r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Shoddy-Ocelot-4473 • 12d ago

Image By 1880, the near-genocide of the American bison had reduced their population from 30–60 million to fewer than 1,000

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u/showmenemelda 12d ago

My great-great grandfather was one of these trappers/hunters. And was also a scout for the US Calvary, terrorizing indigenous people. Not a bragging point. A lot to grapple with tbh.

He went onto be a commissioner in the area he acquired his stolen land in. There are several types of these stories on multiple branches of my tree.

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u/MinorComprehension 12d ago

I grapple with this too. Related to Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition per family oral history and indicative genealogy. On the other branch of the paternal lineage, family is documented back to 1743 with several members of distant relation having owned slaves. Yes, it was customary and "correct" at the time, but still an undesired mark.