Museum Events Create Busy Summer   

            Programs, dedications and tours along with regular visitors are making this summer a busy one for the museum.

            Two historical programs are scheduled for the month of June. The first is on Thursday, June 5th at 7 p.m. at the Sweetwater County Library in Green River. The program is called Pony Express: Yesterday and Today and it will discuss the history of the Pony Express and the on-going reenactment rides which come through our area each year. Carl Schultz, coordinator of riders for this year’s ride, will speak, as will Duke Yowell, who rode in the 100th anniversary reenactment in 1960.

            Bold Spirit: Helga Estby’s Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America will be presented by Linda Lawrence Hunt at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 8 at the Gasson Room in the White Mountain Library in Rock Springs. Hunt researched and wrote a book on Mrs. Estby who crossed the United States on foot in 1896 as part of a wager to save her farm. Estby followed the route of the Union Pacific Railroad through Wyoming, and Hunt is doing the same, bringing a program about her book to several communities. The program is co-sponsored by the Sweetwater County Historical Museum and the Rock Springs Historical Museum. Both programs are free and open to the public.

            A ribbon cutting for the Gunn, Wyoming exhibit will be held at the Rock Springs/Sweetwater County Airport on Friday, June 20th at 10 a.m.. This exhibit was funded by a grant from PacifiCorp and representatives from the company have been invited to attend.

            Gunn was a small coal town east of Rock Springs which operated in the early 1900s. The exhibit contains a DVD presentation on Gunn and items found in an archeological survey of the town dump site.

            The museum is hosting series of tours in June and July for Scenic Journeys, a summer program for youth sponsored by the Rock Springs Police Department. Discussions on tolerance are highlighted by a trip to the museum to learn about the Chinese Massacre and Riot in Rock Springs in 1883.

            The museum and the Sweetwater County Museum Foundation are participating in partnership with the Rock Springs Museum in selling international flags, books and gifts at International Day in Rock Springs on June 21st. A special effort was made this year to get some of the flags which are very popular in Rock Springs, but not commonly available. These include the Basque flag, as well as flags of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.

            The museum and museum foundation also plan on having a presence at Flaming Gorge Days and the Sweetwater County Fair. They will be selling books, T-shirts and gift items from the Museum Store as well as tickets to a raffle sponsored by the foundation to raise funds for the base of the John Wesley Powell statue.

            The museum will also be dedicating their donor wall some time this summer. For about fifteen years the museum has been selling engraved bricks to raise funds for a new museum facility. Now we finally have the facility, the bricks will be used to face the retaining walls on the front of the building. A date for this dedication has not been set, but the wall should be going up in the next couple of months. Watch for further details.

            Please join us for these fun and exciting events!

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Farewell and Welcome

            It is always difficult to say goodbye to a good board member. Jim Donham, who has served on the Museum Board since 1998, will be moving from Rock Springs this summer and thus will be resigning one year shy of completing his final term. Jim is an architect and his experience and advice was a great help during the renovation of our building. He has been a faithful member and has served the board as Secretary, Treasurer and Foundation Representative. We will miss him and wish him the best.

            The Sweetwater County Commissioners appointed Rock Springs resident Donna Mundschenk to fill Jim’s unexpired term beginning in July. We look forward to working with Donna in the future and are grateful for her willingness to serve on the Museum Board.

            On the staff side of things, we bid farewell to Linda Holland who took a job at General Chemical. Linda did a wonderful job with our Museum Store and we were sorry to lose her, but understand that she felt the need to progress in her profession. 

            Our new Secretary/Bookstore Manager is Cyndi McCullers. Cyndi has adapted very well to the museum environment and has already begun making plans for some changes in the Museum Store. She has a natural knack for talking with people and can frequently be heard offering advice to tourists on local sites of interest. We are grateful that we were able to fill the position so quickly and so well.

Board Message
Kevin Holdsworth

            The previous Green River City Council and Mayor showed foresight and boldness in commissioning a bronze statue of explorer John Wesley Powell.  There is perhaps no one event that holds more historical interest for our area than the Powell expeditions down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869 and 1871.  Over a hundred and thirty years later, the expeditions are still the focus of new books and films.  Partly this is because of the way the first expedition ended (with the deaths of three “deserters”), partly because of the charisma and leadership of the remarkable Major Powell himself.  A fine and fitting way to honor the courage and accomplishments of Powell and his crew is by commissioning and erecting a statue.

            Fortunately, the City of Green River has seen that an important and beneficial way to enhance the way of life of Sweetwater County residents, as well as the experience of visitors, is through the Whitewater Park.  The park provides a fine place for recreation.

            The walking bridge over the railroad, one of only a few still in existence, ties the park to the downtown and the Sweetwater County Historical Museum.  Together, the park, the walkway and the museum offer a much-needed something-to-do for visitors.

            The previous Green River City Council and Mayor approved a resolution to site the statue somewhere along the north side of Flaming Gorge Way on the same block as the County Museum.  This was also wise because a statue and a museum work so well together.  In connection with this, the Museum Foundation has raised over $6,500.00 to assist the city in building a site for the statue, provided that the statue is located on the same block as the museum.

            Probably the best place for the statue would be in the Clock Tower Park adjacent to the museum since it is already city property.  In fact, the southwest corner of the park would be a natural place to locate the statue.  Some minor landscaping would be required—to cut down a line of bushes in order to erect a plinth or base for the statue.   The Clock Tower Park, to speak frankly, could use a little attention in order to fully utilize its location and show its assets to advantage.  Installing a statue, with the help of the Museum Foundation, would be a great way to accomplish this goal.

            There are some people who have suggested other sites for the statue, including Expedition Island.  Yet it is the belief of the Museum Board that no site offers as many advantages as the Clock Tower Park.  The Island site would certainly invite vandalism, as it is not lit and is far from any type of security services.  Moreover, such a location misses the opportunity to tie the Island to downtown and the Museum, thereby creating benefits for the city, county and local businesses.  Finally, since the previous City Council supported locating the statue on the same block as the museum, it would seem to be good governance to follow that resolution.

            The current Green River City Council and Mayor have not yet made their desires public on this issue.  On behalf of the Museum Board, I urge them to locate the statue of John Wesley Powell near the Sweetwater County Historical Museum.

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Curator's Corner       
Mark Nelson          

            Now that winter is finally over, it is time to wrap up cold weather projects and begin planning for warm weather pursuits. I recently completed scanning the museum’s collection of Union Pacific Coal Company negatives. Two hundred and seventy-two images from the collection were scanned and are now available for viewing. The UPCC collection represents the last of the negative collection to be scanned this year.

            The museum has converted its artifact records onto a new hardware and software system. While challenging, the conversion was completed successfully. The new software system, IO, will take a little time to learn thoroughly, but in the final analysis, it will provide the museum with greater record keeping capabilities.

            In an attempt to construct a more thorough artifact computer database, I will be entering information into the computer that will be compiled directly from old catalog cards. This will provide a more rapid means of getting the entire collection represented on the database. Additional information will be inserted into these skeleton records as time permits.

            Finally, we will  continue to refine our storage situation in the months ahead. Some material currently being stored offsite will be moved to the museum. Other items will be transported to the museum for storage. We will also be moving some large artifacts, formerly on exhibit, to offsite storage.

            I hope everyone has an enjoyable summer. If you are interested in seeing the new software system or the new museum storage area, please contact me and I will be glad to show you around.

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Exhibits Roundup  
Gary Perkins

            With the help of my able volunteer and lovely wife, Criss, we installed an exhibit in the airport lobby on the archaeological survey at the Gunn mine dump by James Lowe of TRC Moriah Company. Last summer Fred Pickett generously volunteered to go with me to the site and film Lowe’s activities. I then wrote a script, Paula Wonnacott did the narration and Fred put it all together in a ten-minute video. The project was partially funded by PacifiCorp. The artifacts were loaned to the exhibit by the Rock Springs Grazing Association. When the exhibit ends, some of the artifacts will be displayed in our showcases at Superior and the county hospital before returning to the main museum to be included in our coal mining exhibit.

            I am also working with Pickett to produce a DVD with a silent slide show featuring our images of the Chinese in Rock Springs, the Union Pacific Coal Company’s photographs from the 1930s-’50s, the Proctor images of life in Green River in the 1940s and ’50s, and the August images of life in Rock Springs during the same time period for use in our gallery’s two video stations.

            I bought three 360-degree cases and archival quality mannequins to display the Slovenian woman’s costume worn in Rock Springs by Mary Kershisnik, a Union Band uniform worn in parades and concerts in Rock Springs in the 1930s, and the 1898 Spanish-American War uniform worn by Frank Kidd of Green River. Another similar cases holds the display of the dress Hattie Mary Campbell wore when she married William Hutton in Green River in 1903. I hope to buy two more cases and mannequins next year to display the Union Pacific Railroad conductor’s uniform and the early Green River fireman’s uniform from our collection. These items have not been displayed for several years.

            I installed a temporary exhibit on the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse formed in 1955 by Sheriff George Nimmo. The posse members were sworn in as special deputies, however, they had to provide their own horses, equipment, and uniforms. The men spent many hours in the saddle looking for people lost in the desert or stranded by bad weather on the back roads of the county. It was not all hard work though, for the posse also performed at fairs, rodeos, and parades. The unit diligently trained to perfect their mounted equestrian drill routines. The organization was also a social one and cookouts, trail rides and dances were held for posse members and their families. The posse earned the county much goodwill and brought fellowship to its members. The Sheriff’s Mounted Posse was replaced by the Sweetwater County Search and Rescue organization in 1962. The new organization primarily uses four-wheel drive vehicles for its searches.

            In 1960, the posse was honored to be picked as the county riders for the one-hundred-year anniversary re-enactment of the Pony Express ride. For the 1960 re-enactment, thirty-two riders were used, sixteen westbound and the same number traveling eastward. Donald L. “Duke” Yowell was one of the riders in that historic re-enactment. Duke loaned us his posse shirt with a beautiful 1960 re-enactment patch, hat, tie, belt, and the commemorative medal and Bible he was given for making the 1960 ride.

            I enjoyed interviewing Duke as part of my preparation for the exhibit. He was born in Green River in 1929. He attended the University of Wyoming for a year and then was hired as a telegrapher for the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1950, he joined the U.S. Air Force where he worked in communications. While on assignment to RAF Brize Norton, England, he met and married Mollie Elizabeth Axton. After leaving the Air Force, Duke brought his new bride to Green River and returned to his job with the Union Pacific.

            Duke no longer owns a horse, but he enjoys playing his harmonica, writing poetry, painting, and talking on his ham radio. The Yowells are interested in history and play an active part in the Sweetwater County Historical Society.

            Mark Nelson and I are working on a plan to exhibit some of our pieces of furniture and some shelves filled with smaller objects, (appliances, toys, tools, etc.) from our collection that are rarely shown. This would tie in with the “Life in Sweetwater County” exhibit section.

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Director's Report
Ruth Lauritzen

             One of the most enjoyable parts of my job is the opportunity to present programs to elementary school kids. I deal primarily with 2nd through 4th grades. These are the years whose curriculum includes the history and culture of community, county and state.

            I do a program on the Oregon Trail for the 4th grades in both districts and for the 3rd grade in School District #2, I present a history of Green River  as it is shown through photographs in the museum collection.

            During the latter program we look at pictures of old business and community buildings, people and transportation equipment and we talk about how life was different a hundred years ago.

A favorite with the more gruesome-minded third graders is a photo of the back room of the Spinner Meat Market where you can see a freshly slaughtered beef hanging from its back legs while a butcher skins it out. We talk about how a lot of kids today don’t know that meat comes any other way than under plastic on a Styrofoam tray.

            We also explore issues such as paved streets versus the dirt streets of yesteryear and what that meant on wet days, especially to women who wore long skirts.

            We talk about schools, what the buildings looked like, subjects students studied and how there was no such thing as kindergarten. They are amazed to learn that Green River didn’t have a full twelve-year primary school program until 1912 when it produced it’s first real high school graduate, Ruth Lenhart. It is also enlightening for them to discover that a hundred years ago it was not uncommon for students, especially boys, to drop out of school in the eighth grade to get a job to help out the family.

            We discuss more recent history as well. While I show them a picture of a large trailer park development, which photo is the only one in color in the whole show, we talk about the boom of the 1970s and how it effected the county and what it did to make the Green River they know today.

            I appreciate the opportunity of  working with these young people. They are so full of enthusiasm and love the stories of the past. It is my dearest hope that museum programs can instill in just a few of them enough love of history to get them through the typical “I-hate-history-it-is-boring-just-a-bunch-of-names-and-dates” attitude of most adolescents and out the other side as future historians and museum workers.

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Volunteer Opportunities

     If you have an interest in volunteering at the museum please call Ruth at 872-6435 or 352-6715. Volunteers may choose to work as much as they wish, coming in on a regular schedule or just helping out for special events. If you have special talents and time to give we would love to hear from you.

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