The Wasteful Wild West
I’m saddened when I see anything go to waste, but especially when it is an animal product. When meat or such gets tossed to the garbage, that animal’s death was meaningless and even more senseless than if the meat was at least used as nourishment. I’m saddened even more when i realize that this surplus of death is nothing new to humans.
During the time period of the Wild West, commonly the 1800s, the U.S. saw a decline in trapping and the fur trade as fashions changed, but an increase in slaughtering of bison for leather and meat. From Wikipedia’s American Old West page, here is a sad truth about our long history of wastefulness:
Killing far exceeded market requirements, reaching over one million per year. As much as five bison were killed for each one that reached market, and most of the meat was left to rot on the plains and at trackside after removal of the hides. Skulls were often ground for fertilizer. A skilled hunter could kill over 100 bison in a day.
The photo shown here, also from Wikipedia, is a mound of bison skulls waiting to be ground up in the mid-1870s. What’s even more disturbing than the sheer number of bones collected here, is the appearance of the men in the picture (click to see it larger). They have taken very proud stances, each with one foot perched atop a skull. And, although I can’t be positive, I’m sure that they are smirking. Throughout the 19th century, the bison population went from over 25 million to nearly extinct.
How many bison do we see today? How many chickens, cows, and pigs will we see tomorrow? We are a wasteful society, and in desperate need of change. Sadly, with hundreds of years of practice at killing without need, we have a lot to overcome. I, however, have hope. Change is possible.
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