SCOUTING YESTERDAY | Pierre sought bison preserve in nod to South Dakota 'Buffalo King'

This week in South Dakota history: Dec. 12-18

(Courtesy of the city of Philip)

Officials in Pierre were moving to establish a community buffalo preserve from the lineage of livestock once raised by South Dakota’s “Buffalo King” 100 years ago this week.

According to the Dec. 18, 1925, edition of the Argus Leader, the prospect of a herd with lines to the late Scotty Philip — an early South Dakota statesman, businessman and town founder — had the Capital City’s elected representatives and town leaders excited about the role the area could play in restoring American bison populations after the beasts were nearly hunted to extinction in the previous century.

And the effort would be an extension of Philip’s legacy, which earned the prairie pioneer the Buffalo King moniker before his unexpected death more than a decade earlier.

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