Last Stand, Michael Punke
Last Stand, Michael Punke
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Last Stand
George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West

Author: Michael Punke

Narrator: Sean Runnette

Unabridged: 9 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/29/2016

Synopsis

In the last three decades of the nineteenth century, an American buffalo herd once numbering 30 million animals was reduced to twenty-three. It was the era of Manifest Destiny, a gilded age that viewed the West as nothing more than a treasure chest of resources to be dug up or shot down. Supporting hide hunters was the U.S. Army, which considered the eradication of the buffalo essential to victory in its ongoing war on Native Americans.
 
Into that maelstrom rode young George Bird Grinnell. A scientist and a journalist, a hunter and a conservationist, Grinnell would lead the battle to save the buffalo from extinction. Fighting in the pages of magazines, in Washington’s halls of power, and in the frozen valleys of Yellowstone, Grinnell and his allies sought to preserve an icon. Grinnell shared his adventures with some of the greatest and most infamous characters of the American West—from John James Audubon and Buffalo Bill to George Armstrong Custer and Theodore Roosevelt. Last Stand is a strikingly contemporary story: the saga of Grinnell and the buffalo was the first national battle over the environment. Grinnell’s legacy includes the birth of the conservation movement as a potent political force.

About Michael Punke

Michael Punke is the author of several books including The Revenant, a #1 New York Times bestseller and basis for the Academy Award–winning film. In his diverse professional career, Punke has served as the US ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, history correspondent for the Montana Quarterly, and an adjunct professor at the University of Montana. As a high school and college student, he worked summers as a living history interpreter at Fort Laramie National Historic Site in Wyoming. He lives with his family in Montana and is an avid outdoorsman.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Susan on January 24, 2022

I stumbled on this book when it was referenced in another book I was reading. I happily devoured this well written book. The book is filled with a colorful cast of characters including Teddy Roosevelt and Custer. It focuses on the work of George Bird Grinnell in saving the buffalo from extinction. T......more

Goodreads review by Thomas on July 31, 2012

A work of parts, first part and second part. The first part has issues of fact and reliability. The author makes no use of the best, and evolving, literature on bison history, biology, and ecology. His account of the decline of the bison omits key elements (climate, disease) and includes outright mis......more

Goodreads review by Cathy on November 18, 2009

Full of historical anecdotes connected to the opening of the west in the second half of the nineteenth century as well as meaty information about the how and why of important events, all tied together in a story that kept me turning the pages. Inspiring and heartbreaking all at once.......more

Goodreads review by Henry on November 13, 2023

Excellent book on the establishment of Yellowstone National Park and the almost extinction of the buffalo, and the man who basically saved the buffalo. It is also a disturbing and disheartening story of not only the cruelty of man, but of the short sightedness of our forefathers. It is also a very f......more

Goodreads review by Lindsay on March 19, 2021

Alright guys, I said I was going to read a book a month this year and here I am finishing my first one halfway through March. Obviously crushing it. I like nonfiction and stories about wildlife conservation. I know you guys do too. This one is about bison and Yellowstone National Park. I learned a l......more

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