Wednesday in Wyoming - November 6, 2024

 

When you think of Thomas Edison, you probably remember his laboratory in New Jersey, but did you know that he also did some experiments in Wyoming?

He did, which is why the Carbon County museum in Rawlins has a room dedicated to him. 

Isn't this phonograph beautiful?

Wednesday in Wyoming - October 30, 2024

 

The dinosaur might seem serious, but I smiled when I looked up and saw it perched near the ceiling at the Tate Geological Museum in Casper. 

Although it's a relatively small museum, the Tate is filled with exhibits of everything from over 3,000 fossils and minerals to the skeleton of Dee the wooly mammoth as well as this recreation of a dinosaur.

If you're in the Casper area and have even the slightest interest in dinosaurs, be sure to visit the Tate.

Wednesday in Wyoming - October 23, 2024

 

How would you like to cook all your meals over an open fire for months and months? That's what the pioneers did on their journey west.

As you probably guessed, this picture came from the Historic Trails Museum in Casper, which is one of my favorite Wyoming museums.

Wednesday in Wyoming - October 16, 2024

 

One of the sadder aspects of the second World War was the internment of Japanese American citizens in camps like Heart Mountain. Can you imagine being forced to abandon your home and in many cases your business and be forced to live in cramped quarters behind barbed wire in a place vastly different from your home, even though you were a citizen of the United States? 

Wednesday in Wyoming - October 9, 2024

 

The JC Penney Mother Store that I featured in last week's post isn't a full-fledged museum, but the Fossil Country Frontier Museum, also located in Kemmerer, is.

It's a small but intriguing museum with exhibits ranging from a replica coal mine and a lamb with one head but two bodies to this button attaching machine. 

You'll note that it's only a pair of short boots that has buttons. I can't imagine how long it would have taken to put on those women's shoes if they'd had buttons rather than laces. 

Wednesday in Wyoming - October 2, 2024

 

Where do you find a store that's half store/ half museum? In Kemmerer, Wyoming, that's where. The JC Penney "mother store" still sells the merchandise you'd expect from Penney's, but it also has a number of historic items on display including old cash registers, sewing machines, lunch pails, and -- my favorite -- the pulley system that moved money from the main floor to the cashiers on the mezzanine.

 Definitely a fun place to visit!

Wednesday in Wyoming - September 25, 2024

 

Can you guess which fort this is? If you guessed Fort Laramie, you were correct. That's the fort that intrigued me so much when I first visited it that I knew it had to be the setting for a book. And it was.

A major stop on the Oregon Trail, Fort Laramie was far different from my mental image of a western fort. No stockade. No buildings constructed of logs. Instead, during its later years it resembled a New England village with sidewalks, birdbaths, and ladies carrying parasols. Not quite the Hollywood version of a western fort.

If you're ever in eastern Wyoming, I encourage you to visit Fort Laramie and the surrounding wagon trail sites, including Register Cliff and the wagon ruts. For more information about Fort Laramie, click here.