11, 2019: 4K enrollment is now open for
families that have a 4-year-old they would like to enroll in our program for
the 2023-2024 school year. Please complete the 4K Interest Form to
express your interest. Completing this form does not guarantee enrollment into
the 4K program. Enrollment is capped at twenty 4-year-olds currently
residing within Big Sky School District boundary full time and will be
determined by birth date in calendar order of those born on or after September
11, 2018. Interest form closes on May 30th.
Enrollment now is critical for fall preparations. Thank you!
Time
February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
more
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
Time
March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
Location
Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
more
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome
Event Details
Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome to come, if you don’t know who to bring come alone this is a great mixer event! This is an event hosted by Big Sky OUT as we work to provide queer safe spaces throughout the community.
Time
(Sunday) 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location
Cowboy Coffee
25 Town Center Ave. Big Sky, MT 59716