Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch.

By Dan O’Brien ($18.00, paperback, available to order online here or call the store, 505-988-4226)

Review by Deborah Madison and Patrick McFarlin

Buffalo for the Broken Heart could be mis-shelved in the romance section of some libraries and bookstores. But it is not the kind of romance one might expect. A western, yes. And a romance with brawny beasts and a determination to bring new life to the prairie ecosystem. Dan O’Brien’s autobiographical account details the hardships and the expansive beauty of living and ranching in the northern plains, making the risky and difficult transition from writing and cattle ranching to buffalo ranching. BROKEN HEART is his brand (as in branding iron) and the name of his Black Hills ranch. When the first 13 baby buffalo came to the Broken Heart Ranch, they were no larger than dogs. 

Our little herd of buffalo ran up and down the hills of the ranch like a pack of lively sixth graders. They chased one another like kittens or fox puppies. When they took a notion to, they ran down to the pond for a drink, or even a swim. (Page 166)

Through many frozen mornings he learns to love the proud, resilient beasts who carpeted much of the western United States in the past. And he sees that his ranch land can provide the perfect environment for them. Dan, with the help of his ranch hand Ernie.

Dan O’Brien takes us way beyond the first tiny herd, and his ranch grows. The tales from Broken Heart Ranch do become a western love story of sorts—love of the landscape and its resident animals and birds, both wild and domestic.

When it came time to find new pasture, the buffalo seemed not to have singular identities. The herd instinct took over and they moved as one. Only buffalo are a force that match the scale of the land. Only buffalo have the power to massage this land back to health. (Page 166)