The Buffalo
Train Ride
Bone Head: Story
of the Longhorn
Travel the Globe: Multicultural Story Times
The Kids’ Book Club: Lively Reading and Activities for Grades 1-3
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Illustrated by Sandy Shropshire
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ISBN: 1571682759
$14.95 plus $3.50 shipping and handling
Austin, TX: Eakin Press, 1999
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The American bison were on the brink on extinction when conservationist in Oklahoma Territory decided to create the first federal wildlife preserve on the Wichita Forest Reserve. Working with Teddy Roosevelt and William Hornaday from the Bronx Zoo, fifteen bison traveled from New York to Oklahoma Territory by railroad. The first shipment of buffalo arrived on Wednesday, October 16th, 1907. A month later, at 10:16 a.m. on November 16, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union. A little heifer calf was born the day before and was named “Oklahoma.” Her mother had traveled the 1,800 miles pregnant. The Buffalo Train Ride tells the incredible story of how humanity almost destroyed the buffalo and then reversed itself to save this magnificent animal.
Awards
2007 – Oklahoma Centennial Title by the Oklahoma Capitol Complex and Centennial Commemoration Commission.
2001 – Gamma State Author’s Award by The Delta Kappa Gamma Society
2000 – Oklahoma Book Award Finalist, Oklahoma Center for the Book
Reviews
Best Books for Children Preschool through Grade 6, 7th edition
Best Books for Children Preschool through Grade 6, 8th edition
Best Books for Middle School and Junior High Readers, Grades 6-9
Accelerated Reader Custom – A0031 Custom Disk
Highlighted Review
School Library Journal, March 1, 2000, pg. 0262: Grade 4-7-Webber begins with a brief overview of the importance of the American buffalo (bison) to Plains Indians and a look at how the settling of the "Wild West" in the 1870s and 1880s almost drove the animal into extinction. She then focuses on her main concern, the determination of a few American citizens, especially William Hornaday of the New York Zoological Society, to make sure that the bison survived. After establishing a small herd in New York City, Hornaday turned his sights to Oklahoma where his efforts and those of several others, including President Teddy Roosevelt, led to the creation of the Wichita National Forest and Game Preserve, which was stocked with buffalo from the New York Zoo. This unusual story is sure to interest animal lovers and students concerned about conservation and endangered wildlife. Period photographs as well as line drawings and maps accompany the text, and a substantial bibliography lists fiction involving the buffalo as well as nonfiction. Although particularly appropriate for the Plains states, this book has a broad enough appeal for libraries across the country.
Coop Renner, Moreno Elementary School, El Paso, TX
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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