CUSTER STATE PARK, S.D. _ It was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. After what seemed like hours waiting patiently for something to happen, the seismic shaking of the earth signaled the main show was about to begin.
Riders on horseback fanned out across the top of the hill, while below in the valley the rest of us in rack trucks waited for our cue. As if a director had yelled, "Action," 1,300 American buffalo came careening down the hill, with both riders and trucks taking up their positions to help herd them into corrals.
Welcome to the annual Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup. In this annual event, the shaggy bison are interrupted from their usual noshing on the park's lush grasslands, and rounded up for several days of sorting, branding, testing and tagging.
With one of the largest American bison herds in the world, park staff use the roundup to keep the population in balance with available land and resources _ checking them out thoroughly before returning most of them to their grazing a few days later.
Our group's driver volunteered that sometimes the bison _ annoyed at the interruption _ get pretty bad-ass and refuse to cooperate, but this year, with the exception of one frightened calf who went AWOL with its mother in hot pursuit, the herd was downright docile. In no time at all, they were safely corralled, and both participants and spectators headed off for a chuckwagon lunch of brisket and beans.
Along with a group of national and international journalists, I had been invited to take part in the roundup, and to say that we were right in the center of the action is no exaggeration. The herd's headlong rush to the corral was a sight I won't soon forget.
The general public is not left out either. While they are not allowed in the thick of things as we were, they can stake out a spot for optimal viewing as the herd comes thundering down the hill. (FYI: About 14,000 people attend every year; if you want to make plans for next year, the roundup is always held on the last Friday in September; which in 2019, is the 27th.)
