Colorado Museum’s Wild Story of Lost + Found Bison

On October 1, 2025, one of the most popular museums in Colorado shared an incredible story about a stuffed bison that was misplaced many years ago and, miraculously, was recently found.

Keep scrolling to learn about this lost and found taxidermized animal.

History of Bison + the Colorado Museum

Back in 1868, a Breckenridge naturalist named Edwin Carter began collecting animals at his cabin, including five enormous and majestic bison that he got from Colorado's South Park area.

Years later, these taxidermized bison would become the first entries into the Denver Museum of Nature and Science's mammal exhibit.

However, one of these stuffed bison would somehow be misplaced during a move.

How Was the Bison Misplaced from the Colorado Museum?

At one point, the City and County of Denver managed the aforementioned museum, the Denver Zoo, and the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, and, according to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, a handshake agreement during the time that the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave's move in 1979 resulted in the bison's disappearance from the museum.

Lost Bison Found by Colorado Museum Employee

For many years, the missing taxidermized bison's whereabouts remained unknown, and its story became a thing of legend. However, recently, an employee of the museum named Natalie Patton noticed a similar-looking stuffed bison at the Buffalo Bill Museum's gift shop and thought that it might be the same one that had gone missing years earlier.

Due to a noticeable imperfection in one of the bison's horns, it was confirmed that it was the same stuffed animal.

Lost Bison Returned to Colorado Museum

After it was determined that this was the legendary missing bison, the taxidermized animal was returned to the museum, where it was cleaned, as made evident in the video below.

Read More: Why The Museum Of Illusions In Denver Is A Must-Visit\

Check out the full story from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science here.