For thousands of years American Indians depended upon the buffalo for food, materials for shelter, and many other necessities, but this relationship ended toward the end of the 19th century when commercial hide hunters nearly drove the buffalo to extinction. Demand for buffalo hides grew in the East, and the railroad arrived in western Kansas, providing the means for transporting products. Because the buffalo was such an integral part of Indian survival, its near extinction had a profound effect upon Plains tribes. Kiowa chief Satanta said that soldiers camped along the river, cut down timber, and killed buffalo on land that had belonged to his people’s fathers. C. J. “Buffalo” Jones of Garden City had been a buffalo hunter before capturing and raising 10 buffalo calves at the local private zoo, and he and others helped save the buffalo from extinction. Today many bison herds can be seen across Kansas.