Whether you’re a long-time fan or you just “herd” of this recently, there is an attraction about to make its way through West Yellowstone for the last time. Don’t worry, you’ve still got a while to see it. I mean I don’t want you to cause a stampede or anything.

The final summer of the Painted Buffalo Herd in West Yellowstone, Montana is at hand. Three years of hard work, event planning, merchandise creation, fundraising, and just having fun are culminating in a summer of events. Be warned, on the evening of August 29, 2009 the West Yellowstone Painted Buffalo herd will be auctioned off to the highest bidders. For the months leading up to the auction, bids will be accepted via www.wyed.org.

The final 2009 summer kicks off with a chance to see all the cows and calves at one location from May 21st through June 4th when they will be ‘corralled’ on the lawn of the Yellowstone Historic Center Museum in West Yellowstone, Montana. After that the entire herd of 26 cows and 10 calves will be dispersed to their sponsor locations throughout the town for the summer.

“West Yellowstone is the premiere gateway to the world’s first national park, Yellowstone. We are honored to be the first community around the Park to showcase the talent, hard work and colorful expressions of these artists and share the wild, western, Native American and railroad heritage of the area with people from around the world,” said John Greve, co-chair of the Painted Buffalo Events Committee.

During the summer, everyone can follow the “Trail of the Painted Buffalo” with trail maps available from local sponsors and the West Yellowstone Visitor Center. Use the Treasure Trail map to find, explore and uncover the secrets of each artist’s work and collect a few rewards from sponsors along the way.

And if you’re not much for maps and treasure-style hunting, you can catch them all in one place during the West Yellowstone’s annual 4th of July parade.

The herd gathers one last time from August 20 to 26th, 2009 at the Yellowstone Historic Center and then moves to the Grand Hall, at the Holiday Inn Conference Center. The herd will be displayed for viewing and silent bids on August 28th and 29th in conjunction with the annual West Yellowstone Regional Art Show in adjoining Hayden Hall. Other events, including a pancake breakfast and a raffle drawing for one of the painted calves on Saturday, August 29th, are being planned.

“It’s quite satisfying to be both a sponsor and Buffalo Roam Committee member and see the fun, excitement and positive economic impact the painted buffalo have brought for our visitors and community,” explains Greve. “We’re so excited to show people from around the world the incredible talent and artistry of our Minnesota and Rocky Mountain artists.”

In the fall of 2006, WYED provided a new venue for artistic expression in West Yellowstone by establishing their first project: “Where the Painted Buffalo Roam.” Twenty-seven life sized fiberglass cow buffalo molds were created, and 25 artists from four states, Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, were commissioned to paint them. The artists expressed their creativity in 3 themes: Yellowstone Park, Historic West Yellowstone and the American Indian.

Project sponsors and additional donations helped bring the project to life. In June 2007, the masterpieces were unveiled to the public and have been the highlight of the town’s sidewalks and businesses ever since. In 2008, 1 new artist and 9 of the original artists were commissioned to paint 10 buffalo calves which joined their mothers roaming the streets of West Yellowstone.

On August 29th, 2009, the beautiful babes and babies will complete their 3 year roam through the streets of West. At that time, 34 painted buffalo will be auctioned off to the public, including “Frances,” a truly special and unique buffalo cow painted by 15 of the original artists. Auction proceeds will benefit the artists, local non-profit organizations and future WYED projects.