Three buffalo tumble off and down the side of a cliff into canyon in this nearly square black and white photograph. We see the buffalo straight on, as if we are suspended next to the cliff face. The animals are in focus as dark silhouettes against the paler, slightly blurred background. The steep cliff face runs up the left edge of the composition. Cut off by the upper left corner, one animal atop the cliff has lifted its front hooves as it pitches down, following a buffalo already falling head-first, its legs brushing the sheer face of the canyon. The third animal falls freely, also almost head-first and legs flailing, near the bottom center of the composition. The only other dark object in the photograph is a scrubby tree that grows from the cliff face beyond the animals. Flat-topped cliffs extend into the background, and a tree-lined river snakes through the floor of the canyon, deep in the distance. Low hills rise from the riverbank to our right, and the horizon is about halfway up the composition. A few wispy, hazy clouds float through the indistinct sky above.