European newcomers to the Great Plains valued buffalo for the food and medicine they provided.
the money their hides were worth,
their spiritual significance.
their role in the Plains ecosystem

The constant presence of diseases or infectious agents within a given geographic area or population group. it may also refer to the usual prevalence of a given disease with such area or group. it includes holoendemic and hyperendemic diseases. a holoendemic disease is one for which a high prevalent level of infection begins early in life and affects most of the child population, leading to a state of equilibrium such that the adult population shows evidence of the disease much less commonly than do children (malaria in many communities is a holoendemic disease). a hyperendemic disease is one that is constantly present at a high incidence and/or prevalence rate and affects all groups equally. so probably family history.