S8 Ep149: 6/8. The Great Slaughter: Audubon's Regret and the Lewis and Clark Grizzly Massacre — Dan Flores — The opening of the American West initiated an unprecedented destruction of animal populations. Flores documents that John James Audubon, while initially kil

6/8. The Great Slaughter: Audubon's Regret and the Lewis and Clark Grizzly Massacre — Dan Flores — The opening of the American West initiated an unprecedented destruction of animal populations. Flores documents that John James Audubon, while initially killing wildlife subjects for his ornithological artwork, eventually expressed profound regret regarding the systematic destruction of mammals including buffalo herds. Flores notes that the Lewis and Clark Expedition mirrored prevailing colonial attitudes; Meriwether Lewis permitted subordinates to transform grizzly bearhunting into recreational sport, resulting in at least half of the 37 encountered bears being killed without apparent practical justification, representing callous wastage of irreplaceable fauna.