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

Description

From the #1 international bestselling author of THE REVENANT - the book that inspired the award-winning movie - comes the fascinating story of America's first battle over the environment. In the last three decades of the nineteenth century, an American buffalo herd once numbering 30 million animals was reduced to twelve. In an era that treated the West as nothing more than a treasure chest of resources to be dug up and shot down, the buffalo was a commodity, hounded by hide hunters seeking to make their fortunes. Supporting them was the US Army, which considered the eradication of the buffalo essential to victory in its ongoing war on Native Americans. Into this 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 and preserve an American icon from extinction.

Michael Punke serves as the U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He has also served on the White House National Security Council staff and on Capitol Hill. He was formerly the history correspondent for Montana Quarterly and an adjunct professor at the University of Montana. He is the author of Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917, and Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West. His family home is in Montana.

Praise for Michael Punke's THE REVENANT: 'A spellbinding tale of heroism and obsessive retribution' Publishers Weekly Praise for FIRE AND BRIMSTONE: 'Compelling if horrifying account of the fire and the trapped men is the heart of this yarn, its soul is Punke's historical contextualization' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY