July 28--Tourism numbers are way up at Frontier Village and the National Buffalo Museum and about the same as last year at Fort Seward and the Stutsman County Memorial Museum.

Nina Sneider, Buffalo City Tourism executive director, said the total number of visitors from April 12 to July 19 was 107,388. Buffalo City Tourism purchased its own car counter, so this is the first year the number of visitors includes April to late May. Comparing numbers from May 22 to July 27 with 2009, there's been a 19 percent increase in visitors -- 90,642 in 2010 to 73,495 in 2009.

"The day we named the World's Largest Buffalo (July 24), we had 3,000 visitors in the village," Sneider said. "We also had an excellent turnout for the dedication. A lot of them were tourists who took in the festivities and the village."

During that day, Tina Busche, Frontier Village manager, reported she counted 962 cars. She said 112 of the vehicles parked outside the gates were from out-of-state, while 114 were from North Dakota.

White Cloud's Birthday and the Tatanka Festival also generated big numbers at Frontier Village. That Saturday alone generated 2,700 visitors counted by hand counters.

"Over 9,000 people came through the gate in those four days," Sneider said. "It was so busy we never got to sit down."

The whole summer has been like that, Sneider said. And it doesn't seem to matter if there's an event to draw visitors.

"This year you can come up here on a weekend when nothing special is going on and you won't find a parking space," she said.

Felicia Sargeant, National Buffalo Museum director, has also seen a substantial increase in visitors this year. The year-round museum posted an 11 percent increase from Jan. 1 to July 25 this year as opposed to the same period last year. During this period 14,435 people have visited the museum, compared to 13,059 last year.

What Sargeant calls "phenomenal" is 2009 posted an increase over 2008, which was the year Jamestown celebrated its 125th anniversary in late June-early July. That was considered a great year for tourism here. But each year since, it's only gotten better.

Sargeant credits two things for the higher numbers -- the affordability of traveling North Dakota and the advertising done by Buffalo City Tourism.

"None of us (tourist attractions) could do the advertising Buffalo City Tourism can do," she said.

Visitors to Frontier Village came from all 50 states so far this year, something Sneider said usually doesn't occur for another month. They came from 19 countries including Spain and Peru.

Many of them found Jamestown on the Internet or by the modern version of word of mouth -- blogs. Others saw the billboards or learned about the attractions in advertisements or tourism guides. "Reader's Digest," "North Dakota Horizons" and "Parade" all featured the World's Largest Buffalo.

"There's been a new awareness that we're here since Hampton (Inn) did the refurbishment of the World's Largest," Sneider said. "We're out there multi-media."

Most recently, the campaign to name the "Big Guy," Sneider said, generated world-wide attention. The contest ran from March to July and resulted in the name Dakota Thunder.

"The submissions came from all over the world -- seven foreign countries," she said. "You can't buy that kind of publicity and it didn't cost us anything. Now he's a big deal."

The live buffalo, especially the three white ones, are still a big draw, Sargeant and Sneider said. However, this year the Big Guy is gaining on them.

With about a month to go until Labor Day, Fort Seward has had 9,269 visitors so far. Last year, the summer brought 10,770 to the fort.

"They're on track to hit that number again," Sneider said.

That's despite the fact that the huge flag representing Flags across America isn't flying. Keith Norman, a member of the Fort Seward Reconstruction Committee Board, said a structural problem in the flag pole developed and a solution is being worked on.

The board is planning a series of Fireside Chats featuring Norman, Dale Marks and Steve Reidburn. The history talks around a campfire will start at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 17, 24 and 31, and Sept. 7. The encampment for the Frontier Army of the Dakotas is scheduled for Sept. 11-12.

The Sunday Front Porch Chats are a big draw for the Stutsman County Museum, said Alden Kollman, treasurer of the museum board.

"The Chats are well-attended," he said. "Museum attendance has been steady with about normal numbers and not a lot of tourists. But we're here for our local people and we appreciate their support."

Sun reporter Toni Pirkl can be reached at (701) 952-8453 or by e-mail at tonip@jamestownsun.com

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