The Passing of the Bison by Roger Pocock
Drawing on Schultz's recollections, this chapter describes the destruction of a way of life as the bison disappear and outside settlement transforms the plains. Accounts of hospitality, hunting, and daily experience establish what is at stake before the narrative turns to hunger and official misconduct. The withholding of supplies makes a desperate winter more deadly, while appeals for intervention expose the contrast between bureaucratic power and immediate suffering. The narrator condemns exploitation and praises those who provide help, even as his own language retains paternalistic assumptions about the people whose losses he records.
By Roger Pocock · First published 1909 · Genre: Historical Fiction, Frontier Literature, Ethnographic Writing · 3,636 words
First lines
A. D. 1883
May I recommend a better book than this? If anybody wants to feel the veritable spirit of adventure, let him read _My Life as an Indian_, by F. W. Schultz. His life is an example in manliness, his record the best we have of a red Indian tribe, his book the most spacious and lovely in frontier literature.
Similar titles
- The Beaver by Roger Pocock
- An Account With Nature by Dallas Lore Sharp
- In Defence Of The Bush by Andrew Barton Paterson
- The Black Panther Of The Navaho by Warren H. Miller
- The Voyageurs by Roger Pocock
- The Cowboy President by Roger Pocock
Genres
- Historical Fiction — The narrative is set in a specific historical period (1870s-1880s) and chronicles actual events like Colonel Baker's attack, the buffalo extinction, and the decline of the Blackfeet nation, presented through the lens of F.W. Schultz's experiences.
- Frontier Literature — The work extensively depicts life on the American frontier, trading posts, hunting expeditions, and the clash between settlers and Native Americans, which are central themes of the frontier genre.
- Ethnographic Writing — The author provides detailed anthropological observations of Blackfoot culture, religion, customs, social structures, and daily life, functioning as cultural documentation.
- Adventure Fiction — Multiple narrative episodes feature action-oriented adventures including the horse-stealing expedition, grizzly bear hunts, and buffalo hunts that drive the plot forward.
Tags
wildlife · extinction · bison · North America · conservation · natural history · environmental change · indigenous peoples · frontier · ecology · animal behavior · historical narrative
What this Textopian page supports
The Passing of the Bison is listed on Textopian as a historical account by Roger Pocock, dated 1909 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Historical account
- Author: Roger Pocock
- Date: 1909 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Historical Fiction, Frontier Literature, Ethnographic Writing, Adventure Fiction, Biographical Writing
- Length: 3,636 words
- Structure: 1 section, 46 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Passing of the Bison by Roger Pocock
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