Tours

Museum of The American West Tours
Individual or group tours of the museum facilities are available. Call for scheduling information 1-307-335-8778.

During this walking tour you will be able to see the following:

Pioneer Village Walking Tour

The Museum of the American West in partnership with the Fremont County Pioneer Association and the Fremont County Museums Board is developing a museum site that will enable visitors to see history as it was in the times of the earliest pioneers.

We are as proud of our heritage as were the original pioneers who decided in 1915 to build a log cabin in which to house many cherished artifacts of their times.

With the help of many dedicated volunteers, some who are descendants of the original pioneers, and through generous private and public donations this museum complex has developed into this remarkable historical/educational site.

As you enter the museum complex the original cabin will be seen on your left. The restoration project is in progress as of Spring 2008. The above photo shows the Pioneer Cabin shortly after it was built. The inset is of the cabin as it sits on MAW property awaiting restoration.

Walking past the original pioneer cabin you will see before you a small frontier town with its boardwalks and hitching rails. The first cabin you will see after the original is the. . .

Olive States Cabin – Circa 1907-1918’s.

Olive States and her family came to Wyoming in 1903 from Lincoln, Nebraska. Olive with the help of her brother and father built this cabin which was originally located in Sinks Canyon, Wyoming. The cabin was entirely exposed to the elements and she aptly named it “Westwind”. For two years she lived there alone with only her piano to keep her company. She “home-schooled” neighborhood children as well as helped out at the family ranch. The cabin is being restored to display FCPM artifacts depicting the life of the frontier woman.

As you continue on down the “street” on your left you will see the following until you come to the large livery stable at the end.

Thompson Carpentry Shop – Circa 1890. This building was originally built as a carpentry shop by John A. Thompson, contractor. It is one of the first frame structures ever built in Lander. Many, many businesses have set up shop in this building over the years, including a plumbing shop, army surplus store and an electric store. At this time MAW and FCPM are using the building for administrative purposes.

Stough House – Circa 1900. The house is the former residence of Charles L. Stough who came to Wyoming in 1880. In the fall of 1890 he was elected sheriff of Fremont County. He administered his office in a way that made him a terror to evildoers and gained him the enduring confidence of the County. He is most noted for arresting the notorious “Butch” Cassidy and upon his conviction conveying him to the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary in Laramie.

Dickinson Livery Stable – 2004 Replica of the Dickinson Stable – Circa 1876. Peter P. Dickinson came to Lander in 1874. P.P. and his wife, Maggie,, were two of Lander’s earliest business people. They started the Cottage Home Hotel together and then P.P. branched out to build the first livery stable. An ad for the Dickinson Stables boasted, “Headquarters for Tourists, Mining and Oil Men, Intending Settlers and Everyone going to the opening of the great SHOSHONE INDIAN RESERVATION. Good Rigs and Careful Drivers for all kinds of trips.”

Returning to the main street by the same bridge you will now see on your left two buildings which have not yet been restored. Beyond this is the...

Borner’s Garden School—Circa 1881. The structure was built at Borner’s Garden, an area near the mouth of Sinks Canyon along the Old Indian Trail. It served as a one-room schoolhouse until 1948. John Borner was one of the earliest settlers in the Lander Valley. He planted a large garden and trucked his produce into Lander to sell. His sister-in-law was the notorious Calamity Jane. This building has been leased to the Fremont County Pioneer Museum for the purpose of displaying artifacts depicting a pioneer school.

Coutant House --1890 The cabin was built on the east side of Table Mountain south of Lander. Dr. Charles G. Coutant, Wyoming’s first historian, owned it. Parts of the epic “History of Wyoming” were researched and written in the house. In 1899 the house was sold and moved to Lander where it became the home of Eva Lamberson, who was known as Lander’s poet laureate. This building has been restored and will be used to display photo exhibits on loan from the Wyoming Heritage Center.

St. Matthew’s Chapel—1909 This church was established as St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church by Reverend John Roberts to serve the town of Hudson, Wyoming. Reverend Roberts came to the Wind River Indian Reservation in 1883 and established an Episcopal Mission at Fort Washakie. He preached at St. Matthew’s as part of his ministerial circuit. Fremont County Pioneer Museum artifacts are on display in the chapel and the chapel is available to the public for weddings, baptisms, etc.

The Guinard Cabin—Circa 1902-1920 was originally located on Wyoming Street. This cabin belonged to Louis Guinard.

Louis Guinard’s father is noted for constructing a bridge across the North Platte River in 1858 at the site of the Mormon Ferry. It was operated as a toll bridge until the abandonment of Fort Caspar in 1867, when the Indians promptly burned the superstructure. This building is currently being remodeled and will become the MAW office.

Directly behind the Coutant House is the...

Pioneer Association Picnic Pavilion—This area is a place of gathering for the Pioneer Association as well as a site for picnics and family reunions. The monuments you see at the front of the pavilion are engraved with the pioneers who settled in this valley as well as those who have moved here in later years. Take time to read the names and dates and you will be astonished at the number of people who have been involved in preserving our heritage.

As you look to the North you will see the Tepee Village Performance Arena.

Powwow Grounds, Tepee Village & Performing Arts Arena

Since 2003 this complex has offered summer programs featuring Indian dances and historical presentations. The mission of the project is to preserve the heritage of and interpret the relationship between the two distinctly different cultures of the Wind River Indian Reservation: the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes. On its completion the complex will consist of three tepee villages with museum exhibits, seating for 600, and a covered stage for drum groups, plays, concerts, etc

Continuing to the northernmost end of the Museum of the American West you will find the Millennium Park guarded by the bronze “Sweet Tooth”.

Millennium Park

The Park (constructed as a high school student project) was originally located on the grounds of the old Lander Valley High School. When the old high school was torn down, the park needed a new location. MAW offered the park originators a portion of state lease land that borders their acreage on which to relocate the park. With the state’s permission the park was moved to this site. Guarded by the huge bronze grizzly bear, “Sweet Tooth”, the park contains memorials of rock gardens and trees, a xeriscape garden, and two hill-like berms planted to native grasses and flowers.

You are encouraged to stop by the museum and go on the guided tour and learn more about the history of the West and the part that Lander played in it.