Charles Jesse Jones, known as "Buffalo" Jones, born January 31, 1844 in Tazewell County, Illinois to Noah and Jane Jones, lead the life of the quintessential pioneer cowboy. From his early childhood in Illinois where his father once hired Attorney Abraham Lincoln, to his experience as a buffalo hunter on the Great Plains in the 1870's, and later his friendship and rivalry with Theodore Roosevelt, Jones' life story serves as an allegory for the experience of American expansionism on the western frontier. Charles J. Jones' unique role in this westward movement was his effort to save the American Bison from extinction, and subsequently to hybridize them with domestic cattle.
His early experience as a buffalo hunter lead Jones to respect the rugged, adaptive qualities of bison, simultaneously lamenting their demise and his own role in their slaughter. In the process of trying to save the bison from extinction Jones became famous for the live capture of wild animals. His reputation lead him on a series of adventures including the live capture African big game, which was filmed with both still and moving photography; the live capture of the arctic musk ox, and the capture and "spanking" of bears in Yellowstone National Park after being appointed Park Warden by President Theodore Roosevelt. The writer Zane Grey, who became friends with Jones and had accompanied him on mountain lion captures, acknowledged that Jones was the inspiration for many of his fictional characters, as well as the subject of two non fiction books, The Last of the Plainsmen, 1911 and Roping Lions in the Grand Canyon, 1924.
Charles J. Jones married Martha J. Walton (a descendent of naturalist, Isaac Walton) on January 20, 1869. They had four children, two boys died in childhood. Throughout his life Jones maintained close correspondence with his daughters, Jessie and Olive. Suffering from a chronic illness contracted while in Africa, Jones died at his daughter Olive's house in Topeka, Kansas on March 18, 1919. He is buried alongside his wife Martha and their two sons in the Valley View Cemetery, Garden City, Kansas.
From the guide to the Charles Jesse Jones collection, 1872-1990 (bulk 1872-1936), (University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections)
