New Montana National Landmark

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service director Jarvis announced on Tuesday that First Peoples Buffalo Jump has been designated as one of four new National Historic Landmark.

National Historic Landmarks are "nationally significant historic places" designated by the Secretary of the Interior because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States.

First People's Buffalo Jump State Park is located several miles west of Great Falls, just north of Ulm; the name was changed from Ulm Pishkun to First Peoples several years ago.

The site was added to the Montana State Park system and also designated a State Historical Monument in 1972.

A December 2005 management plan (PDF) for the park stated: "Ulm Pishkun State Park is primarily a cultural park, but also includes significant natural features. The site covers 1,423.86 acres covered in native short grass prairie habitat and abandoned croplands, with an additional 1.984 acres in road easements. The park is bordered by private property and DNRC leased lands."

A press release from the Department of the Interior states:

First Peoples Buffalo Jump is one of the oldest, largest, and best preserved bison cliff jump locations in North America. Its monumental record of stone surface architecture, deeply stratified bison bone deposits, multiple tipi ring concentrations, and extensive evidence of ceremonies indicate that, for approximately 5,700 years, First Peoples Buffalo Jump held the paramount position in the Northern Plains “bison culture.” This site holds the potential for defining the evolving sophistication of mass-procurement strategies of hunter-gatherer societies in the Northern Plains, and may also provide insights regarding cultural development of Precontact hunter-gatherer societies in the western United States.

The park's website notes:

First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park is an archaeological site with possibly the largest bison cliff jump in North America. Native peoples used this site for at least a thousand years before Lewis and Clark passed through here. The bison jump site consists of a mile long sandstone cliff; there are remnants of drive lines on top of the cliff and there are up to 18 ft. of compacted buffalo remains below the cliff. The park has an interpretive trail, picnic tables and a protected black-tailed prairie dog town to help the visitor better understand the epic history of hunting on the high plains.

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