The second explanation is crossbreeding, particularly between a white breed of cattle and a bison. Some of the early bison ranchers experimented with crossbreeding. A rancher named C.J. "Buffalo" Jones coined the word "cattalo" for the cattle-buffalo mix that he was developing in Texas in the late 1800s. This genetic experimentation created unusual results.
Because crossbreeding wasn't attempted until after most of the herds were already exterminated, it is unlikely that Indians or hide hunters saw many crossbreeds. Later bison ranchers would forgo the practice of crossbreeding, preferring instead to develop pure bison bloodlines.
More recently, attempts were made to cross bison with Charolais cattle, a French breed with silky blonde or white fur. Charolais crosses with other cattle breeds became popular with cattle ranchers in the 1970s, when ranchers tried crossing the Charolais with Herefords, Black Angus, and other varieties of beef cattle in order to produce larger animals. This experimentation sometimes produced unexpected and undesirable results, such as big-shouldered calves that had difficulty during birthing. In the West, the light skin and hair of the Charolais made them susceptible to skin irritations and sunburn as they grazed on the hot, treeless plains. Crossing Charolais with other breeds of cattle lost its appeal, but during the past twenty years, bison ranchers have attempted to cross buffalo with Charolais. The result of this crossbreeding can be quite striking, as the animals are often shaped like bison but have the long, white, silky coats of the Charolais. The bulls produced from this mating, however, are sterile. Interest in this type of cross-breeding has again waned, but it explains many of the white bison seen today. Indian elders, however, claim that this kind of white buffalo is not pure, and therefore not sacred.
The third explanation for a white buffalo is the emergence of a recessive, non-albino gene for color. This most likely accounts for the white calf born on the Heiders' farm, although the exact genetic mechanism is not yet known. However, because Miracle's unusual color cannot be explained by the other two theories on white coloring, this seems to be a reasonable assumption.
Miracle does not exhibit the typical pink eyes and muzzle or other characteristics of an albino. In fact, except for her white fur, she has dark features dark eyes, muzzle, and hooves. It is extremely unlikely that she is a crossbreed, for the Heiders had only one bull at the time and there were no other cattle Charolais or other wise in the vicinity.
From the history of Miracle's dam and sire, no one could have predicted such a special calf. Both the dam and the sire were purchased in 1990. For the first two years, the dam did not produce any offspring and the Heiders considered her for freezer meat. They tried breeding her again, however, and this time she produced a male calf of normal color. The following year, Miracle was born, and the year after that, another female calf with white legs was born. This calf is Miracle's half sister (they have the same mother, but different fathers, as Miracle's father died shortly after her birth), and her coloration indicates that the genetic link for white fur is most likely through the dam.
Perhaps even more unusual than Miracle's white coloring as a calf is her subsequent color change, from white to black to red and now yellow (Color Plates 7 and 8). Because historically, white buffalo calves were killed while still young, it is unknown whether this is typical for white buffalo.
Prior to Miracle's birth, the most famous white buffalo of the century was a bull named Big Medicine. He had blue eyes and was all white except for a crown of dark fur on top of his head. Big Medicine lived for twenty-six years on the National Bison Range in western Montana, where he became quite a tourist attraction. One of the male calves he sired was a full albino.
Another white buffalo was documented in the 1950s in Alaska, of all places. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Berry discovered this animal living at the U.S. Army
Arctic Testing Center at Fort Greely, south of Fairbanks, as part of a herd that had been transplanted from Montana. This white buffalo, like Miracle, had brown eyes and a brown muzzle, so it could not have been an albino. A number of bison in this herd had white blotches or streaks on their flanks, but only the one was completely white. Traces of white could occasionally be found in the coats of some newborn calves, but these animals did not live long. The white individual was three years old when the Berrys encountered him. He apparently did not live more than a few years after that time.
Other white buffalo have been born in recent years. Two albino calves were born on the Shirek ranch near Michigan, North Dakota, in 1996. (The dams of these two calves were in feedlots with other young cows and bulls, so the sires are unknown sort of the bison equivalent of premature, unplanned pregnancies.) The first calf lived only five weeks, but the second is alive and appears healthy (Color Plate 11). This calf has typical albino coloring, with white fur, pink eyes and muzzle, and horns and hooves of an ivory color. The calf's behavior seems normal, as do its associations with the other bison in its herd. The Shirek family has a herd of about eighty animals and has been raising bison since 1982.
Dan Shirek called Dave Heider to ask what he could expect regarding public reaction to the white buffalo. Dave shared some of his experiences, but couldn't predict what the response would be. Shirek said that only two hundred or so people, mostly from the surrounding area, had come to see the calf, and only about ten of those were Native Americans. The Shireks seemed a little disappointed. Lakota elders, however, have accepted the calf as a sacred white buffalo.
In the summer of 1996, a white calf was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The calf s owner also called Dave Heider to ask what to expect in the way of public reaction. He replied, "You're the Indian, not me." Dave Heider is a man of few words, but he is direct. This calf also has been accepted by the Lakota elders as sacred, though again, few people have traveled to see it.
In addition to these white calves, other bison provide evidence of the color variation present in the current buffalo population. Responses to questionnaires that I sent to members of the American Bison Association revealed a surprising range of exotic colors or patterns: a number of completely black animals; several bison with black or dirty white blotches; two cinnamon-colored cows; one calf with a black blotch on the right hip, and another in the same herd with a white blotch on the left hip. Perhaps the most intriguing examples were two partially white bison born in 1996 on the ranch of veterinarian Gerald Parsons, near Stratford, Oklahoma. One calf has white legs, underbelly, and throat the parts of a bison's body that are usually the darkest (Color Plate 12). The second calf has similar coloration but with a darker back and a strip of nearly black hair along the spine. Both of these calves were sired by the bull that won the 1995 Gold Trophy at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. There aren't any questions about the quality of this bull's bloodlines. However, it would appear that the father is the genetic link for the white coloration in these two calves, whereas for Miracle and her half sister, the mother was the link.