cattle introgression

Cattle History in North America

Domestication Bison for Survival Cattalo-Beefalo  and White Buffalo   From Wild West to Wall Street: The Story of America’s Cattle Empire   Are cows native to America?  How did cows get here? Cattle history in North America. I felt it was important to record these events about domesticated cattle, because of the discussions today around introgression. Introgression probably started when cattle were imported, (much more DNA research needs to be done on our older bison bones, at least 400 years ago.)  Early cattle imports to America, Cattle were not like we know them today, behind fences and in a controlled environment. … Read more

Domesticating Bison for Survival

From Wild to Tame: How Bison Became Our Salvation   The idea of domesticating bison for survival arrived with the early explorers and later settlers.  Since cattle were imported into North America, crosses have been made with the bison, sometimes out of vicinity and other times more purposeful. Early arrivers saw the bison and wanted to make them more useful to their needs, like the oxen, milk cow, or even the horse. Being wild as they are, it was not so easy, but if they could tame them down by crossing them on their common cattle, they thought they would … Read more