Although the buffalo had been driven out of Texas by the time of J.W. Audubon's excursion in 1845-46, it had been prevalent in earlier days throughout the state. Buffalo Bayou, running through the Houston to become the Houston ship channel, was named for a local Indian legend about a mystic white buffalo that lived on its banks.

In 1843, J.J. Audubon hunted buffalo in Yellowstone. He commented in his notes that "the buffalo is the most important of all our contemporary American quads. With remarkable foresight, Audubon continued, "we will consider the buffalo as a link (perhaps sooner to be forever lost than is generally supposed) connecting us to larger American mammals now extinct." This almost became truth in the mid 20th century.