Antelope Island State Park on Utah’s Great Salt Lake is home to a semi-free-ranging herd of about 550 to 700 American plains bison, among the largest and oldest publicly owned herds in the United States. Introduced to the island in 1893 after William Glasmann sold seventeen animals to John E. Dooley, the herd grew to several hundred and was managed from the Fielding Garr Ranch. Its appearance in the 1923 film The Covered Wagon brought national attention, and a controversial 1926 hunt helped shift opinion toward protection. Since Utah acquired the herd and island, the bison have been closely managed for health, conservation, and their distinctive genetic heritage.