I understand that the Plains Indians used dried "Buffalo chips " ( i.e. dried buffalo droppings ) to make fires with , since there is a shortage of trees on the Prairies . My question is , how were they able to do this in the winter with a snow cover ? I have visions of them searching through the snow like blind people trying to find these " chips "; which , of course , would be frozen and thus too wet to burn .

According to some information I read on the web, a common fall activity for winter preparation was gathering "buffalo chips" and storing them outside covered much like you would with wood. They did not wait until they needed them - they'd spend two to three weeks preparing for the winter in this way.

Apparently they were smart enough to know that they wouldn't be able to use what they found in and under the snow.