Wyoming Minute

Toys are a great example of how historians learn about people's everyday lives. Hunter Old Elk, the curatorial assistant of the Plains Indian Museum, said a great example in the collection is a toy horse and doll.

Pop culture usually influences the way we live. And it turns out firearms collecting is no different.

Danny Michael, the Cody Firearms Museum curator, said in the past Western movies really influenced what type of guns were collected but today that is changing. A great example is the Die Hard series.

Larry Larum was the owner of a famous dude ranch southwest of Cody. He had long been supportive of the Cody Stampede Rodeo and was one of its first directors.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Whitney Western Art Museum in 2008, artist Ted Waddell donated a large painting titled,  Red Lodge Horses. Turns out it was also in honor of his 50-year painting career as well.

There are times when a curator of a museum may decide not to keep an object that came in with a larger collection. That's because of the damage or quality of the object.

Rebecca West, the curator of the Plains Indian Museum, came across this dilemma when she found a spoon that had a lot of damage to its decorative quill work.

Colt Buntline Revolvers weren't very well known until a biography was written about Wyatt Earp. Earp was an American law enforcement officer who served as deputy marshal Tombstone, Arizona Territory during the late 1800s and into early 1900s.

John B. Stetson came west as a young man. He was the son of a successful hatter. In the West, he recognized the need for a felt hat with a wide brim to keep off rain and sun. His famous "Boss of the Plains" hat became widely popular and he was forever associated with the figure of the western cowboy.

Painter Thomas Moran visited Yellowstone National Park in 1871. A year before, Yellowstone became the world's first national park. Moran traveled to Yellowstone on a formal expedition to document both in text and imagery of the place to the world.

One day while working in the Plains Indian Museum collections, Hunter Old Elk, the curatorial assistant, found a very heavy box.

The McCracken Research Library director loves artifacts that tell a bigger story. Mary Robinson said one of her favorite examples is a pamphlet that talks about the dude ranches in the Big Horn Mountains.

She said the pamphlet packs so much information in 50 pages-even just the front page evokes some history.

The Cody Firearms Museum is well known for its huge collection of Winchester firearms. But Danny Michael, museum's curator, said the museum actually has a much larger Winchester archival collection.

"We might have a few thousand firearms that Winchester gave us. But we have 30,000 drawings…engineering drawings that they gave us of how they built these guns, how they built the tools that built these guns, how they laid out their factory," said Michael.

Lauren Good Day is Arikara Hidatsa Blackfeet and Plains Cree. Rebecca West, the curator of the Plains Indian Museum, said this diverse cultural heritage informs her as an artist. Good Day usually does beadwork, parfleche or painting. So West said this pipe bag is unusual.

The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor, we are featuring the 11 raptors in the program.

Jade is a bald eagle. He is the only raptor that is always on exhibit. He lives in the gardens of the museum. Melissa Clark, the live raptor program manager, said he seems to enjoy when visitors come out. She said it seems to give him something new to look at.

The Whitney Western Art Museum has a studio collection of Joseph Henry Sharp. He is best known as a Tao Society artist, but he also spent time in Montana. Karen McWhorter, the museum's curator, said he spent his winters in Montana and his summers in New Mexico. He built a cabin in Crow Agency.

The Winchester Model 70 has long been called the rifleman's rifle. The gun is also an iconic American Bolt-Action that was designed in the 1930s. It’s so popular that a version of it is still in production today. 

The rifle has been used by hunters and target shooters for decades. Danny Michael, the associate curator of the Cody Firearms Museum, said it’s a target rifle, but in popular perception, it was only ever sought out for its commercial use. 

Kate Fools Crow was Lakota and the wife of the renowned spiritual leader Frank Fools Crow. Kate made a dress sometime in the 1970s that had American themes. 

The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor, we are featuring the 11 raptors in the program.

Amelia is a short eared owl. Unlike most other owls, short eared owls are active in the middle of the day.

Most people know Abercrombie and Fitch as a clothing store. But Ashley Hlebinsky, the curator emeritus of the Cody Firearms Museums, said it started out much differently.

"What they don't know is the fact that Abercrombie and Fitch actually got started around 1892," said Hlebinsky. "And it started off with David T. Abercrombie and Ezra Fitch and they created a sporting goods store in New York City."

The Plains Indian Museum not only collects older artwork but also contemporary artwork. The museum has a piece of pottery by Rose Pecos SunRhodes. 

“[It’s] a large female figure with a big skirt and she has outstretched arms,” Rebecca West, the Plains Indian Museum curator, described the piece. “And there's all these little figures that are children that are surrounding her skirts. And this is a traditional storyteller figure that you will see a lot in the Southwest.”

Vincent Mercaldo was a painter and artist. But many people, including his family, didn’t realize that he collected and manipulated photographs as well.

“What makes his collection really interesting is the fact that he was an artist and he wasn't afraid to manipulate images,” said Samantha Harper, an archivist at the McCracken Research Library. 

The latest Cody Firearms acquisition is a set of 3D printed firearms. Danny Michael, the associate curator of the museum, said one of them made national news at one point. 

The Whitney Western Art Museum commissioned a painting for the Invisible Boundaries Exhibition. The exhibition explored Yellowstone National Park’s animal migrations. 

James Prosek ended up painting what is now titled, “Yellowstone Composition No. 1” It is very big at 120 by 120 inches. 

Winter counts are recordings of the Lakota tribal history. The Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West has one winter count that is known as the lone dog winter count. That’s because Lone Dog was the last known keep of this tribal history. It’s a calendar representation of important events between 1800 and 1871.

The McCracken Research Library at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West receives many gifts, donations and loans from patrons. The staff has to go through all the collections to catalog them and also find out what’s in them. 

The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor, we are featuring the 11 raptors in the program.

Salem is an American Kestrel, which is a falcon species. It's the smallest Falcon species in North America. At one point it was one of the most common raptors across north Central and South America. But their numbers are actually in decline across most of North America. Scientists are researching the decline in an effort to figure out why. 

Not many American impressionists depicted the West. Most painted the East coast and Europe. But Karen McWhorter, the curator of the Whitney Western Art Museum, said one American impressionist, John Henry Twachtman, painted a series of Yellowstone National Park. 

Did you think there’s any connection between baseball and firearm production? Turns out, Hillerich and Bradsby Co. and M1 Carbines have a little in common, said Danny Michael, the associate curator of the Cody Firearms Museum.

The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor of its anniversary, Museum Minute is featuring the 11 raptors in the program. The Raptor Experience is a live raptor education program that shares the region’s wild animals with visitors to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

Suli is a turkey vulture. She has no disabilities, but she is a human imprint. Brandon Lewis, the live raptor program assistant, said that means she was raised by people and doesn’t have much knowledge of how to survive as a turkey vulture. Lewis said Suli was found in a barn between haystacks.

The Cody Firearms Museum has one of the only three 1910 silencers that survived. It’s on the Springfield Model 1903 Bolt Action Rifle. 

The Plains Indian Museum has a collection of pressed plants that were used for medicinal uses.

The book includes the tall fringed blue bell. Hunter Old Elk, the Plains Indian Museum curatorial assistant, said it’s a mountain flower.