What is the meaning of buffalo during the American west after 1870?

After 1870, the buffalo symbolized both the vast Natural Resources of the American West and the consequences of westward expansion. As settlers and the railroad industry pushed into buffalo habitats, the massive decline of buffalo populations represented the broader environmental and cultural impacts of colonization on Indigenous peoples and their way of life. The near extinction of buffalo was also a tool used by the U.S. government to undermine Native American tribes, as their survival was intricately linked to the buffalo. Ultimately, the buffalo became a powerful emblem of the struggle between civilization and nature during this transformative period in American history.