National Buffalo Museum
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National Buffalo Museum (Jamestown, North Dakota)[edit]
Introduction
The National Buffalo Museum is a nonprofit organization the derives funds for operations from memberships, entrance fees, gift shop income and charitable gaming. The Museum depends heavily on charitable donations to continue developing youth programs, new exhibits and maintain the facilities. The North Dakota Buffalo Foundation (NDFB), d.b.a., The National Buffalo Museum, formed in 1991 with a nine member board and and overwhelming desire to start a live, grazing buffalo herd that would live just under "The World's Largest Buffalo". In 1991 the first five bison came from the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
A few years later the National Buffalo Association and the American Bison Association merged together creating the National Bison Association. This created the need for a space big enough to hold numerous buffalo related artifacts such as artwork, artifacts, and historical memorabilia. The NDBF opened the doors of the the National Buffalo Museum in June of 1993. The North Dakota Buffalo Foundation is dedicated to preserving the history of the bison, as well as, promoting the conservation efforts of the American Bison today. The museum holds numerous artifacts ranging from a 10,000 year old bison skull, the original Thundering Herds painting, wildlife mounts including a full sized bison, and many bison head mounts.
History of the North American Bison[edit]
The North American Bison is commonly mistaken for a buffalo, which hails from Asia and African countries. The Bison in native to North and South American countries.[1] Bison usually stand between 7 to 11.5 feet tall and can weigh anywhere from 900 to 2200 pounds. Contrary to their massive size, bison are extremely quick on their feet and can generate speeds over 40 mph when the need arises. Two sharp horns grow out of their skulls and can reach about two feet in length. These large mammals graze on prairie grasses, shrubs, bushes and twigs. Similar to cows, bison regurgitate their food and chew it as cud before digesting it. Females (cows) and males (bulls) typically live in small separate herds and come together for the summer mating season. The males battle for mating primacy, but the contests rarely turn dangerous. Females typically give birth to one calf every nine months.[2] At one point there was an estimated 60 million bison roaming the Great Plains of North America. In an expert from one of Lewis and Clark's journals they stated that "the moving multitude darkened the whole plains"[3] The sheer size of the bison is overwhelming and its no wonder why the Native American tribes of the Great Plains worshiped them as fervently as they did.
The National Buffalo Museum[edit]
When one firsts enters the museum, they are greeted at the front desk by a museum attendant who guides them to a small theater where the guest can watch a twenty minute video that gives some background information on the North American Bison and the process of how the museum was created. After the movie the guests are welcome to walk through the museum's many exhibits that include artwork, artifacts, cultural items, and various other items of bison memorabilia. One of the rooms houses a life sized tee pee and the preserved body of White Cloud, the Museum's first white bison. Another one of the museum's exhibits includes a wide range of firearms that were used by buffalo hunters and cowboys during the 1800's. Seeing the size of these weapons and the bullets they fired in conjunction with being able to stand next to the preserved body of a bison gives the guest an accurate idea of how large and powerful these animals are. One of the hallways is home to the National Buffalo Foundation Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was started in 1980 to recognize various individuals that were key to the conservation efforts of the Bison bison. The Hall of Fame currently has 25 honorees including Teddy Roosevelt, America's 26th President and avid outdoors-men and William T. Hornaday who is considered to be the person responsible for starting conservation efforts for the bison. Aside from all of the exhibits inside, the museum also has a live herd exhibit which has 25-30 bison, including the white bison, Dakota Miracle. The herd lives on a fenced in 200 acre pasture plot just off of I-94 and it resembles the beginning of the frontier by most vacationers from the East Coast. Just down the road located in the Frontier Village is the World's Largest Buffalo named Dakota Thunder, which has been attracting tourists for the past 50 years. Dakota Thunder stands 26 feet tall, weighs around 60 tons of solid concrete. The museum hopes to utilize all of these attractions to help foster awareness of the cultural and historical significance of the North American bison.
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