there used to be many of these wolves living in the great plains. when the american bison was being killed, great plains wolves were also being poisoned and trapped for their pelts. alexander henry wrote that they were bold around humans, and fed on the dead bodies of bison. he recorded that native americans dug up wolf pups from their dens in the prairie. they also dug large pitfalls to capture wolves and foxes. members of henry's group dug up wolf pups and found them very tame and easy to train. in 1833, the explorer maximilian of wied-neuwied recorded that these wolves were common in the upper part of missouri. there, native americans had wolf pits and traded wolves to him for tobacco. he thought that the native american's dogs were more dangerous to humans than the wolves.