![Bison An American bison, circa 1930.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-07.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
The President signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law on Monday, making bison the country’s first national mammal. The animal is already a state symbol of Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming, and appears on the Wyo. and Kan. state flags.
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The law is the culmination of a four-year push by a coalition of more than 60 organizations, businesses, Native American tribes and wildlife advocates who hope that the recognition will help preserve the species in the future — despite bison almost going extinct at the turn of the 20th century. Experts believe the number of bison dropped from roughly 30 million bison in the 16th century to less than 1,000 by the late 19th century, due to a combination of environmental problems and economic demand for their hides, which drove overhunting. A national effort to reverse trend helped ferry the remaining ones to protected areas, and by the mid-20th century, the species had started to make a comeback.
MORE: Jared Leto: The Bison’s Comeback Is an American Epic
While roaming through this gallery of bison roaming, keep in mind that these are technically bison not buffalo—though Americans tend to use the terms interchangeably—because they have shorter horns and shoulder humps.
![Lithograph of an American Indian on horseback killing a bison. Circa 1850-1860.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-01.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Stereoscopic view of a Bison. Circa 1875.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-02.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![A postcard illustrating Bison at water. Circa 1898-1931.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-03.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Herd of American Bison, browsing in safety, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Circa 1895-1920.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-04.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![American bison, circa 1906.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-05.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Bison in the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Circa 1907.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-06.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Bison An American bison, circa 1930.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-07.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Migrating Herd A herd of bison migrating south from Yukon. Circa 1930.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-08.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![DECEMBER 1935. ARIZONA. BISON HERD Bison herd in Arizona. 1935.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-09.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![09/29/1945 On a ranch in southern Michigan; there are several hundred wild bison snorting and pawing the ground and ready to toss all intruders. 1945.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-10.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Animals, pic: circa 1950's, An American Bison or Buffalo, a large hoofed mammal of the bovine family, The North American Bison, (there is a European Bison) was almost hunted to extinction in the later 19th century but as now established itself again in pr A North American Bison, circa 1950s.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-11.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Bison in Wildlife Refuge Bison in Wildlife Refuge](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-12.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![DEC 7 1954, DEC 8 1954; The roundup had not started when this photo was taken, but the buffalo, alre Bison crowded together in a corner of one of their enclosures at Daniels Park.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-13.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![DEC 2 1957; Well into his 20s, this white bull is one of the most photographed animals on the bison The most photographed Bison in Montana, 1957.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-14.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![01348774.jpg Herd of bison roaming across National Bison Range in Montana. 1961.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/160428-american-bison-15.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com