Buffalo to Red Rocks Amphitheater

Yesterday I wanted to get a photo of a buffalo framed so I went to the mall, Cherry Creek. I lost the photo in an Eddie Bauer store and spent most of my mall time retracing my steps to find it. The clerk at the Eddie Bauer was disappointed that I returned because he was going to keep it, as he said, "That would have made my day". I offered to sell it to him but he declined. I now have collection of American buffalo photos.

The American buffalo is more related to cattle and the European buffalo that to the "original" buffalo from Asia and Africa. They are more like oxen in those continents but I don't understand taxonomy enough to know the difference so rather than refer to them as bison, the proper reference apparently, I have chosen to continue to refer to them as buffalo.

At one point the American buffalo herd extended from the far Northwest of Canada to the Appalachian mountains and there is evidence that they were in the Southeast as well. In the late 19th century they were nearly extinct but now are abundant in the US West. The only original wild buffalo herds are in Yellowstone Park. The rest apparently are owned by somebody.

They can be as big as 2500 lbs., have gestation of 285 days, are herbivores and live about 15 years.

Before horses were introduced to North America Native tribes would herd them over cliffs to kill them for food, pelt, and bony weapons. In Alberta, Canada there is a historic jump called Head-Smashed-in Buffalo Jump.

With horses and bow and arrow the plains Indians would hunt them in abundance. From previous reading I understand that buffalo have a "noncompartmentalised" thoracic cavity allowing both lungs to collapse with one arrow, leaving the buffalo dead in its tracks. Human and most other mammals have compartmentalised thoracic cavities that save one lung for function if we are shot, or stabbed, or suffer collapse of a lung from disease.

Both Native Americans and the US government contributed to the buffalos near extinction. The Commanche in the Southern Plains were reported to kill 280,000 buffalo in one year. The US government allowed the unfettered slaughter of buffalo in the 19th century partly to limit the food source for Native Americans.

In case you haven't noticed buffalo are uuuggglllyyy. That's why I posted two pictures...for your notice.

Today I went to Red Rocks Amphitheater with my friend Tim, his wife Ginny and their daughter Meg (aka Peggy). Red Rocks is a natural collection of red rock, surprisingly so. It was thought to be a gathering area for the Ute tribe before it was so rudely borrowed by a gentleman named John Brisbane Walker in 1906. He was an editor and used the money he made from the sale of Cosmopolitan Magazine (probably not like the Cosmo some know and love today). The first public performance by "settlers" was Pietro Satriano and his 25 piece brass band. I don't have a read on the attendance. The earliest notable rock concert there was by the Beatles in 1964, purportedly the only concert they did not sell-out in North America.

Other notable acts have included John Denver (of course!), Pat Boone, the Carpenters, Grateful Dead (probably more than once), Jethro Tull (where rock throwing and tear gas were involved), REM, Coldplay and probably most notable bands of the last 50 years.

U2 recorded a concert there called Red Rocks:Under a Blood Red Sky and Steve Martin recorded his comedy album "Wild and Crazy Guy" there. Dave Mathews has probably played there nearly as much as he has played the Gorge.

After Red Rocks we had dinner at a place called the Fort where we shared a platter of Rocky Mountain Oysters, buffalo sausage, beef tongue and I had a wonderful buffalo prime rib followed by buffalo ice cream and rattlesnake cake. OK, the last two are made up but there sure was a lot of buffalo meat being served. Did you know that buffalo can reproduce with cattle? No one would want to see that.