American Bison Return to the National Mall With New Exhibitions and Larger-Than-Life Bronze Sculptures at the National Museum of Natural History
To Celebrate the Nation’s 250th Anniversary, the Museum Will Spotlight the Significance and Resilience of the National Mammal Throughout 2026
[Excerpt from the Smithsonian News Desk]
In 2026, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is celebrating all things American bison. Through a series of new exhibitions, displays and programming, the national mammal will take center stage on the National Mall to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
On March 11, three larger-than-life bronze bison statues will undertake a weeklong, cross-country stampede from a foundry in Colorado to the Smithsonian. A gift to the museum by Naoma Tate and the family of Hal Tate, the bronze bison will stop at several museums along the way before being permanently installed on a pair of plinths flanking the museum’s entrance on the National Mall on March 18; they will be on view to the public beginning March 19. The arrival of the bronze bison to the National Mall marks a homecoming for the massive mammals. In the late 1880s, when the species was teetering on the edge of extinction, several bison were brought to live in a pen behind the Smithsonian Institution Building, or Castle, as part of one of the country’s earliest conservation efforts.
What the heck is a Bison? These, are bison, and they are bigger than you. Each and every one of them.