Joint Programs Increase Museum Exposure

             Making the most of limited resources is a fact of life for most cultural agencies in Wyoming and elsewhere. One way the three museums in Sweetwater County; the Sweetwater County Historical Museum, Rock Springs Historical Museum and Community Fine Arts Center, have found to maximize their resources is through cooperative projects. Combining both expertise and budgets makes good sense for these three small organizations.

            The first time this was undertaken was for a cooperative advertisement in the Wyoming Visitor, the official tourism publication for the State of Wyoming. Because of the huge distribution of this piece, ads are very expensive and well beyond the means of any of the individual museums. The three institutions decided to do a joint ad, and as a unit sought supplemental funding for the ad from the Sweetwater County Joint Travel and Tourism Board. This project has proved to be successful and the three museums have just finalized their third joint ad for this publication.

            Other joint projects have included programs. The two history museums have worked together on a number of programs including a historical program and book signing in February and a historic preservation project in March.

            To paraphrase the old adage, many hands (and budgets) make light work for the museums in this group.

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A Special Thank You

 In this world there are those who you know you can always count on to help, and for the museum one of these special groups is the people at the Radio Network in Green River.

            Al and Faith Harris and their staff has always gone the extra mile to help the museum. Al has provided taped narrations for a number of slide shows and presentations over the years, giving freely of his time and expertise. He has also produced numerous radio shows on museum events, including a live remote when the historic automobiles from the Great American Race were in town.

            Most recently he and his staff gave technical assistance in recording the contents of an old record of greeting from a local soldier in France in World War II. For the full story, see the Curator's Corner.

            Thanks go out to Al and Faith and the Radio Network, for being so generous, cooperative and full of community spirit.

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Board Message                                   
Kevin Holdsworth

 During the past six years it has been my privilege to serve on the Sweetwater County Historical Museum board.  I feel particularly fortunate because my tenure has coincided with a time of significant change at the museum.  It's easy to point to a few highlights.  First and foremost would be the museum's new home in the highly appropriate old Post Office on Flaming Gorge Way, which provides the ideal building for a first-class facility.  A memorandum of understanding was adopted between various entities to allow proceeds from sales in the museum store to be used to benefit the museum itself.  The most fitting compliment to the move was the creation, erection and dedication of the magnificent bronze statue of John Wesley Powell on the museum's doorstep.  Finally, working on the "Butch Cassidy in Wyoming and Beyond" symposium last summer brought the outlaw experience to life.  In each case, good-spirited cooperation existed between the museum staff, board and foundation, and Sweetwater County, the City of Green River and many other entities.

            Fine facilities and events have great importance.  I've also had the honor of working with an incomparable museum staff.  Ruth, Mark, Gary and Cyndi are consummate professionals and bring dedication and skill to their jobs every day.  In addition, many board members have contributed to the museum's successful operation, including Stan, Calvin, Susie, Jim, Virginia, Mary J., Catharine, Mary T., Donna and Gwendolyn.  Working with the museum foundation and the county historical society has been stimulating and productive, and the museum has enjoyed collegial relations with commissioners Maldonado, Pallesen, Ware and Oldfield.

            Looking to the future, several challenges remain for the museum.  The most critical problem continues to be space.  We need to solve the problem of off-site storage of the museum collection.  Off-site storage is expensive and remains a security problem.  Also, because some collection items are stored in the old Post Office basement, exhibit space is reduced.  If one may be allowed to dream, new storage and office space could be constructed on county property behind the museum.  Such an addition would bring benefits to the citizens of Sweetwater County and visitors alike.  In conjunction with such an expansion, a cooperative effort between Sweetwater County and the City of Green River to update Clock Tower Park and include large historically important items for public display would create a unique and compelling anchor in downtown Green River for historical tourism and urban redevelopment, something that would celebrate the past of Sweetwater County and provide an unmistakable identity for the future.

            The final dream I have as a writer and educator would be the restoration of the Elinore Pruitt Stewart homestead in Burntfork.  The homestead of Mrs. Stewart-whose work is widely read and taught on many college campuses-is in serious disrepair.  One hopes for a cooperative effort, similar to those undertaken in the recent past, between government entities, schools, industry, private donors and foundations, to at least stabilize the Stewart homestead and make it weather proof, or if need be, to relocate it to a more favorable location.

            As I have said in each of my columns, take a few minutes to revisit the Sweetwater County Historical Museum.  The ever-industrious Gary Perkins and the rest of the museum staff are always working on something new to see and contemplate-something that puts us in touch with the voices of the past. 

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Director's Report                                 
Ruth Lauritzen

            During February I was privileged to attend a conference in Washington D.C. entitled "Building Museums". During the meeting I spoke and listened to many museum professionals who are either planning or in the midst of major construction or expansion projects.

            I came away from my trip with two things. First, was a sense of wonder at the response of the Washington D.C. area to three inches of snow. Schools, government offices and just about everything else closed and people flocked to the stores to buy toilet paper and milk. Second, and most important, I gained a new energy  to begin the long hard walk to completion of a major building project.

            After nearly four years of occupation of  our new/old building, it is time to quit resting on our laurels and begin the march toward completion of phase two of our long range museum facilities plan. This involves the construction of a storage addition onto the current museum in order to expand our gallery space and bring all of our collection into a controlled storage environment.

            When we moved from the courthouse, there was not enough room in new museum building to house even half of our collections storage and so it has occupied rented space which is neither heated nor cooled. Funded by grants, we have undertaken some temporary measures to make the space more environmentally stable, but we are far from a good solution to the problems.

            This solution will come about through the construction of a storage addition which will provide environmentally controlled space for not only the current collection, but provide room for future expansion.

            The ability to expand our collections is a requirement in fulfilling our mission of  preserving the history of Sweetwater County. This history continues to grow on a daily basis, and, consequently, so does our collection. That is not to say that we collect everything that is offered to us. We do recognize that there is not an unlimited amount of space available, so we collect thoughtfully, and in accordance with a very specific collections policy.

            The addition of a storage facility would also free up more space for exhibits in the building. The space in the basement of the building will be used to create more exhibits, telling a more complete story of our county's history. During the next few months I plan to complete some of the initial steps in the planning process, including the creation of a needs assessment for a new facility and the writing of grants to fund a conceptual design. This document will provide a basic design for the required spaces as well as a cost estimate for the construction. This information will be vital in seeking construction funding.

            It is both exciting and daunting to begin again the process of a significant building project. However, it is the necessary next step in the continued development of the museum.

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Curator's Corner                                             
Mark Nelson

            Over the course of the last few months the museum collection department has witnessed a number of changes and additions. In a continuing effort to improve our off site storage situation, the museum hosted a regional Disaster Plan Workshop as part of a grant requirement. The workshop was well attended and proved quite successful. One of the benefits derived from the experience was the updating of the museum's Disaster Plan. Funds from the grant were used to install a much-needed fire detection system at our off site storage location.

            The radon mitigation system installation is now complete. After experiencing a problem with condensation in the  system's pipes some minor changes had to be made but the system now operates properly.

            The museum has a small number of Chinese artifacts on loan to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Michigan. The artifacts are being used as part of the Ford Museum's exhibit titled "Opening an Empire: U.S. Relations with China".  The exhibit concluded on March 13 and the artifacts are expected to return shortly.

            During the past couple of months I have been periodically working in the museum's archive room attempting to complete an inventory of our cataloged paper items. The project is about one-third complete and will be an on-going process in the months ahead.

            We have begun our search for this summer's intern from the University of Wyoming. April 1st has been set as the deadline for applications. We set the deadline earlier this year so that if a candidate could not be secured from UW, we would have time to recruit from other institutions. If all goes well, I will be conducting on-campus interviews in the middle of April and the intern will begin work at the museum in late May or early June.

            The museum's artifact collection continues to grow, thanks to a number of donations made throughout the winter. A few highlights include the 19th century safe used by the Chrisman's in their various Green River business pursuits, the movie projector from the Rialto Theater in Rock Springs, and a world War II recording made by William Jessop II while stationed in France. A duplicate CD recording has been produced thanks to the Radio Network and is available at the museum to anyone wishing to hear it.

            As always, our sincere thanks go out to those who donate to the museum.        

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Exhibits Roundup  
Gary Perkins

             I am so pleased with the appearance of the Chinese tapestry case with its new fiber optic lighting. It took a long time to put together but the results were astounding. Fiber optics, because they do not emit infrared or ultraviolet light or damaging heat, do not degrade or fade light- sensitive fabrics and objects. The only drawback is that it is expensive. As a consequence, we will do one or two cases a year to spread out the cost. I plan to ultimately light every case in the museum with it. We will eventually use the incandescent track lighting to light only the text panels.          

   Rhea Cox and Louise Davis of the Lyman Trona Museum gave us a model of FMC's above-ground trona production plant because they no longer had space for it. Mark Nelson and I spent several days hauling the large, detailed model (it is fifteen feet long and nine feet wide and constructed in sections about four feet by two feet) back to our museum in the county truck. We moved the Chrisman safe, wood stove and ice box and took the antique washing machine to storage so that we could squeeze it in. I had originally intended to protect it from the ever-exploring hands of some of our young (and some older) visitors with Plexiglas but a former trona miner mentioned that he would consider that an insult since Plexiglas is made from petroleum. He thought I should use tempered glass as it is made from soda ash (trona). I took his advice (besides glass was cheaper than Plexiglas) and we now have a glass protective wall around it. The model is one of the more attention-getting exhibits in the museum.

            Another attention-getter is the new exhibit on longtime lawman Christian "Chris" Jessen. He served as a law enforcement officer in Sweetwater County longer than any other person. Jessen was the County Undersheriff from 1921-1931, County Sheriff from 1931-1933, and Green River's Chief of Police from 1933 to 1963. Additionally, he served as the Superintendent of Public Works for the town.

            Jessen was born in 1891 in Omaha, Nebraska. He moved with his parents to Green River when he was a boy. As a young man, Chris drove delivery wagons for local businesses. He claimed that he drove the first motorized delivery vehicle in the town of Green River.

            He was a veteran of World War I having served in the 3rd Wyoming Infantry in France. He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Wyoming Peace Officers Association, Police Protection Association, Modern Woodmen of America, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He married Esther Wiggen in 1924 and the couple had one daughter, Marna Grubb. Jessen died in 1970 and is buried in Rest Haven Memorial Gardens in Rock Springs. The items on display include his badges, handcuffs, fraternal pins, watch, and photographs of him over his lifetime including some wonderful ones of him with confiscated stills during the Prohibition years. On a side note, we provided scans of these and others of early Sweetwater County lawmen to Applebee's restaurant in Rock Springs for their wall decor. Also included are several of his items from his service in the army in France in World War I. One of the more unusual items is a cross made from pieces of duralumin from a crashed German Zeppelin. All of the items were donated by Jessen's daughter Marna Grubb.

            Mark and I worked on another exhibit of the Woodmen of America fraternal organization items that he had recently accessioned. I have been interested for some time in the early fraternal organizations because the groups played such a big role in local peoples' lives.

           In the 19th century there was a great boom in secret societies. Taking their place beside more ancient societies like the Masons and Knights of Columbus, were newcomers such as the Woodmen of America (WOA), founded in 1890 in Illinois.

            In addition to being a social organization for men, the WOA was also a benefit society - that is, it offered insurance for its members. Because of this insurance function, the fraternity's bylaws prohibited extending insurance benefits to members in high risk occupations such as airplane pilots and railroad brakeman. In keeping with the temperance movement goals of the time period, the WOA also did not allow workers in the alcohol trade to join. Additionally prohibited were African-Americans. These policies have changed over the years to reflect the times, and, according to the Woodmen's web site, the group now allows all Americans to join. As a side note, African-Americans had (and still have) their own versions of popular fraternities and sororities.

            The Woodmen's meetings were structured around simple plays or lessons that taught the novice how to live his life. The members would dress in costumes and act out the plays specified in the ritual book. Many of these plays involved gag-type devices, such as cameras that sprayed water in the novice's face, to illustrate a point. Intricate march formations, chants and songs would complete the evening lodge meeting. (One of my favorite movies is "O Brother Where Art Thou?" which has a memorable scene of another type of fraternal members - Ku Klux Klansmen - performing intricate marches at one of their meetings. I thought this detailed marching farfetched until I researched this exhibit. Having flunked marching at the Air Force Officers' Training School many years ago, I appreciated how hard it is to march well!)

            While these pastimes seem rather tame today, they undoubtedly provided much entertainment and comradeship in the days before radio and television began to dominate peoples' lives. Today with so many competing demands on free time, many fraternal organizations have ceased to exist or struggle to stay alive. The Woodmen of America is primarily now an insurance company located in Omaha, Nebraska - they no longer have a chapter in Sweetwater County.

            Another item we recently put on display was a Lincoln Highway signpost. Made out of concrete in the early 20th century it was originally adorned with a copper disk of Lincoln's face. The disk was long ago "souvenired" but the rest of the marker was in relatively good shape considering it spent many years on its side in a flower bed in Rock Springs. Because of its great weight, I was unable to display it upright. I had to build a platform for it to recline upon in the transportation section of the gallery.

            Downstairs the Haunted Sweetwater County exhibit will soon be replaced with one on boy and girl scouting. The ghost exhibit has been one of the most popular exhibits we have ever done. I plan on doing an updated version next year.

            In the elevator foyer I hung a series of three paintings that I painted showing the evolution of a portion of the historic Green River business district, Railroad Avenue, over a 128 year period. The first painting from a photo in our collection circa 1876, shows an infant town in existence for only eight years at the time. The scene is stark with the buildings appearing to have dropped out of the sky onto the rocky desert floor - there was no landscaping, trees, sidewalks or streets. The Desert House hotel is the painting's center of attention (it was probably located where the small grass park is today next to the pedestrian overpass). A tall pole with elk and deer antlers affixed to it (a pale imitation of a tree?) stood in front of the Desert House. A simple wooden Union Pacific Railroad depot stood east of the hotel (the wood depot was replaced by the current brick building in 1910). The depot offered an unusual attraction - mountain lions and bears were kept in pits for the amusement of travelers. The courthouse, built in 1876, can be seen behind a row of buildings. The adobe brick courthouse was demolished in 1966 and the current building was built on its site.

            The second painting is taken from a photo circa 1895 in the museum collection. The scene is much more colorful with a green park and the first sidewalks; Green River looked more like an actual town by that time instead of a "spaghetti western" movie set. There was a grass park with the first trees planted in the city and a bandstand or gazebo. This oasis in the desert is now the parking lot next to the pedestrian overpass. The streets were still dirt but there were now wooden boardwalks for pedestrians. At the far left can be seen the Morris Mercantile building. It was destroyed by fire in 1917. Payne's Saloon and the Cosy Bar were on the east corner of the street. These buildings burned in 1986 and on their site a restaurant now stands. It is interesting to note that there was a corresponding block of businesses on the south side of the tracks (1st South Street) at this time. This block was demolished in the late 1910s to make way for expansion of the railroad yard.

            The third painting of the triptych is from 2004. It is of a different angle than the other two and shows the west end of the street. On the far left of the painting, is the house once owned by the Spinner and Gaensslen families, both one-time owners of the Green River Brewery (the first brewery in the Territory of Wyoming - 1872). The building, currently unoccupied, is architecturally very different from most of the other houses built in Green River at the time. Several unidentified skeletons were recently found under the large rocks in the front yard - probably graves of railroad workers from the building of the railroad in 1868. Hugo Gaensslen tore down the original wooden brewery and built the magnificent stone castle-like building on the same location in 1901. He also changed the brewery's name to the Sweetwater Brewing Company. The arrival of Prohibition in 1919 ended the business. Only the office part of the building remains and is now the Brewery Bar. To the right of the brewery stood a small house owned by Nancy Phillips, a former slave who came to Green River in 1868. She worked as a dressmaker, midwife, and in the restaurants and hotels owned by S. I. Field (one of the founders of Green River). Phillips' house probably was destroyed in the Morris Mercantile building fire of 1917.

            Railroad Avenue, once the business center of Green River, has not recovered from the end of passenger rail transportation and the increased importance of automobile routes. The Lincoln Highway/US 30 created a new major north side business street, Flaming Gorge Way. Even though the street is no longer as attractive as it once was, I still find it fascinating - a sort of run-down clapboard and adobe brick version of Rome's ruined forum.

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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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