The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago was billed as a world’s fair to surpass all previous world’s fairs. A must-see on many fairgoers’ lists was the Kansas Pavilion, which attracted between 10,000 to 12,000 visitors a day. The main reason for this popularity was the Panorama of North American Mammals, a unique demonstration of the taxidermist’s art created by KU natural history professor Lewis Lindsay Dyche.

This unparalleled collection of 121 mammals included deer, elk, mountain goats, bison, a grizzly bear, two fighting bull moose, and a host of smaller animals. They were displayed in groupings and surroundings that mimicked the natural settings of several regions across North America at the time of early autumn. Dyche’s work received rave reviews from many who saw it, including many of his peers in the field of natural history.