This thesis examines the 19^th century collapse of the bison populations of North America. It discusses three prevalent (and occasionally overlapping) intellectual perspectives regarding the collapse of the bison: 1) the “Native American” perspective, 2) the environmental perspective, and 3) the market perspective. A careful analysis of each school of thought, and the primary and secondary sources upon which they rely, suggest that the collapse of the bison was due to multiple causes. A chief reason that bison nearly went extinct in North America during the 19^th century, however, is that the introduction of market capitalism to the Great Plains transformed the environment, and helped incentivize nomadic Native Americans to participate in the bison’s near destruction.