Both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate recently voted unanimously to designate the bison, or American buffalo, as the National Mammal. Whether you’ve seen them only in photographs, or from a distance along the car trail at the General Harry C. Trexler Nature Preserve and the Lehigh Valley Zoo, or roaming by the hundreds at a preserve in the Midwest, few would argue with the bison’s characterization as a very majestic creature. Personally, I welcomed this rare unanimity by the U.S. Congress with joy and surprise, as my “ties” to the bison span decades.
As a child growing up in Bethlehem, I have fond memories of a single “buffalo” being tethered at a miniature golf course located on a portion of what is now the Westgate Mall on Schoenersville Road. As a young Field Artillery Lieutenant in the Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, I remember driving across a massive reservation with a huge herd of buffalo roaming freely. I had to stop my car as they crossed the road, when one of the huge animals sauntered over to the driver’s side window and pressed his nose to the glass.
Perhaps my most memorable “encounter” was as an Army Attorney in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps at Fort Riley, Kansas. Fort Riley had a fairly significantly sized herd of bison on the post. The Commanding General was interested in keeping perhaps a dozen for heritage and tourist purposes, but decided that the expense of the large herd was not a prudent use of resources. Nearby Kansas State University, with its many thousands of acres of land and a well-established veterinary school, expressed great interest in putting the herd on its land. My task as an attorney was to determine a way that the bison could lawfully be moved to the “K State” grounds.
I was able to quickly ascertain that military and federal regulations unfortunately precluded both the donation and the sale of these grand creatures to the University. However, undeterred and on a mission, I was able to come up with the answer. Based on a long forgotten, obscure but still technically valid Army regulation, the bison was considered to be a “beast of burden.” As such, military regulations permitted the buffalo to actually be “parked” at Kansas State University! Before this parking plan was implemented, my days at Fort Riley came to a close. I did hear from friends following my departure that the herd was indeed moved to Kansas State University. The General was happy. The Army was happy. Kansas State University was happy, and I am sure what is no doubt a much larger herd of bison today in Manhattan, Kansas is happy, too.
