Editing American bison (section)

===Habitat and trails===
{{See also|Great bison belt}}
[[File:Bison fight in Grand Teton NP.jpg|thumb|right|Bison fighting in [[Grand Teton National Park]] in [[Moose, Wyoming]]]]
American bison live in river valleys, and on prairies and plains. Typical habitat is open or semiopen grasslands, as well as sagebrush, semiarid lands, and scrublands. Some lightly wooded areas are also known historically to have supported bison. Bison also graze in hilly or mountainous areas where the slopes are not steep. Though not particularly known as high-altitude animals, bison in the [[Yellowstone Park bison herd]] are frequently found at elevations above {{convert|8000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}, and the [[Henry Mountains bison herd]] is found on the plains around the [[Henry Mountains]], Utah, as well as in mountain valleys of the Henry Mountains to an altitude of {{convert|10000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}. Reintroduced plains bison in [[Banff National Park]] have been observed to roam mountainous areas, including high ridges and steep drainages, and archaeological finds indicate that some bison historically may have spent their lives within mountain ranges while others may have migrated in and out of mountain ranges.<ref>Banff National Park, [https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/banff/info/gestion-management/bison/blog Bison blog], ''August 11, 2018: Bison are exploring Banff in new ways'', ''April 30, 2019: This old bone - discovering the bison of Banff's past'', [[Parks Canada]]</ref>

Those in Yukon, Canada, typically summer in alpine plateaus above treeline.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jung|first1=Thomas S.|last2=Stotyn|first2=Shannon A.|last3=Czetwertynski|first3=Sophie M.|date=2015|title=Dietary overlap and potential competition in a dynamic ungulate community in Northwestern Canada|url=https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jwmg.946|journal=Journal of Wildlife Management|language=en|volume=79|issue=8|pages=1277–1285|doi=10.1002/jwmg.946|bibcode=2015JWMan..79.1277J |issn=1937-2817}}</ref> The first thoroughfares of North America, except for the time-obliterated paths of [[mastodon]] or [[muskox]] and the routes of the [[Mound builder (people)|mound builders]], were the traces made by bison and [[deer]] in seasonal migration and between feeding grounds and [[salt lick]]s. Many of these routes, hammered by countless hoofs instinctively following watersheds and the crests of ridges in avoidance of lower places' summer muck and winter snowdrifts, and often following the routes of least resistance across rolling terrain, were followed by the aboriginal North Americans as routes to hunting grounds and as warriors' paths. They were invaluable to explorers and were adopted by [[Territorial acquisitions of the United States|pioneers]].

Bison traces were characteristically north and south along seasonal migration routes, but several key east–west buffalo trails were used later as routes for railways. Some of these include the [[Cumberland Gap]] through the [[Blue Ridge Mountains]] to upper [[Kentucky]]. A heavily used [[Buffalo Trace (road)|trace]] crossed the [[Ohio River]] at the [[Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area|Falls of the Ohio]] and ran west, crossing the [[Wabash River]] near [[Vincennes, Indiana]]. In Senator [[Thomas Hart Benton (senator)|Thomas Hart Benton]]'s phrase saluting these sagacious path-makers, the bison paved the way for the railroads to the Pacific.<ref>{{cite book| last =Adams| first =James Truslow| title =Dictionary of American History| publisher =[[Charles Scribner's Sons]]| year =1940| location =New York| isbn =978-0-8226-0349-8}}</ref>