Primeval paths: Bison in West Virginia

In 1989 a map of major historical bison trails and points in West Virginia was produced and recently this work was converted to digital format. Approximately 2,600 kilometers of bison and elk trails were documented in West Virginia through review of historical sources including traveler's accounts. Most points of interest associated with the trails and points document mainly European hunting activities related to bison and elk. The original map was developed by reviewing county histories and journals of early explorers of what is now West Virginia for mention of game trails and general descriptions of wildlife and flora. The libraries and collections of Davis and Elkins College, Elkins West Virginia (West Virginia Collection and Archives), West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia (West Virginia Collections, Forestry Library, Wise Library, Evansdale Library, and Health and Science Library), Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia (Special Collections and Morrow Library), and the West Virginia Department of Culture and History, Cultural Center, Charleston, West Virginia were included in the search for documents. Key words such as clover, fields, meadows, grass, and direct mentions of bison/buffalo, elk, or general game or “Indian” trails were searched for and noted. This data publication includes a geodatabase containing these digitized bison trails (approximate trails bison used to move from place to place) as well as bison points of interest (places bison were present from as early as 1671 until 1825) in West Virginia.
The purpose of this project was to provide major bison trails and points in West Virginia with historical description.
Original metadata were published on 07/26/2021. On 08/11/2021 metadata were updated to include attribute accuracy information. Reference to a newly published article was included on 10/28/2021.