Bison Bull in Maxwell Wildlife Refuge

Bison Bull in Maxwell Wildlife Refuge by Catherine Sherman.... more

by Catherine Sherman

Title

Bison Bull in Maxwell Wildlife Refuge

Artist

Catherine Sherman

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

"Bison Bull in Maxwell Wildlife Refuge" by Catherine Sherman.

"Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day."

I thought of the song "Home on the Range" when I visited Maxwell Wildlife Refuge in southcentral Kansas on a hot July day. I'd hoped for a little breeze and a few fluffy white clouds, but then I remembered the line: "And the skies are not cloudy all day."

There were a few discouraging words, however, as I tromped through the field, feeling the sting of the sharp serrated edges of yucca leaves against my legs. (Foolishly not wearing jeans, but it was so hot!)

Maxwell Wildlife Refuge near Canton, Kansas is home to one of the few surviving wild buffalo herds. There are about 250 buffalo and 50 elk on the refuge.

It began in 1859, when a small herd of buffalo were driven into the area around the Maxwell homestead. The Maxwell family wanted to preserve a piece of prairie, with a roaming herd of buffalo, for future generations and in 1943, the Henry Maxwell estate donated 2,560 acres of land to the Kansas Forestry, Fish, and Game Commission for the creation of the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge dedicated to bison and other prairie species.

Public access to the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge includes occasional tram tours, wildflower tours and access to the 50 year old observation tower. Special events at Maxwell Wildlife Refuge include the Prairie Days festival on the first weekend in June, and the Mountain Man Rendezvous on the Prairie on the first Friday and Saturday of October.

"Home on the Range" is a classic western song, sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. The lyrics were originally written by Dr. Brewster M. Higley of Smith County, Kansas in a poem entitled "My Western Home" in the early 1870s. In 1947, it became the state song of Kansas. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

Featured in "Midwest America Photography" group (07/13/2015); "Our 4-Legged Friends" group (07/16/2015); "ABC Group" (07/21/2015); "Wildlife, One a day" group (08/02/2015)

Uploaded

July 8th, 2015