America the story of us heartland worksheet answer key in 1865 how many buffalo roam the great plains

30 million buffalo roamed the Plains in 1865. After 1865, the Homestead Act brought a large wave of settlement to the Plains. As a result, the buffalo population will decrease significantly with the systematic killing of buffalo for their hides. The hides had became fashionable for the East Coast elite. By 1884, there were only about 300 wild buffalo left in the US.