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Board Presidents Outgoing Board President Jerry Boyer (L) welcomes new Board President Kim Bright (R). Cody Newton Archaeologist giving a presentation about the Portuguese Houses. Expansion plans Presentation by Executive Director Clint Gilchrist. Fort cabin construction Architectural renderings Meeting with architect Curt Fentress (L to R): Architect Curt Fentress, Museum Director Clint Gilchrist, Museum Curator Andrea Lewis. Architect Curtis Fentress Addih-Hiddisch 7' bronze statue by John Coleman, one of five bronzes donated by Diana Archuleta in memory of her late husband, George Archuleta. Confluence of Cultures New art exhibit at the Museum of the Mountain Man of paintings and sketches on loan from the Tim Peterson family collection.

The Sublette County Historical Society held their annual meeting and Spring Thaw party at the Museum of the Mountain Man on Thursday, March 5, 2026. The evening brought updates and fascinating history.

The annual business meeting installed the 2026 officers and said goodbye to an officer retiring from the Board of Trustees. Jerry Boyer has been on the Sublette County Historical Society Board of Trustees for eight years, serving as President of the Board for three of those years. The Board gave him a parting gift of a large print by photographer Dave Bell. Members voted to return to the Board of Trustees Kim Bright and Ken Marincic. Newly-elected 2026 officers were Kim Bright as President, Brenda Baker as Vice President, Dan Tau as Treasurer, and Lana Koppenhafer as Secretary.

Museum of the Mountain Man Executive Director, Clint Gilchrist, gave a progress update on the Museum’s expansion plans and highlighted work underway as the Museum continues to grow and strengthen their mission. Fort Sublette is under construction with the groundbreaking in the fall of 2025. The structure will be a historically-accurate 100’x100’ log stockade fort with seven interior log cabins and two, two-story log stockades. The cabins are being built now by Stuart Thompson and his crew. The fort has been funded by a generous gift of $450,000 from Rusty Gooch and family, with a match of $225,000 from Sublette County. Construction of the cabins and stockade will take place onsite during the spring and summer of 2026 with a fully-operational fort by the summer of 2027. In cooperation with members of the American Mountain Men, the fort will allow many more authentic living history demonstrations during Rendezvous and throughout the year as the Museum grows.

Over the last two years, the Museum was fortunate to showcase One With the Land, an exceptional exhibit of original paintings and drawings on loan from the Tim Peterson family of Boston. This exhibit featured more than 70 original works of art by 38 artists, portraying historic mountain men in the landscape they explored and inhabited. This exhibit has been returned and is now replaced with a new collection of original artwork on loan from the Peterson Family Collection with a display called Confluence of Cultures, showcasing the interaction between Native Americans and mountain men. This exceptional exhibit, located in the downstairs gallery, has 87 works of original art by 45 artists.

In 2025 the Museum had two mannequins custom-made from Dorfman Museum Figures to feature Native Americans. They are clothed in period-correct pieces from the Bad Hand Collection. One mannequin represents Chief Four Bears of the Mandan tribe of the Upper Missouri; the other currently represents an Assiniboine figure. Both were custom designed using historic artwork and photographs to ensure accuracy and authenticity.

The Museum also opened a historic art exhibit showcasing three researched, historically-grounded paintings: Sublette Making Camp at Independence Rock-July 4, 1830 by artist Heidi Presse; Prairie de la Messe by George Capps and Polly Capps Paule; and Horseless on Horse Creek by Tim Tanner. Each of these pieces of artwork has been featured in the Museum’s peer-reviewed publications.

Also in 2025, the Museum received several significant generous donations that strengthened their art and historical collections. Diana Archuleta gifted five bronze sculptures in memory of her late husband, George Archuleta. These included the seven-foot bronze Addih-Hiddisch, Hidatsa Chief by John Coleman; Sentinel of the Wind River Mountains and The Buffalo Man by Ken Payne; Young Geronimo by Marie Barbera; and The Nez Perce by L. W. Lamb. She also donated a beautifully painted and quilled buffalo robe.

In addition, Diane Metz donated a bronze sculpture created by her late husband, Gary Metz, titled Troublesome Camp. The piece adds to the Museum’s representation of regional Western artists.

In 2025, the Museum also received a beaver fur coat donated by John Bowes. The coat was passed down from his great-grandmother, Anna Smith Pitkin, niece of George and Amos Smith, founders of the Bar Cross Ranch in Cora, Wyoming. Anna’s sister, Eva, was married to P. W. Jenkins who later purchased the remaining sections of the ranch. According to family history, the beaver pelts were trapped in the Pinedale area, and the coat is estimated to date to the 1870s.

In the spring of 2025, the Museum hosted their annual three-day event called Living History Days. Over 1,000 school children from around western Wyoming attend to participate in living history demonstrations by members of the American Mountain Men. The event is supported by Sublette and Sweetwater BOCES. The general public is always welcome to attend the presentations.

Also in 2025, the Museum published their 19th edition of The Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journal, which had contributions from 32 fur trade scholars and experts. The Journal serves as a national leading publication presenting the latest research in fur trade history. The Journal is distributed free to Historical Society members and sold nation-wide and internationally. The Museum also collaborated with author Mark William Kelly to publish his new book, Andrew Henry…the Myth…the Man, which presents the story of Andrew Henry according to the existing factual record. The Museum also reprinted John W. Fisher’s book Medicines of the Fur Trade and Lewis & Clark Era.

Using the Bicentennial of Rendezvous as the catalyst, the Historical Society has embarked on expansion plans that envision tripling their facility space and staff, growing their endowment, and significantly increasing their annual visitation to the Museum of the Mountain Man. This will expand their educational programming, improve collections stewardship, and create more immersive visitor experiences. The plans include a new Native American wing of the Museum and display of the Bad Hand Collection, an Alfred Jacob Miller art gallery, and expanded Collections Care Facility. The $30 million expansion will add 40,000 square feet to their facility space.

Fundraising is underway for the larger expansion project. The Historical Society has raised $2.8 million to date. In 2025, they received an anonymous gift donation of ranch land designated to support the capital campaign. The sale of this property raised $1.4 million applied towards campaign priorities.

The Historical Society has hired the architectural firm of TSP+Fentress for the architectural master planning phase of the expansion project. Fentress Studios is led by Curt Fentress, FAIA, an internationally-recognized architect whose work includes the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, and the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. The architects are creating graphical renderings of the new buildings as well as 3-D models of the proposed buildings on the current museum campus. These graphic displays help donors and the public visualize the proposed expansion buildings next to the current museum.

The evening program’s special guest featured archaeologist Cody Newton, who presented an engaging talk on the Portuguese Houses located near present-day Kaycee, Wyoming. The fort was built in the early 1830s, during the time period of the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Discoveries from the surface metal detecting survey recovered metal items such as nails, rivets and wagon parts. Further investigation and archaeological work at the site hopes to uncover more insight into the fort’s presence in the area. The site is interesting to fur trade historians locally because it was built around the same time period, and possibly with some of the same people, as Fort Bonneville near present-day Daniel, Wyoming.

Guests at the Spring Thaw event enjoyed catering provided by Heart & Soul, along with cookies generously donated by Patty Washburn. The Museum of the Mountain Man opens for the summer season on May 1st and is open daily from 9AM to 5PM. Visitors can still come to the Museum during the winter by making an appointment by calling 307-367-4101 weekdays. More information can be found on the Museum’s website: www.museumofthemountainman.com