Black Hills Classic Buffalo Sale

The Black Hills Classic Buffalo Sale occurs every year during the stock show in Rapid City. I have attended all kinds of auctions in my lifetime; farm auctions, ranch auctions, benefits, and even a few local barn sale auctions with my grandfather when I was young.

I use to marvel at the auctioneers ability to rattle off a harmonic cadence of increasing numbers that climbed by increments of 5, 10, and sometimes 50 if it was a hot product.  Shouts from the bid spotters would ring out across the crowd; HOAA!, HEEEY! YUP!!! As buyers that were determined to go home with SOMETHING in their trailer nonchalantly raised their bidder ID number.

It is these types of memories that have always left me with humble thoughts involving auctions of any kind. As Dan, Jilian, Jerry and, I walked through the doors that lead to the Black Hills Classic Buffalo Sale, those humble thoughts began to fall upon me once again. We chose a spot on the wood bleachers that was near a propane torpedo heater as it was a chilling 10 degrees outside that day, and the barn that the auction was to take place in exhibited just as much daylight through the roof as it did actual shelter.  Jilian, Jerry, and, I huddled together and talked chickens while Dan milled around through the cowboy hats and handshakes.

It wasn’t long until the auctioneer finished all of the standard recognitions and thank-yous when the first buffalo entered the auction pen. She was a beautiful heifer that was well beyond an average weight for her age. She roamed the perimeter of the ring that consisted of heavy duty stock panels that stood 6 foot high. She must have finally rested at the conclusion that there was no way out because she eventually settled in the center of the ring facing Dan, Jerry, Jilian, and me. Her dark brown eyes that seemed to be bottomless were showing just enough white around the edges to make her look confused.  I took a second to examine the expressions of my colleagues. The auctioneer began his chant but their gaze did not break from the animal. It remained steady, straight, and even seemed a little perplexed, as if they were looking at a fish out of water. It was then I realized that this was not like past auctions I had been too. This one felt different. I suddenly felt uneasy and out of place.

HEEEEY!!! The bid spotter shouted. All of us jumped in our seats a bit.  I became distracted by the yellow cards that people began to raise for the spotters to acknowledge. I looked too my side again to find out Dan had wandered off, and Jilian and Jerry’s jovial smiles that were expressed during the chicken conversation were now dim.

We attended for another hour or so before Jilian decided that we should find Dan. After wandering around the premises for a few minutes we found Dan outside. He was examining the animals soon to be sold in the small pens. His face looked concerned until he caught sight of us. “Ready to go?” he said. “Yea” “Seems like everyone has deep pockets except for us.” I replied.

As we all piled in the car we began to share our experience with one another. By the time we completed our 45 miles trek back home, I was able to come to the conclusion that I was happy we went to the auction. It made me realize that it is the nature of Wild Idea Buffalo Co. that allows us to avoid such paradigms that mimic the beef industry. For that is one small portion of WIB’s goal.