Travel the Enchanted Highway in North Dakota

Because You Haven't Seen BIG Until You Do

Many years ago, an anthropology professor told me that people who live on flat land seem to have a drive to build large structures. A look at some Midwestern attractions shows the truth in this: the world's largest ball of string, the world's largest frying pan, the world's largest prairie chicken, and so on. But when it comes to world's largest things, North Dakota is the place to visit.

If you doubt the claim to large things, take a look at the capitol building. Unlike the low-silhouette domed state houses in most other states, the capitol building in North Dakota, at 22 stories, stands high above the prairie like an Art Deco grain silo. And in the rest of the state, you can find equally large things -- statues of animals, people, and more.

Driving into North Dakota from the east on Interstate 94, after about two and a half hours you'll reach Jamestown. Jamestown is the home of the World's Largest Concrete Buffalo, which other than the capitol building, is the oldest giant thing in North Dakota. It also boasts a herd of live buffalo; one of them, Mahpiya Ska (White Cloud, in Lakota) is a true albino buffalo, a rare sight indeed. She came to Jamestown from her birthplace on a private farm in Michigan, ND. When she was four years old, she gave birth to a male calf, called Dakota Miracle. Like his mother, Miracle is also a white buffalo, though he's not an albino. White Cloud had four calves now, but none are albino. The white buffalo cow is sacred to many Native American peoples, and is believed to fulfill a prophecy that great change is coming. The buffalo herd is in a large pasture, with plenty of room for them to roam and feed, so those passing by the Concrete Buffalo may not always see the herd, or Mahpiya Ska and her offspring.