Past Events

County museum presents Native American basket weaving class

Composite Photo No. 1 - Casey Callahan and Teri Carman of Green River making Native American reed baskets at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum on Saturday, under instruction from Public Engagement Coordinator Aidan Brady. At right, Carman and Callahan pose with their finished baskets.

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - July 6, 2024)     The Sweetwater County Historical Museum hosted a Native American basket weaving class in Green River on Saturday, with Public Engagement Coordinator Aidan Brady providing hands-on instruction and historical context.

“In an age of plastic storage containers, cans, steel and aluminum pots, cardboard boxes, and glass jars,” he said, “we tend to overlook the importance of hand-woven baskets to countless generations of traditional Native Americans for storing, carrying, and preserving food and many other items.”

Using timeless techniques, attendees made their own reed baskets, which they took home once the course was complete.

Those interested in learning more about museum programs, including educators, parents, and parent-teacher groups, are encouraged to contact Brady at (307) 872-6435 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The museum is located at 3 E. Flaming Gorge Way in Green River. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and there is no charge for admission.

County Museum hosts clay pottery-making class for kids

Photo #1 - Aidan Brady and Nyobi C. working on her clay pot at the Boys & Girls Club in Rock Springs on Wednesday

Photo #2 - The finished - but not yet dry - clay pots from the Boys & Girls Club in Rock Springs

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - July 28, 2024)     The Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River staged a special class for the Boys & Girls Club in Rock Springs on Wednesday - making clay pottery.

Pottery is among the oldest and most important of human inventions, extending as far back in history as 30,000 years ago in what is now central Europe. Pottery making spread throughout cultures all over the world, such those of prehistoric indigenous peoples in the American West, including Sweetwater County.

Aidan Brady, the museum’s Public Engagement Coordinator, provided instruction for over a hundred Boys & Girls Club members, who made their own small clay pots, using ageless techniques. Most made coil pots; some made pinch pots, using “slip,” a wet clay mixture.

The finished pots were not kiln-fired, but set aside to air dry; they’ve been labeled and the kids can pick them up once they’re dry.

Educators, parents, and parent-teacher groups who are interested in learning more about museum programs for students Grades K - 12 are encouraged to contact Brady at (307) 872-6435 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

County Museum and Boys & Girls Club partner for special events

Composite Photo #1 - Members of the Boys & Girls Club of Sweetwater County attended two special presentations last week hosted by the Sweetwater County Historical Museum. The topics were adobe brick making and digging for fossils.

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - June 22, 2024)     The Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River partnered recently with the Boys & Girls Club of Sweetwater County for two special hands-on activities with historical themes.

Both events were staged at the Boys & Girls Club on Massachusetts Avenue in Rock Springs by Aidan Brady, the museum’s Public Engagement Coordinator. Day 1, attended by 85 B & C Club members, focused on the ancient craft of making adobe bricks. The oldest known structures on earth date back to before 8,000 BC were made of adobe, and some adobe structures around 900 years old are still in use today. Adobe bricks, (mud bricks), are made of earth and straw. The wet mixture is pressed into open molds, then left to dry. (True adobe bricks are not kiln-dried, but dried by the sun.) 

Participants made their own adobe bricks, built an small adobe structure, and were allowed to take their bricks home if they so chose.

The Day 2 exercise, in which 95 club members participated, was an paleontological dig. The kids learned about paleontologists and their work and got to perform their own actual digs, recovering genuine fossils, including prehistoric knightia fish, gastropods (snails), petrified wood, and shark’s teeth.

Educators, parents, and parent-teacher groups who are interested in learning more about museum programs for students Grades K - 12 are encouraged to contact Brady at (307) 872-6435 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Third Grade History Fair underway this week

Composite Photo #1 - Hundreds of third graders are participating in this year’s Third Grade History Fair, an annual event presented by the Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River. Students receive a museum tour and take part in demonstrations and activities grounded in Sweetwater County and Wyoming history.

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - May 13, 2024)     The Sweetwater County Historical Museum’s Third Grade History Fair for 2024 commenced on Monday this week.

Dave Mead, the museum’s Executive Director, explained that third graders from all over Sweetwater County are participating in the annual event, which runs this year from May 13 through May 16.

The students receive a guided tour of the museum and review special exhibits and demonstrations about ranching, trona and coal mining, mountain men, Native Americans, and railroad construction at the museum in Green River and nearby Centennial Park, and participate in hands-on activities grounded in frontier history such as gold panning, making their own butter, simulated calf branding, and simulated railroad spike-driving.

Mead said the museum hopes to surpass the number of students who took part in History Fair in 2023, which exceeded 700.