City-owned buffalo?

Yep. The herd of bison are owned by the Route 66 town of El Reno, Okla. The city wants a local American Indian tribe to place the herd on its land, according to a report in the Associated Press.

A little factoid about the El Reno buffalo that I didn’t know:

The bison are descendants of a herd which, along with longhorn cattle, zebras, donkeys and deer, were a roadside attraction along old Route 66. The city sold the other animals, but the buffalo remain on 15 acres on the west side of Lake El Reno.

According to Jim Ross’ book “Oklahoma Route 66,” there once was a Grace’s Museum and Curios on the west side of El Reno. I wonder whether the buffalo came from that roadside attraction.

It looks like the Cheyenne-Arapaho tribe can take the bison on 1,200 acres near Concho. The city council will decide on the buffaloes’ fate next month.

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