Sublette County Historical Society receives WCF Grant
by Laurie Hartwig, Director of the Sublette County Historical Society/Museum of the Mountain Man
May 11, 2012
The Sublette County Historical Society/ Museum of the Mountain Man (SCHS/MMM ) are happy to announce that they have been awarded a $7,500 grant from the Upper Green Sustainable Communities Endowment Fund of the Wyoming Community Foundation. The SCHS/MMM was one of several local organizations and non-profits who were recently awarded grants in Sublette County on April 19, 2012.
According to Laurie Hartwig, Director of the museum and Clint Gilchrist, President of the Historical Society, the donation from the UGSCEF will be used for a major exhibit in conjunction with the National Fur Trade (NFT) Symposium that the Museum of the Mountain Man will be hosting this coming September 5 – 9, 2012.
The NFT Symposium is held every three years at various institutions throughout the United States and Canada. (Much like the Lewis & Clark commemoration), the MMM will be kicking off the "200th Anniversary of Robert Stuart and the Astorians," a segway into the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade and mountain man era that took place in our Upper Green River Valley of Wyoming, 1811-1812.
Scheduled for the grant is C. Adrian Heidenreich, Ph.D., a Professor of Native American Studies and Anthropology at Montana State University. He will be presenting an abstract paper entitled: "Crow Indian Sun Dance Lodge: Astorians as Ethno-Documentarians." Alongside his lecture, a ceremonial Sun Dance Lodge will be constructed and interpreted by the Big Day Family of the Montana Crow Nation. This exceptional lecture and demonstration will be open to the public on Thursday evening, September 6th.
The Sublette County Historical Society was founded in 1935 and is celebrating its 77th Anniversary. As the oldest historical society in the State of Wyoming, a ten-member board oversees the Museum of the Mountain Man since its opening in 1990. The museum’s focus is dedicated to preserving the history of the Rocky Mountain Fur trade era, mountain man and rendezvous system as well as Western history, Native American history and the settlement period of Sublette County.
The Wyoming Community Foundation is a philanthropic non-profit organization that administers funds established by individuals, families, corporations, agencies and private foundations. The WCF uses the income from these gifts to benefit community needs across Wyoming. The SCHS/ MMM and WCF have collaborated on a number of projects and programs over the past ten years. Through the Gayle McMurry Endowment Fund, the museum re-published "The Memories of Kendall Valley" by Richard Hecox in 2004, purchased the Chief American Horse buffalo hide tipi in 2006; the WCF was a major contributor to the elderly/ handicap elevator constructed in 2008, as well as a 2011 grant for the development and interpretation of the New Fork River Crossing Historical Park on the Lander Trail.
"We are so grateful to the Upper Green Sustainable Communities Board and the Wyoming Community Foundation for this generous grant," Hartwig said, "hosting the National Fur Trade Symposium is an honor for the Museum of the Mountain Man, Sublette County and the State of Wyoming."
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