Roaming buffalos near Garden City were an early roadside attraction.

These vintage real photo postcards, likely from the 1940s, offer a fascinating glimpse into an unexpected sight: a herd of buffalo grazing near Garden City, Kansas. The images show several large, dark-coated bison scattered across a grassy field, their distinctive humped silhouettes unmistakable against the horizon. Look closely to see a car and a homestead in the distance.

At the time this photo was taken, such a scene would have been unusual. American bison, once numbering in the tens of millions across North America, had been hunted to near-extinction by the late 19th century. By the 1940s, conservation efforts were underway, but bison remained a rare sight, especially in settled areas of Kansas.

Garden City, located in the southwestern part of the state, was primarily agricultural. The presence of a bison herd would have been noteworthy, perhaps part of a concerted effort to showcase or protect these iconic animals.

The real photo postcard format was a popular form of communication in the 1940s era. Was this image meant to be a souvenir or attraction? For many Americans at the time, seeing buffalo outside of a zoo would have been a novel experience, evoking the romanticized notion of the Old West and the once-vast herds that roamed the Great Plains.

Or was it meant to document the changing American landscape? Perhaps this image speaks to early conservation efforts. Advocates, including Theodore Roosevelt, established the American Bison Society in 1905 to protect and restore bison populations. Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, located in Oklahoma and established in 1908, was one of the first reserves to protect bison. In 1913, Wind Cave National Park received a small herd of bison, helping to establish another protected population.

By the time this image was made, conservation efforts had expanded. More national parks and refuges began maintaining bison herds. In 1935, the first intertribal bison cooperative formed, and Native American tribes started collaborating again on bison restoration efforts.

If only we knew more about the photographer, Wren. This enigmatic character could unlock the mystery of this image. What assignment sent them to the Kansas plains? We can only hope for future archival evidence to offer another clue.

Amid growing public interest over decades, the 2016 National Bison Legacy Act officially designated the American Bison as the national mammal of the United States. Since then, bison populations have rebounded with continued efforts to manage and expand herds on public, private, and tribal lands. The gradual but persistent efforts to bring bison back from sure extinction transformed them from a nearly lost species to a symbol of conservation success.

An enduring fascination with the American bison speaks to its lasting power as a part of our shared natural heritage. These images provide an interesting contrast between the wild, untamed nature of the buffalo and the settled agricultural landscape of 1940s Kansas.