In 1867 conservative estimates put the number of buffaloes in the trans-Missouri region at fifteen million. By the end of the 1880s, that figure had dwindled to a few hundred. The destruction of the great herds is the theme of The Buffalo Hunters. Mari Sandoz's vast canvas is charged with color and excitement-accounts of Indian ambushes, hairbreadth escapes, gambling and gunfights, military expeditions, and famous frontier characters such as Wild Bill Hickok, Lonesome Charlie Reynolds, Buffalo Bill, Sheridan, Custer, and Indian chiefs Whistler, Yellow Wolf, Spotted Tail, and Sitting Bull. Mari Sandoz (1896-1966) is the noted author of Cheyenne Autumn, Old Jules, and The Battle of the Little Bighorn, all available in Bison Books editions. Michael Punke is the author of several books, including Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West and Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917.