The Vore Buffalo Jump

Sometimes, I wonder how I could not know about something. Nevertheless, the Vore Buffalo Jump is an archeological site of which I was unaware. It is located in Crook County, Wyoming, but it is one of a number of buffalo jump sites in the north central United States and southern Canada. The Vore Buffalo Jump was formed where gypsum soil was eroded, leaving a steep-sided pit about 40 feet deep and 200 feet in diameter. I have seen something similar in Thermopolis, Wyoming near the buffalo reserve there, but I don’t know if it was ever considered a buffalo jump. A buffalo jump was used by Native American hunters to stampede buffalo in the direction of the pit. Then, when they got close, they could not stop. They would fall into the pit, which was deep enough to kill or disable the animals that were driven into it. It was a way of supplying meat and skins for a large tribe, quickly and easily.

The Vore site was used as a kill site and butchering site from about 1500 AD to about 1800 AD. I’m sure many people would consider the practice of using a buffalo jump to be harsh or even hideous, but the food and skins were needed and there was no better way to get them at that time. When these jumps became known to archeologists, they began to investigate these pits. In the 1970s they uncovered bones and projectile points to a depth of 15 feet. In all, about ten tons of bones were removed from the Vore site. Just about 5% of the site has been excavated, and the pit is estimated to contain the remains of 20,000 buffalo.

Lithic (the study of rocks) evidence suggests that the Kiowa and Apache used the site as they migrated southwards to their modern home in the Texas-New Mexico region. Later, however, the Shoshone, Hidatsa, Crow, and Cheyenne peoples also used the Vore site. The Vore site was discovered during the construction of Interstate 90 in the early 1970s, and was named after the Vore family ranch, on which it is located. The site was found because of a planned crossing by the interstate. Once located, exploratory drilling was done to determine stability of the sinkhole. At that time they found large quantities of bison bones.

Once they found the bones, they notified the University of Wyoming of the potential archeological site, and the road was moved a little way to the south. The site was investigated in 1971 and 1972 by Dr George Frison of the University of Wyoming. The site was transferred to the university by the Vore family in 1982, with the stipulation that it be developed as a public education center within twelve years. Unfortunately, funding limitations prevented that development, so the site was again transferred to the Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation, which has built a small interpretive center and provides interpretive services. The Vore site is located in a narrow strip of land between I-90 and old US 14. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Someday soon, I hope to visit the site and see for myself.