Wapiti’s Big Boy is Back

Our biggest boy is back.

After a sudden and “alarming” disappearance, Wapiti’s Big Boy statue is once again atop his concrete pedestal, glancing side-long as all the traffic passing along the North Fork Highway. One of the most noticed and beloved landmarks along that route – which is saying something, given the Smith Mansion shares a similar distinction – the Wapiti Big Boy vanished in mid-May. The absence was posted in the Facebook group Wyoming Thru the Lens by Cody photographer Greg Wise. The response was immediate and concerned – many believed the Boy was stolen.

That was never the case. Wise, who was not expected such a response to the absence, clarified that the Boy was not stolen or even missing. Instead, the statue received a bit of a spa treatment. Rather than disappearing, the landmark was getting a refurbishment to ensure it will continue being a Wapiti landmark for years and decades to come Now, he’s looking better than ever at his usual post

Its nice to know that this much-beloved and strange local icon has once again become a fixture on the North Fork Highway.