Wyoming Pioneer Memorial Museum

The Wyoming Pioneer Memorial Museum occupies a solid building on the State Fairgrounds and does an unusually good job of making frontier history feel specific rather than generic. Established in 1956, it covers the full arc of Wyoming's settlement era: the livestock industry, the Indian Wars, the railroads, and the often-violent clash between large cattle operators and small ranchers that defined the Johnson County War of 1892.

Two floors of exhibits display a wide range of artifacts — Native American pieces including a tepee used in the filming of Dances with Wolves, weapons, domestic objects, and memorabilia from Wyoming's military contributions from the Indian Wars through World War II. Admission is free, which makes it an easy addition to any Douglas itinerary. It is located on the fairgrounds just west of downtown, and the staff are generally happy to discuss the collections in detail.

things to do museum
A story
Among the museum's collection is Tom Horn's saddle. Horn was a stock detective hired by Wyoming cattle barons to eliminate rustlers in the early 1900s; he was hanged in Cheyenne in 1903 for the murder of a fourteen-year-old boy, a case that remains contested to this day. The saddle sits quietly in a glass case with no editorial comment, which somehow makes it more unsettling.