6 Decades, 6 Stories:
Monarch’s Remarkable Journey
By Reilly Teixeira, Curator of Archaeology
Monarch, taxidermied American bison (#A743) on display at the Museum of the West. Photograph by Reilly Teixeira, 2026.
For decades one of the Museums of Western Colorado’s most unique artifacts sat out of sight in the basement of the Whitman School building. Today, Monarch the taxidermied American bison is back on display at the Museum of the West with an extraordinary story to tell.
Much of what we know about Monarch’s life comes from newspaper accounts published during his final years.4 In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Monarch traveled through Europe and North America with William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s Wild West show. Along the way, he earned a reputation for being difficult to manage. Wild West show representative William McCune recalled one particularly memorable incident in Germany, where Monarch escaped and charged through a small general store.1 You might call it a bison’s version of a bull in a china shop.
Cody eventually sold Monarch to the city of Omaha, Nebraska, for $300, and the bison was placed on public display in Riverview Park. By 1906, park officials considered him a safety concern. Monarch had begun to charge the fence of his enclosure when approached by onlookers, raising concerns that he may escape into an area frequented by children.1
The city sold Monarch to the highest bidder: William Buthorn, proprietor of Omaha’s Heidelberg Cafe. Omaha mayor James “Cowboy Jim” Dahlman was given the opportunity to shoot Monarch, and he did so from a distance of thirty feet. Buthorn then had Monarch’s head mounted by taxidermist J. M. Wallace, sold the meat to patrons, and displayed the mount in the cafe.2
MWC #F592.1, the La Court Hotel ca. 1925.
This “Death Warrant for Monarch”, however, was only the beginning of his story.1 In 1907, Buthorn purchased the La Court Hotel in Grand Junction, Colorado,6 and brought Monarch with him. The bison was given a place of honor, overseeing either the lobby or the smoking room.3 The hotel had been built in 1904 by I. N. Nearing at the corner of Main and 2nd Streets.5
According to museum accession records, after the La Court was demolished, local newspaperman Al Look persuaded Buthorn’s son to donate Monarch to MWC. Monarch arrived at the museum prior to 1970 and was assigned the accession number A743.3
In the 1990s, while the Museum of the West was located in the Whitman School building, museum staff discovered that Monarch was infested with insects. To prevent the spread of the infestation to other exhibits, staff treated Monarch with pesticide and quarantined him in the basement of the museum.3 The museum eventually moved to the C. D. Smith building in 2000, and Monarch remained at Whitman.
In December 2021 after tenants had vacated the Whitman building, museum staff located Monarch in the basement once again. His undocumented taxidermy methods and pest treatment history, combined with potential insect and water damage from repeated basement floods, left staff questioning whether he could be safely moved or restored.
In 2026, those questions were finally answered. Local taxidermists assessed Monarch and found him to be in much better condition than expected. Despite an abrasion to his nose, a detached ear, and other visible evidence of his years in storage, the mount remained remarkably intact. The insect treatment in the 1990s may have halted the insect infestation before it caused more serious deterioration. Closer examination also provided physical evidence to support Monarch’s documented history. Construction materials including a wooden frame, organic stuffing material, and the type of nails used were consistent with early twentieth century taxidermy methods and support the mount’s circa-1906 date.3
After conservation work was complete, Monarch was returned to the exhibit hall just in time for the opening of 60 Years of Treasures & Traditions: Western Colorado’s Living Legacy. The restoration was made possible through the generosity of MWC Board President Christina Harney.
After more than a century of world travel, display, storage, and rediscovery, Monarch has returned to the public eye. Visitors can now see one of MWC’s most unusual and well traveled residents for themselves in the saloon exhibit at Museum of the West.
Bibliography
- “Death Warrant for Monarch,” Omaha Daily Bee, December 5, 1906, https://nebnewspapers.unl.edu/lccn/sn99021999/1906-12-05/ed-1/seq-7/#words=Buffalo+buffalo+Monarch.
- “Mayor Kills Old Monarch,” Omaha Daily Bee, December 13, 1906, https://nebnewspapers.unl.edu/lccn/sn99021999/1906-12-13/ed-1/seq-5/#words=buffalo+Monarch.
- Monarch, c. 1905, Museums of Western Colorado, Grand Junction, accession no. A743.
- Patricia C. Gaster, “Monarch’s Sad Fate,” Nebraska State Historical Society, accessed August 17, 2026, https://history.nebraska.gov/monarchs-sad-fate/.
- “The LaCourt Hotel,” The Daily Sentinel, March 22, 1904, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel/203764812/.
- “The La Court Sold,” The Daily Sentinel, March 26, 1907, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel/203764525/.