Buffalo Garden
Native Americans inhabited this area 2000 years ago. Across the street to the west is a large rock with a bronze story plate. It marks an area of burial mounds attributed to the pre-Columbian Hopewell culture of the Woodland Indian period. Two hundred years ago their descendants – the plains indians hunted here.
The American bison has been commonly known as “buffalo” thanks to the French fur trappers in the early 1600’s. Massive herds once roamed the grasslands of the midwest. Buffalo and deer trails were the first North American thoroughfares used by man and beasts.
The plains indians ate the bison meat, used the hides and bones for cups, decorations, crafting tools, knives, and clothing. The tribes followed the seasonal grazing and migration of bison.
Interested in volunteering? Contact: parksoffice@muscatineiowa.gov