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| Numerous buffalo can be seen at the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge. |
In Battlehill township of McPherson County lies a piece of
preserved natural prairie, comprised of rolling hills, creeks, springs and
beautiful prairie grasses and wildflowers.
Maxwell Wildlife Refuge near Canton is home to one of the
few surviving wild buffalo herds. It began in 1859, when a small herd of
buffalo were driven into the area around the Maxwell homestead. The Maxwell
family wanted to preserve a piece of prairie with a roaming herd of buffalo for
future generations.
So in 1943, the Henry Maxwell estate donated 2,560 acres of
land to what is now the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism for
the creation of the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge, which is dedicated to bison and
other species. This unique area, located six miles north of Canton, possesses
one of the finest herds of buffalo in the United States, along with elk and
other wild game.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism
maintains herds of American plains bison and elk under as natural conditions as
possible, keeping with the current land-use demands. This helps to ensure that
an important part of our state’s natural heritage will not disappear from this
portion of the Great Plains.
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