Sue Metal T-Rex Statue

At the edge of the South Dakota prairie, a scrap-metal Tyrannosaurus rex rises from the small town of Faith. A tribute to one of the most famous dinosaurs ever unearthed. 

Built from recycled tractors and agricultural materials, this sculpture honors Sue, the largest and most complete T. rex fossil discovered in the United States. The original skeleton now resides in Chicago's Field Museum. 

Faith proudly calls itself the "T. rex Capital of the World," a title rooted in the fossil-rich lands nearby. Sue was discovered on August 12, 1990, by fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson while working with the Black Hills Institute on the Cheyenne River Reservation. The skeleton, found in the Hell Creek Formation, was astonishingly complete, about 90 percent by bulk and 73 percent by bone count, missing only a few ribs, vertebrae, an arm, and a foot.

What followed was nearly as dramatic as the life of the dinosaur itself: a prolonged legal battle over ownership, then a Sotheby's auction in 1997 that fetched $8.36 million, and an eventual home at one of the nation's premier natural history museums.

Alongside the sculpture is a small museum dedicated to the history of Faith. Established by settlers who took advantage of the Homestead Act, the town's story is reflected in the museum's collection of early photographs and railroad artifacts. One of the museum's highlights is its display on the two other T. rex's found in the area. One other small building stands nearby, one of the last surviving ice houses in South Dakota.

This recycled-metal predator stands not only as a tribute to a remarkable fossil, but also as a reminder that one of paleontology's greatest discoveries come from this quiet stretch of prairie.