Army officers recognized, and in some cases openly stated, that the destruction of the bison herds would destroy the Plains cultures that depended on them.

It was a form of warfare against the economic and cultural foundation of the Plains nations, fought not with guns but with high-powered rifles and the hide market.

By 1876, the bison herds were already dramatically reduced from their historical levels.

The great herds that had blackened the Plains for as far as any person could see — herds so large that the thundering of their hooves could be heard from miles away — were contracting year by year.

The Plains peoples knew this.