Re: The Joy of *small* business

rbowman wrote this post while blinking in Morse code:

On Thu, 19 Dec 2024 09:56:45 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>

Probably too much mammoth meat in the diet...

>
Yeah, the experts recently concluded the environmentally sensitive Native
American ate all the megafauna in North America before starting on the
smaller stuff.

Hmmmmmmmmm...

    https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/what-happened-to-the-bison.htm

    Beginning in the 1860s, conflict raged on the prairies as the US Army
    attempted to subdue the Plains Indians in order to make way for white
    settlers and railroad lines. Federal officials recognized the importance of
    bison on the Plains, where Native nations had yet to be forced onto
    reservations. In 1873. the Secretary of the Interior noted that “[t]he
    civilization of the Indian is impossible while buffalo remain on the
    plains”; following this logic, the Army provided free ammunition to hide
    hunters, who brought bison to the brink of extinction. By 1894, Yellowstone
    National Park hosted the only known wild herd in the United States.
    Ironically, the US Army—which managed Yellowstone—would play an important
    role in the return of the bison a few decades later.

Includes a picture: Photograph 1892 of a [huge] pile of American bison skulls
waiting to be ground for fertilizer.

--
Old Barlow was a crossing-tender at a junction where an express train
demolished an automobile and its occupants. Being the chief witness, his
testimony was vitally important. Barlow explained that the night was dark,
and he waved his lantern frantically, but the driver of the car paid
no attention to the signal.
The railroad company won the case, and the president of the company
complimented the old-timer for his story. "You did wonderfully," he said,
"I was afraid you would waver under testimony."
"No sir," exclaimed the senior, "but I sure was afraid that durned
lawyer was gonna ask me if my lantern was lit."