Every year in late September, some 1,300 head of bison thunder through the prairies of South Dakota during the Annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup. The event is not only an unforgettable experience for riders and visitors, but also a critical management tool to keep the herd healthy.
Custer State Park rangers enlist the help of private citizens to help round up the herd. Sixty cowhands – including 40 selected by the governor’s office and 20 lucky drawing winners – along with park staff get divided into teams that will round up the animals and drive them into corrals.
Once in the corrals, the animals are given their annual check up, including vaccinations. It’s also an opportunity to brand calves and check pregnant cows. The Roundup is the only time during the year that the animals are all brought together, so the park uses this time to thin out the herd as well. The park can’t support an unlimited number of bison so the park auctions off several hundred every year, typically in November. Custer State Park sold 498 bison during its 58th annual auction last year, bringing in over $600,000 that will be used to maintain the herd and park.
Credit for the herd is due to a fur trader and cattleman named Frederick Dupruis and his wife, a Lakota woman called Good Elk Woman. In the early 1880s, the couple acquired five calves that they managed to save from a buffalo hunt in Montana. The growing herd was later acquired by Scottish-born rancher James “Scotty” Philip and his Lakota wife Sally, who expanded the herd to over 1,000.
In 1914, 36 descendants of those bison came to the park, which had been established two years earlier as a wildlife preserve in the Black Hills. As that herd thrived, park managers realized the land couldn’t sustain the expanding numbers and in 1966, the park held its first auction.
Roundup riders are reminded every year that the event is not some leisurely trail ride. First and foremost, they need to ensure that their horses won’t be spooked around the buffalo, which act and even smeall a lot differently than cattle. Horses and riders alike also need to be prepared to run in rough country that could include jumping over fallen trees and crossing streamings. All riders are required to participate in an orientation ride the day before the Roundup in order to get a feel for the terrain as well as the bison.
No one has ever died during the annual Roundup but there have been plenty of injuries, including lots of broken bones and at least one horse that was gored by an unhappy bull. The terrain can be tough for horse and rider to traverse and the bison themselves are just enormous. In fact, they are the largest land mammals in North America. Males can weight up to 2,000 pounds and stand as much 6 1/2 feet high at the hump. They can also be up to 12 1/2 feet long! It goes without saying that getting trampled or gored by one of these massive animals can do some serious damage.
Folks that have attended the Roundup over the years always talk about what a stunning experience it is to see as well as hear the massive animals charging over the hills and through the canyon into “Cactus Flats”, dust flying, riders hooting a whistling. For the riders, it can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience – it’s the only place in the US – and maybe the world – that a cowboy or cowgirl can chase a buffalo.
This year’s roundup gets started at 9:30 a.m. local time on September 27, 2024. The gates for the event open at 6:15 a.m., with branding and sorting starting at 1 p.m. Admission to the Roundup is free but the event set attendance records last year, so plan accordingly. A lot of seasoned Roundup fans spend the night in their cars the night before or arrive in the wee hours of the morning to make sure they can get a primo viewing spot. There are two viewing areas that can be walked to, or take a free shuttle. Visitors are not allowed to leave the viewing area until all the bison are secured in the corrals but that usually only takes about two hours..
South Dakota Public Broadcasting will be live streaming the even for those who can’t make it. The station sets up strategically placed cameras along the hillsides and from what I understand, the SDPB hosts provide some pretty entertaining play-by-play commentary. Learn more at the Buffalo Roundup site HERE. You can also watch some good footage of last year’s Roundup HERE.
