Not until Cortez reached Anahuac, the capital of the Aztecs, in 1521, was the buffalo known to Europeans. Montezuma at that time, had a well appointed menagerie, and among the animals of his collection the greatest rarity was the "Mexican Bull, a wonderful composition of diverse animals. "It has crooked Shoulders, with a Bunch on its Back like a Camel; its Flanks dry, its Tail large, and its neck covered with hair like a lion. It is cloven footed, its Head armed like that of a Bull, which it resembles in Fierceness with no less strength and Agility."

This is probably the first description of the American buffalo in print. In 1530 Cabeca de Vaca encountered buffalo in a wild state in what is now Texas. He also left a description of them, telling of the quality of their meat and of the uses of buffalo robes.

In 1612 an English navigator named Samuel Argoll mentions meeting with buffalo while on a trip to Virginia, discovering them some miles up the Pembrook (Potomac) River, probably near present-day Washington, D.C. Father Hennepin encountered buffalo in 1679 while on a journey up the St. Lawrence River. Marquette has said that the prairies along the Illinois River were "covered with buffaloes." Lewis and Clark, the explorers, when on their return trip down the Missouri River in 1806, mention having to wait an hour for a herd that was then crossing the river.

Colonel Richard I. Dodge, in his Plains of the Great West, describing a herd met with in Kansas, said: "In May, 1871, I drove in a light wagon from old Fort Zarah to Fort Larned on the Arkansas River, 34 miles. At least 25 miles of this distance was through one immense herd, composed of countless smaller herds of buffalo then on their journey north. The whole country appeared one great mass of buffalo, moving slowly to the northward. The herds in the valley sullenly got out of my way, and, turning, stared stupidly at me, sometimes at only a few yards' distance. When I had reached a point where the hills were no longer than a mile from the road, the buffalo on the hills, seeing an unusual object in their rear, turned, stared an instant, then started at full speed towards me, stampeding and bringing with them the numerous herds through which they passed and pouring down upon me all the herds, no longer separated, but one immense compact mass of plunging animals, mad with fright, and as irresistible as an avalanche. Reining up my horse, I waited until the front of the mass was within 50 yards, when a few well-directed shots from my rifle split the herd, and sent it pouring off in two streams to my right and left. When all had passed me they stopped, apparently satisfied, though thousands were yet within range of my rifle and many within less than 100 yards. Disdaining to fire again, I sent my servant to cut out the tongues of the fallen. This occurred so frequently within the next 10 miles, that when I arrived at Fort Larned I had twenty-six tongues in my wagon. I was not hunting, wanted no meat, and would not voluntarily have fired at the herds. I killed only in self-preservation and fired almost every shot from the wagon." This herd is estimated to have numbered about 4,000,000 head.

Accounts are numerous of the existence of buffalo in other remote localities, but on the great plains they throve best and were to be found in the greatest numbers. The mating season occurred when the herd was on the range, when the calves were from two to four months old. During the "running season" the herds came together in one dense mass of many thousands -- in many instances so numerous as to blacken the face of the landscape.

Kearney, Nebraska, was probably very near the center of the buffalo range, and every year the plains Indians had their buffalo hunt. The buffalo supplied many of their wants, the skins being carefully tanned to supply clothing, bedding, and covers for tepees; the meat not intended for immediate consumption was stripped off the carcass, carefully dried, and thus made available for use until the next hunt. The hides of the old bulls were used as a covering for a water craft known as "bull boats" -- being carefully stretched over a round framework, the hairy side within. These boats were constructed more easily than by hollowing out logs.