History & News

Sweetwater County Historical Museum announces 7th annual quilt exhibit

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Photo #1 - Only two of the quilts on display at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River for this year’s exhibit, presented in partnership with the Sweetwater County Quilt Guild. The exhibit’s 2024 theme:  “Historical Wyoming.”

Graphic #1 - “Historical Wyoming” at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - February 28, 2024)    The Sweetwater County Historical Museum is pleased to announce its seventh annual quilt exhibit in partnership with the Sweetwater County Quilt Guild.

This year’s theme is “Historical Wyoming,” which will open at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum, 3 E Flaming Gorge Way in Green River, on Friday, March 1st, and will run through May 4^th. The museum’s hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Admission is free.

For additional information, call (307) 872-6435 or contact the museum by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . You may also visit the museum website at www.sweetwatermuseum.org , or its Facebook page, using the handle @SWCHM.

A Sweetwater County merchant pioneer

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Louise Wire Field - Photo #1 - Louise Wire Field and the Field Store in Green River, 1871

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - March 2, 2024)    March is Women’s History Month, and the Sweetwater County Historical Museum is recounting the little-known story of a Green River pioneer woman.

The book Sweetwater Women, by Christine Alethea Williams and Brigida R. Blasi, covers the lives of over 100 women who figure prominently in Sweetwater County history. Among those profiled is Louise Wire Field. Her story from Sweetwater Women is reproduced here:

Louise Wire Field

“Louise Wire Field and her husband Sam were some of the first entrepreneurs to homestead and start businesses in anticipation of the coming transcontinental railroad in what is today the city of Green River. Sam ran one of the earliest mail services in the area, the Jackass Express. They also battled the Union Pacific over land ownership when the tracks reached the area in 1868, one of the reasons the U.P. abandoned plans for Green River and moved operations to Bryan. When a drought dried up the Blacks Fork River, the U.P. moved back to the Fields’ land, some of which the company was obliged to purchase.

“The Fields ran a general store that outfitted both of John Wesley Powell’s expeditions of discovery down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1869 and 1871. They renamed the store the U.P. Eating House following the return of the railroad. Louise was in charge of the cooking. A quilt Louise made while living in Green River in the 1860s or ‘70s is the oldest quilt in the collections of the Sweetwater County Museum.

“When she and her husband decided to move to California in 1877, they deeded a large portion of the original town plat of Green River to Sweetwater County for $1.00 ‘to be used as public streets and highways forever. Because of this, the Fields are often regarded as the founders of Green River.”

The first Black student to graduate the University of Wyoming was from Rock Springs

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Photo #1 - Bonnie Fermon - her Rock Springs High School graduation portrait

Photo #2 - Bonnie Fermon’s entry as a senior in the 1944 Rock Springs High School yearbook, The Sagebrusher

Photo #3 - Congressman Teno Roncalio

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - January 29, 2024)     February is Black History Month, and the Sweetwater County Historical Museum is recognizing someone very special - the daughter of a Rock Springs coal miner who was likely the first Black graduate of the University of Wyoming.

Bonnie Mae Fermon, the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Fermon and Jessie Fermon (formerly Jessie Anderson) graduated Rock Springs High School in 1944. She went on to study at the University of Wyoming, graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1947, as reported in the Laramie Republican-Boomerang’s edition of November 17, 1947. She earned her Master’s from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1950, the year she married Lendell Alston in Oakland, California. She died in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1977, of breast cancer, at age 52.

The Fermons lived on Booker Avenue in Rock Springs. Benjamin Fermon worked for Union Pacific Coal from 1919 to his death in 1942; his last U.P. Coal position was that of a Pit Car Loaderman at the Number 8 Mine.

Also graduating the University of Wyoming in 1947 was Teno Roncalio, the son of Italian immigrants, born and raised in Rock Springs. After graduating Rock Springs High School, he  worked as a reporter for the Rock Springs Rocket-Miner, then served with the Army in the European Theater in World War II, where he won the Silver Star. After the war, he became an attorney. Roncalio, a Democrat, ran for U.S. Representative in 1964 and defeated the Republican incumbent, William Henry Harrison. Two years later, he ran for the open U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the retiring Republican Milward Simpson, but lost in the general election to Governor Cliff Hansen. In 1970, Roncalio ran again for Representative, and won. He was re-elected in 1972, 1974, and 1976. He left Congress in 1978.

A special holiday presentation from the County Museum

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Photo 1 - The County Museum’s holiday program for SCCDC pre-schoolers in Rock Springs and Green River featured presentations about Christmas, Three Kings Day, and Hanukkah

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - December 21, 2023)     The Sweetwater County Historical Museum’s outreach program featured presentations recently for pre-schoolers from the Sweetwater County Child Developmental Center.

Over 300 children in Rock Springs and Green River attended the CDC events. The topic was “Winter Holidays Around the World.”  In addition to Christmas, Public Engagement Coordinator Aidan Brady and museum volunteer Madeline Trujillo-Hamel gave presentations on Three Kings Day and Hanukkah. Three Kings Day celebrates the three kings who followed the Star of Bethlehem to being gifts to the baby Jesus, and marks the official 12^th Day of Christmas. Hanukkah is a Jewish festival, usually celebrated in December. It commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem from the Seleucid Empire in the 2^nd Century B.C.E., followed by the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. Traditionally, candles are lit each day during the festival’s eight days.

Children attending the events learned about the importance of each holiday, a song for each, countries where the holidays are popular, and items related to them, such as Christmas trees, nativities, and menorahs.

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..