Madison Buffalo Jump State Monument - Logan, MT
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 45° 47.662 W 111° 28.325
12T E 463310 N 5071309
Used by Native Americans for at least 3,000 years, this was the site of one of the largest and most used Buffalo Jumps in the region.
Waymark Code: WMWDJ9
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 08/19/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Outspoken1
Views: 0
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For its importance in the history of indigenous people and as an archaeological site, a State Park was created around the site. Within the park is the buffalo jump itself, a gravesite and evidence of a native village in which the band camped during the buffalo hunt. There is also an old trail which may have originally been an ancient bison pathway. Outside the village site are other Tepee rings and hearth sites. About a quarter mile above the kiosk at the parking area is another interpretive kiosk with signage relating various aspects of the site.
The Madison Buffalo Jump is not a run-of-the mill buffalo jump. An unprecedented National Park Service study in 1962 trumpeted the “exceptional value of this classic site.” Another renowned scholar and field investigator recorded it to be “one of the best known and the most spectacular of all kill sites in Montana.” In 1964, Montana State College (MSU) experts first proposed that it be protected as a National Monument. Just last year, University of Montana Professor of Anthropology and author Doug MacDonald oversaw the most comprehensive cultural and archaeological survey of the site ever compiled. Using GPS and other new technology, he and his team concluded that they could easily spend the rest of their professional careers mapping and studying the artifacts and unique features of this special place.
From Distinctly Montana
Madison Buffalo Jump The Madison Buffalo Jump in Gallatin County is surrounded by high limestone bluffs and overlooks the Madison River Valley. Many, hikers, horseback riders, and school groups enjoy scenic beauty and panoramic views on site, while also learning to appreciate its extraordinary cultural, archaeological, and historical significance. It was used by at least fourteen different Native American tribes for communal bison hunts as far back as 2,500-3,000 years ago, continuing into the early 19th century.

Buffalo jumps were used in the late Autumn, so that tribe(s) would be able to kill and process a large quantity of meat, hides, and bones before winter arrived. The communal hunts were carefully organized in advance, infused with ceremony, and set in motion by scouts and runners. Everyone involved had to understand the topography of the land and be able to locate a herd on a gathering plateau. The enterprise also had to be nearby miles of well-placed rock cairns equipped with fresh-cut brush for prepositioned tribespeople to wave at the just the right moment to help funnel the stampeding buffalo along carefully mapped drive lines that ended in a serviceable cliff.

Next, a series of carefully orchestrated tribal ruses were used to trick and manipulate the herd into the drive lines. Taking advantage of the natural curiosity of the buffalo, cleverly-disguised hunters would patiently move near the herd, falling to the ground, jumping up in the air, imitating the sounds of buffalo calves, twisting around several times, falling again, running a short distance, and doing it all over again. Each action was punctuated by periods of calm during which the hunters would lay or stand perfectly still.

Additional hunters (i.e. the renowned buffalo runners) would position themselves downwind of the herd, but above the targeted destination. Again, the hunters acted out in fits and starts of orchestrated movements, sometimes dragging themselves along the ground. Their gyrations would eventually draw the interested buffalo toward the hunters who would slowly, over many hours, retreat toward the cliff. Once the herd began running, they would run beside the on-rushing buffalo. Not surprisingly, those buffalo runners were young men in the prime of life, who had mastered the tricks of the trade that were passed down to them across many generations. It was a strenuous, skillful, and dangerous role that earned one honors and respect with the tribe. One wrong move, a gust of wind from the wrong direction, a suspicious bleating call, a distant dog bark, a hunter showing himself at the wrong instant — the slightest miscue could send the herd fleeing off in any number of wrong directions.
From Madison Buffalo Jump State Park
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Street address:
6990 Buffalo Jump Road
Three Forks, MT United States
59752

County / Borough / Parish: Gallatin County

Year listed: 1970

Historic (Areas of) Significance: Prehistoric, Historic - Aboriginal

Periods of significance: 1700-1749, 1650-1699, 1600-1649, 1500-1599, 1499-1000 AD

Historic function: Agriculture/Subsistence, Domestic, Funerary - Animal Facility, Graves/Burials, Village Site

Current function: Landscape, Recreation And Culture - Outdoor Recreation, Park

Privately owned?: yes

Primary Web Site: [Web Link]

Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]

Secondary Website 2: [Web Link]

Season start / Season finish: Not listed

Hours of operation: Not listed

National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.
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