Written by: Laurel Thompson

When locals found out the Live WYld team would be hitting up the Bighorn Basin for our May issue, we kept hearing the Meeteetse Museum was a must visit, and we couldn’t agree more!

Immerse Yourself in Local History

The Meeteetse Museum, located in the historic downtown of Meeteetse, Wyoming, is a spectacular small-town museum immersing visitors in its rich history of Meeteetse and the surrounding area. The Meeteetse Museum is comprised of three museums: Bank Museum, Belden Museum, and Meeteetse Museum. And did we mention admission is free? You heard us right, free, but donations are encouraged.

Belden Who?

Upon entering the historic building on the corner of main street, which was built between 1916 and 1919, visitors are first introduced to the Belden Museum – the Charles Belden Museum of Western Photography to be exact. Who is Charles Belden you might ask? Belden was responsible for making Meeteetse and a local ranch, the Pitchfork Ranch, famous in the 1920s and 1930s through his nationally renowned photography.

Californiacation

Belden, a California native and MIT graduate, married into the local Phelps family and would spend three decades photographing the Pitchfork Ranch and the surrounding area for famous publications in Los Angeles, Denver, Billings, New York and so on. There are hundreds of photographs on display in the Belden Museum, cataloging life in Wyoming and on the ranch.

The collection of photographs, Molesworth furniture, historical artifacts, and other belongings donated by the Phelps-Belden family propel you to another era and are treasures to behold for the true history buff. The walls are lined with black and white photographs of local wildlife, horseback riding, campfire serenades, livestock, parties at the ranch house, and more. There is even a replica of Belden’s dark room and nearly an hour of Belden’s films ranging from the 1920s to 1930s.

Local History

Relocated in 2001, the Meeteetse Museum is connected through a series of doorways behind the Belden Museum and is home to a variety of displays highlighting Meeteetse’s history and the surrounding areas ecology.

The first room contains stunning taxidermy displays of Wyoming wildlife to include grizzly bear, gray wolves, and golden eagles as its focus is on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. The displays are accompanied by detailed encounters between the bears and the WGFD and descriptions of local geology, plant life, wildlife, and the impact of population decreases and endangered species listings.

A Walk in the Past

Transitioning to the next room was a true walk in history, as you entered a replica of the local Meeteetse Mercantile – a real general store that operated from 1900-1998. Here, you were able to learn about how stores operated before technology such as barcodes and credit cards and view items that would have been kept in stock. This section of the museum was home to some of my personal favorites to include an antique cash register and scale and mailboxes from the first United States Post Office in Cody, Wyoming.

WYld Favs

As a lover of period films and theatre, I was incredibly happy to discover the Meeteetse Museum had several displays dedicated to historical fashion. One display, Meeteetse in Style: 60 Years of Hats, demonstrated the evolution of hat styles from 1900 to the 1960s. There was also a display of old western saddles and gear – my favorite being a woman’s sidesaddle circa the 1890s. If you know anything about western wear and gear, you know it is often decorated with elaborate designs and engravings, and this much was true throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries based on the incredible displays.

Local Appreciation

As we circled through the remaining sections of the Meeteetse Museum, the value of our local National Forest and our wildlife was apparent. Most of the remaining displays were dedicated to the wild sheep of North America, the Black-Footed Ferret, and Shoshone National Forest.

The Wild Sheep of North America exhibit was captivating and included five taxidermy displays to include Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep, Stone sheep, Dessert sheep, Dall sheep and mountain goat. Despite viewing some of these creatures in the wild through binoculars, being up close and personal made you appreciate their size and power. It was also interesting to learn the displays had been donated by various persons from Wyoming, Canada, and Nevada.

Back from the Dead

You can’t visit the Meeteetse Museum without noting the Black-Footed Ferret. Originally spanning twelve states and into Canada, the Black-Footed Ferret was believed to be extinct until 1981 until Shep, a local ranch dog, drug one home. It is a fascinating story, which is explained in great detail at the museum to include stories of capturing, breeding, and relocating these tiny critters.

Small, But Mighty

One thing the Meeteetse Museums has taught us, is that just because the town is small, doesn’t mean the history or the experience is in short supply. We had a wonderful time visiting the Belden and Meeteetse Museums and are hopeful the Bank Museum will be open during our next visit!

Hours of Operation:
Tuesday through Saturday 10-4PM
Closed January and Thanksgiving

Meeteetse Museum