Denver museum gets its massive 650-pound stolen buffalo back - 50 years after it went missing
Mystery of Colorado bison missing for decades finally solved
- A 650-pound taxidermied bison, missing for 50 years from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS), has finally been located.
- The bison, part of an original set acquired by naturalist Edwin Carter, had become a legendary mystery among museum employees over the decades.
- New DMNS staffer Natalie Patton, after hearing about the missing mount, later identified it at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Golden.
- Its identity was confirmed by DMNS collections manager Andrew Doll and curator Rebecca Jacobs through a distinctive horn gouge visible in historical photographs.
- The bison has been safely returned to the DMNS Avenir Collections Center, where it is now housed alongside its four 'sibling' mounts, with potential for future public display.