On a rise above the James River valley, visible for miles as Interstate 94 slices through North Dakota, stands a creature as unexpected as it is immense: a 26-foot-tall, 60-ton concrete buffalo. Its head looms over Jamestown like a sentinel of the prairie — part history lesson, part roadside spectacle, part cultural icon. This is Dakota Thunder, known to most as the World’s Largest Buffalo.

In the late 1950s, Jamestown had a scrap of leftover funds from its 75th anniversary celebration and a growing new highway promising long-distance travel. Local booster Harold Newman had a bold idea: build something so massive travelers couldn’t help but stop. Early concepts included a giant shock of wheat, but the community ultimately chose a bison — a powerful symbol of the plains and the Native cultures tied to it.

Under the hands of sculptor Elmer Petersen, an art professor at Jamestown College, the monument took shape. Framed with steel and wire mesh and cloaked in heavy gunite cement, the beast was finished in 1959 at a cost of roughly $8,500 — a modest sum given its scale. Standing 46 feet long and towering like a titan of the West, it became an instant curiosity.

For decades the statue had no formal name, just locals and tourists calling it the World’s Largest Buffalo. That changed in 2010 when a community contest drew over 3,500 entries, christening the giant “Dakota Thunder.”

Photo credits Creative Commons license the original photographer.

But Dakota Thunder is more than a quirky photo op. In the 1960s, the site expanded into Frontier Village, a recreated 19th-century town with original pioneer buildings relocated from across North Dakota. Nearby, the National Buffalo Museum champions the history and near-extinction tale of the American bison. A live herd grazes on site, once including the rare albino buffalo “White Cloud,” revered in regional lore and considered a spiritual omen by some visitors.

Despite its popularity, the statue has shown its age. The layers of paint and concrete crack with time, and preservation efforts rely heavily on community funding and donations. Yet it remains a living symbol of Jamestown’s identity — so much so that local businesses, festivals, and marketing embrace the buffalo motif, branding the town as The Buffalo City itself.

Locals share playful lore too: from stories of teens climbing the giant feet for photos to jokes about why the statue’s rear is oriented toward the highway. Travelers capture selfies that merge whimsy with awe, preserving their own memories of this colossal sculpture.

Today, the World’s Largest Buffalo stands as a testament to mid-century American ambition, regional pride, and the enduring allure of the unusual. It’s a reminder that sometimes, larger-than-life dreams shape a town’s identity far more than expected — especially when made of concrete and legend.