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First Nations and Métis people collected buffalo bones and brought them to train stations such as this one at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. They received five cents a ton for their efforts
The Kid's Site of Canadian Trains
Yikes!
Buffalo Bones
The prairie was marked by old buffalo trails and millions of tons of slaughtered buffalo bones lay everywhere. When the railway went through, the bones were collected and transported by train to factories where they were ground for fertilizer.
I Was There
"... in many instances the animals were slaughtered simply for their skins. This accounts for the destruction of the buffalo in Canadian territory, marked by the thousands of bones and skulls which I saw between Winnipeg and the Rockies."
From Ontario to the Pacific by the C.P.R., by Mrs. Arthur Spragge. Toronto: C. Blackett Robinson, 1887, p. 40
Read More
Angelique: Buffalo Hunt, by Cora Taylor. Toronto: Penguin, 2002, 85 p. Ages 8 to 12
- If you liked reading this section, check out First Nations
Visit the website Canada, by Train
