The crowd cheered as the buffalo crested the hill and thundered into the valley below on their way to corrals at the annual buffalo herd roundup in Custer State Park Monday morning.

The whoops and cheers only grew louder when some of the animals broke away from wranglers and bolted for the hills. Minutes later one of the renegade bison turned and headed back the right way.

"He's headed for water now, he's probably thirsty," said Phyllis Miller of Custer, who was watching the roundup from a nearby ridge.

Raised on a ranch, it would make sense Miller knew the animal's mind. Of course, it didn't hurt that this was her sixth roundup and she knew there was a tank of water close by.

The cheers for the runaways aren't unusual, said Craig Pugsley, the park's visitor services program manager. Despite the best and bravest wranglers' efforts to corral the herd, "they always cheer loudest for the buffalo," he said.

The valley full of about 1,300 bison split the crowd of more than 10,500 visitors from across the country and the globe. Both real and urban cowboys of all ages craned necks and aimed cameras during the park's 43rd annual buffalo roundup.

Along with the experienced wranglers, the volunteer riders, who won their spots in a drawing, got up early and saddled up to take part in the event.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime event for Shirley Weaver of New Underwood. An early morning breakfast and a full day of buffalo, whip-cracks and swirling dust added up to memories she said would last forever. Surviving close encounters with hundreds of North America's largest mammal was on the list as well.

"You have to be on a horse you trust," she said.

The throng of visitors trooped down the hillsides by bus and on foot toward the corralled animals, guided by park workers who kept pushing eager roundup watchers out of the way of bus traffic. The irony of hundreds of visitors mimicking the herd wasn't lost on one park worker, who shoed a number of visitors off the road to some grumbling.

"It's like herding buffalo here," she said. "You saw how ornery they were."

Once secured in the valley, 150 buffalo were herded into separate quarters for testing and vaccination. Prodded by an F-350 pickup and two whip-cracking wranglers, the herd ran pell-mell down the chute, rattling the fence.

"Those guys are crazy, aren't they? Running around in there," said Barb Reinhart, of Odebolt, Iowa.

"They've got the whips," said her husband, Kent.

The Reinharts took a company-sponsored bus trip to the Black Hills, which included the roundup as part of the tour. Both have been to this part of South Dakota several times, but never to the roundup to see the bison that can reach six feet at the shoulder and weigh over 2,000 pounds.

While the annual event attracts plenty of tourists, it's not a gimmick, said Gary Brundige, the park's resource program manager, who has seen 18 roundups.

"This is the primary tool we have to manage the herd," he said.

After the roundup the herd is branded, vaccinated and sorted for the upcoming auction. According to last year's sales numbers, a heifer calf sold for about $474 and a 2-year-old bull sold for an average of $2,122. The money goes back into the park's coffers.

The park can support about 1,000 buffalo, although less this year due to drought conditions, said Pugsley. The corralled herd usually averages about 1,500, which means about 500 are sold at auction.

The roundup and the accompanying arts festival and buffalo chili cook-off are boosting activity and visitor numbers in the park during September, considered the "shoulder" of the summer tourist season, Pugsley said.

There were 29 motor coaches this year, Pugsley said, a 12-bus increase from last year.

Attendance at the roundup began to climb in the wake of the Oscar-winning movie "Dances with Wolves," which featured Old West themes and a bison hunt that was partially shot in the area.

Most of the herd's members will get their date with a vaccination and a branding iron next week. Pugsley said all are welcome to visit the corrals Oct. 6-8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

After that, the herd goes back to their free-range life for another year.

Contact Jeremy Fugleberg at 394-8421 or jeremy.fugleberg@rapidcityjournal.com