Bison in North Dakota

Dakota Legend - 4 year old female albino bison

As well as being the home of the World's Largest Buffalo, Jamestown North Dakota attracts lots of tourists to see the mythical white buffalo. A White buffalo is an American Bison, with only one white buffalo born for every 10 million births. The National Buffalo Museum is home to a herd of 30 bison that roam freely on 250 acres, and three of the bison are albino. White buffalos are considered sacred by the American Indian tribes, and the Great Plains tribes say they are the symbol of hope, rebirth and unity. "The arrival of the white buffalo is like the second coming of Christ, says Floyd Hand, a Sioux medicine man from Pine Ridge, S.D., who was one of the first to make the pilgrimage. It "will bring about purity of mind, body and spirit, and unify all nations, black, red, yellow, and white." Apart from the three white buffalo in Jamestown, there are only about another twenty recorded living in the USA.

Until recently, the last white buffalo recorded this century died in 1959, so when White Cloud, a female albino bison was born on a private farm in 1996, it caused quite a stir. She was donated to the museum in 1997 where she still roams today. She has since had five calves; the first four were normal brown calves, but her fifth calf was an albino like her. He was a bull calf, born in 1996 and named Dakota Miracle. He also roams with the group. In 2008 a female white calf was born to a brown bison in the herd, and is known as Dakota Legend. When we saw the herd, we mainly watched Dakota Legend who was by herself - a regular said she is often off on her own, and not with the main herd. On a distant rise we could some of the herd, and amongst them was the white bull, Dakota Miracle. He was head and shoulders above the others. No sign of White Cloud or the other bison.

Dakota Legend in foreground is dwarfed by the World's Largest Buffalo

Her pink albino eyes gave her a 'spooky' look

In the distance, Dakota Miracle can be seen head and shoulders above the brown herd

I had no intention of crossing this field!

Our RV campground was only 1 block from Frontier Village where the National Buffalo Museum is located. Frontier Village is also home to historic buildings where the past life of the pioneers is on display. It was nice to be able to walk past these buffalo (see photo below) along the country lane, then enter into the Frontier Village and enjoy the glimpse of history. Entry was free and there were some interesting local crafts as well as antiques for sale in several authentic stores. An interesting place to spend an hour.