At the end of the 1860s, many Métis settlers moved towards Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan, from the Red River Colony, Pembina, North Dakota, and other communities in the North West. They came in search of bison. Soon after the arrival of the Métis, Jean-Louis Legaré set up a trading post in Willow Bunch, aiding the Métis as a trader of bison goods. Nearing the mid-1880s, there was a decline of bison in the Wood Mountain region, as a result of the United States government's attempt to starve out Sitting Bull. With the end of the Bison Hunt, the Métis began life as ranchers: "We brought our stock and expertise to Willow Bunch. No one knew more about horsemanship and training horses than we did". The Métis population in Willow Bunch became known as a "hub of the first tentative ranching operations in southwestern Saskatchewan." The Métis originally referred to the town and its surrounding area as "Talle de Saule" which means "Clump of Willow." This nickname soon gave rise to the town's name of Willow Bunch.