I recall references to small herds of bison (or buffalo) in the early contact
period.  I believe that these references may have been in one or more of John
Swanton's works.  More recently, Charles Hudson has several references to
sightings during the same period in the index of his The Southeastern Indians
(Univ. of Tenn Press, 1976).  I'm sure there must be others.  Good luck.

    Christopher Murphy, Ph.D.
    Department of History & Anthropology
    Augusta State University
    Augusta, GA  30904

Gifford J Waters wrote:

> A friend of mine is looking for archaeological references documenting the
> presence of buffalo east of the Mississippi River, primarily being
> concerned with the late pre-contact period.  He would also be interested
> in any early historical documents that might refer to buffalos being
> present east of the Mississippi.  Please reply back if you know of any
> such sources.
> Thank you,
> Gifford Waters
> Dept. of Anthropology
> University of Florida
> Gainesville, FL  32611