In 1853, he was made commissioner for Minnesota to the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations (the World's Fair in New York). With a grant of $300 from the territory, LeDuc gathered samples of common items in Minnesota, such as grain, fur pelts, mining items, and Native American items, including a "birch-bark canoe, beaded clothing and wild rice". He also took a bison to New York, leading it through the city to the location of the World's Fair. When the bison was crossing Fifth Avenue, it became excited and made a "dash toward the lamp post," leaving behind "a wrecked road wagon and a badly frightened horse flying up at the avenue ..." The exhibition was relatively successful, and LeDuc sold the bison to a zookeeper.