New displays on Oregon Trail, Hunting and Fishing and prehistoric artifacts at Lander’s Pioneer Museum

Three new exhibits have just opened at Lander’s Pioneer Museum. A large case dedicated to the Emigrant Trails in Fremont County, a hunting and fishing exhibit featuring vintage rifles and fishing gear, and two cases of prehistoric tools and projectile points can now be seen in the main gallery of the museum.

According to Randy Wise, the museum’s Visitor Services Coordinator, the displays will help visitors understand the unique history of this area. “The Emigrant Trails, which included the Oregon, California and Mormon trails, went right across Wyoming and through South Pass. Without that easy path through the Rockies, the settlement of western America would have been very different, we may not have had a United States that stretched from the east coast to the west.” said Wise. The exhibit focuses on the hazards of the trip across the continent.

According to Wise the prehistory of the Lander Valley is by far the longest part of its history, and the new display features projectile points as old as 12,000 years.

“We have a huge collection and are working to update our main gallery displays to keep them fresh and exciting for repeat and first time visitors,” said Wise.

The museum will continue to have rotating displays in the lobby and Western Gallery, featuring exhibits from other museums and new acquisitions by the Lander museum. The Chief Washakie paintings that used to hang in the Noble Hotel are still on display in the main gallery. This fall an exhibit of Frederick Remington lithographs will be a featured exhibit. The museum celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.

The Pioneer Museum’s winter hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Call the museum at 307-332-3373 for more information, visit www.fremontcountymuseums.com, or visit the museum Facebook page: Pioneer Museum Lander Wyoming.

Photo captions: The prehistoric projectile points exhibit that has a chronological timeline from 12,000 years to the present.

www.fremontcountymuseums.com