Towering bronze bison statues to stop in Iowa City on March 15

Three massive bronze bison statues created by a Colorado artist will be making a stop in Iowa City in March before it reaches its new home in Washington, D.C.

The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History commissioned three “larger than life” bison for the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary this Fourth of July. Once in Washington, D.C., the sculptures will be part of a permanent exhibit at the National Mall.

Iowans can see the three statues on Sunday, March 15, where they will be on display outside the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, 39-53 E. Jefferson St., with Old Capitol as a backdrop.

Jessica Smith, who works for the University of Iowa’s Pentacrest Museums, said the bronze statues are a “nice way” to commemorate the nation’s anniversary because the bison is the national mammal of the United States.

“At the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, we're very grateful to have been selected as a spot (because) we have a lot of bison tie-ins, not only with exhibits, but with history and research right here in Iowa,” she said. “So, it's a perfect stop.”

Smith said she doesn’t have the bison measurements but that they “tower” over the average person.

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About the event

Smith said the bison statues — created by wildlife artist Gary Staab — will be in Iowa for one day only during their cross-country trek.

They will be on display on a truck parked outside the Museum of Natural History during the morning and until 3 p.m. March 15, when they will depart for their next destination.

During the stop in Iowa City, Smithsonian experts will be on hand to answer questions about bison. The Museum of Natural History will be open 1 to 5 p.m. so people can visit its bison murals and dioramas and see skeletal collections of the mammal. Free bison talks and programming inside the museum will be offered from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Smith said the murals depict three modern-day ecosystems — woodlands, wetlands and prairies — with bison painted into them.

“You really can't tell the story of prairies or Iowa without bison,” she said.

Bison used to roam Iowa, especially in the northwest and north-central parts of the state, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. But as settlers moved west and began hunting the animals, bison numbers fell and bison sightings became rare by the 1860s, the DNR said.

Olivia Cohen covers energy and environment for The Gazette and is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. She is also a contributing writer for the Ag and Water Desk, an independent journalism collaborative focusing on the Mississippi River Basin.

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Comments: olivia.cohen@thegazette.com