Driving from Jackson Hole to Rock Springs and I chose the route that would take us by this museum. Recommended and it was well worth the visit. Easy to find, plenty of parking and reasonable price. All and everything about the mountain men and there contribution to discovery and "opening" the west. Excellent descriptions of the history of the annual Rendezvous and interaction with the Native Americans and all the skills need to hunt, and survive in the wilderness and associate with the native cultures. Excellent displays and artifacts. So much to see and remember. Highly recommended and the staff is friendly too.
Museum is a great place to learn about the Mountain Men. The people who were the first to open up the western trails.
I've always had a fascination for the Mountain Men of the Old West, especially as glamorized in the movies and on TV. So when I heard of this place I started planning to visit, but it wasn't easy. It's about 100 miles south of Grand Teton National Park, and about the same from Rock Springs on I-80. The roads don't run East-West here so that you can't make a nice loop and see the other scenic and historic sites nearby, like the Oregon Trail museum in Montpelier, Idaho. If you want to see this, you're going to have to make something of a special trip and then backtrack some 70 miles or so, or go on to the next E-W road, about the same distance. Anticipation was high, of course and I must concede that their website is completely truthful about what they have on exhibit. My problem is that, to me, a museum is just a bunch of old, dead things under glass, and despite a couple of splendid dioramas and great sculptures, that's what this was-- a museum. Fascinating, certainly, and a wealth of information (including occasional "look up" signs), but it just didn't "come alive" like those movies did. The somewhat dim lighting and poor eyesight made some of the information hard for me to read, too, but we still spent about two hours there. If you have that interest, I highly recommend this.
Don't miss this if you love western history. The Jim Bridger rifle is one of the most important pieces here. Lots of glass artifact display cases. Some video. There is also a research library for the serious scholar.
Hey, this is well worth the time to visit. The displays are incredible the hosts are very knowledgable
Unique experience providing the history of the West. Excellent, helpful staff! I recommend visiting. We purchased several books and gifts.
Very nice muesem that gave a good overview of the time when the mountain man roamed the Wind River Range in search of beaver pelts. Friendly and informative staff.
Small, entertaining museum. Interesting letters from early mountain men and an extensive collection of guns and period pieces.
Museum well reviewed by everyone so I will talk about the MM Rendezvous that occurs in early July. We timed our visit up from dinosaur natl monument stopping there on the way to Yellowstone. Double your pleasure double your fun! Seriously though, this brings the experience to a whole other level because it is live, up close, and personal. The MM (which by the way prefer the term Mountaineer we learned) were encamped in the adjoining park area. It was interesting to see the variety of shelter types from minimal to teepee style. They had at least 20 individual displays. One fellow let us try on his buffalo robe and brain tanned buckskin. He explained the hard work that goes into his traditional Native American way of tanning. I was amazed how soft and incredibly durable his were and the kids really enjoyed it. Demonstrations all through the day including a lesson in beaver skinning - perhaps not for the very squeamish but no worse than the way any of our meat gets to us right? A MM from the Jackson area and Doc Ivory (I remember his name because he's a dentist too) who spend over 100 days a year living in the wilderness gave a wonderful and very humorous presentation on their pack kit. The 20 or so displays included firearms, bows, clothing, tools, and pretty much everything they used. Most important was being able to ask them exactly how they used them and get educated answers. The only unfortunate thing is we only had one day and so we didn't have enough time to visit the plains Indian encampment too. I know it was equally as good and hope to return next year so I can spend time with them. For 2015 I looked it up and the dates are July 9 - 12. See. Pinedaleonline.comAfter the demos in the late afternoon they had storytelling and music. In the style and content of cowboy poetry with decidedly MM flair. The husband and wife team playing their original music was really fun and again their style very much in tune with the venueFinal note - at least on the night we were there, they had a wonderful fireworks show as the green river rendezvous is very much a citywide event with a street fair, parade, and the town itself was quite busy. Really amazing show for a small town they were set off right over the encampment so staying there, enjoying the campfire with the MM was a nice closer.l
It was simple and self-guided but very interesting. Lots of original artifacts including maps, letters and gear.