This unique history chronicles reciprocal relations between settlers and the native fauna of Kansas from the end of the Civil War until 1880. While including the development of early-day conservation and game laws, zoologist Eugene D. Fleharty tells of wanton wastefulness on the frontier, but also curiosity, concern, and creativity on the part of individual settlers, who hunted and fished for food and recreation or simply wondered at the animals' antics.

Using only primary accounts from newspapers and diaries, Fleharty vividly portrays frontier life before such species as the bison,...