Mighty Og was a roadside attraction consisting of a 36feet high sculpture of a gorilla from the waist up. It originally graced a billboard promoting Rawhide City, a tourist attraction in Mandan, North Dakota. [1]
The statue was auctioned following the Rawhide City bankruptcy. It was purchased by James Lelm who engaged a house mover to transport it the 120miles to Harvey, North Dakota. He had intended it as an attraction to his hardware store, but opted not to proceed due to structural concerns. A site was eventually located on Highway 52.[2] The figure shakes its fist at a large hornet above its head to indicate that "even a gorilla can't beat the Hornets", a reference to the local school team.[3]
The structure was destroyed in a strong windstorm sometime before June 2005.
North Dakota has a number of these giant statues including a 40feet sandhill crane, a 38feet high Holstein cow, a 40feet grasshopper, and a 60ST buffalo. One hypothesis put forth is that these figures distinguish one community from another in an otherwise somewhat featureless landscape.[4]