[4] Accidental crosses were noticed as long ago as 1749 in the Southern states of North America, during British colonization.

[6] Another early deliberate attempt to cross-breed bison with cattle was made by Colonel Samuel Bedson, warden of Stoney Mountain Penitentiary, Winnipeg, in 1880.

Bedson bought eight bison from a captive herd of James McKay and inter-bred them with Durham cattle.

The hybrids raised by Bedson were described by naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton:[7] The hybrid animal is [claimed] to be a great improvement on both of its progenitors, as it is more docile and a better milker than the Buffalo, but retains its hardihood, while the robe is finer, darker and more even, and the general shape of the animal is improved by the reduction of the hump and increased proportion of the hind-quarters.After seeing thousands of cattle die in a blizzard in 1886, Charles "Buffalo" Jones, a co-founder of Garden City, Kansas, also worked to cross bison and cattle at a ranch near the future Grand Canyon National Park, with the hope the animals could survive the harsh winters.

[9] Mossom Martin Boyd of Bobcaygeon, Ontario first started the practice in Canada, publishing about some of his outcomes in the Journal of Heredity.

Although the cattalo performed well, the mating problems meant the breeder had to maintain a herd of wild and difficult-to-handle bison cows.

"[21] Although popular with tourists and hunters, escaped beefalo have been destroying parts of the ecosystem, as well as ancient stone ruins, in the Grand Canyon and threatening native species.

[22] Grand Canyon National Park was reporting an accident a day due to tourist interactions with beefalo.