Buffalo Hides
A buffalo robe is a cured buffalo hide, with the hair left on. They were used as blankets, saddles or as trade items by the Indigenous people of North America who inhabited the vast grasslands of the Interior Plains. Some were painted with pictographs or winter counts that depict important events such as epidemics, famines and battles.
From the 1840s to the 1870s the great demand for buffalo robes in the commercial centres of Montreal, New York, St. Paul and St. Louis was a major factor that led to the near extinction of the species. The robes were used as blankets and padding in carriages and sleighs and were made into buffalo coats.
Only hides taken in winter between November and March when the furs are in their prime were suitable for buffalo robes. The summer hides were used to make coverings for tipis and moccasins and had little value to traders.