Hoofprints of the Past Museum

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Small Group Tours

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The Museum offers several different small group tour options:

Outlaw Country: Explore the beautiful and historic Barnum/Hole in the Wall region where famous outlaws fought the law and hid from the law at the turn of the 20th century. Your knowledgeable museum guide will show you the historic sites along the way to the Hole in the Wall Valley and point out other cultural and geographic points of interest.

Johnson County War Tour: Whether you are curious or knowledgeable about this historic range war in 1892 this tour offers you the chance to visit the key sites where it took place and experience the beautiful countryside of Johnson County at the same time. Your knowledgeable museum guide will provide as much background or as little as you want about the event and point out the historical sites along the way to the historic TA Ranch.

Bozeman Trail & Fort Reno Tour: The Bozeman Trail, established in 1863,  overlaid previous Indian, trader, and exploration routes, but the increased flow of emigrants along the trail through the recently claimed ground of the Sioux provoked Indian attacks on the settlers. In response, the U.S Military constructed a series of forts along the trail to protect travelers, such as Fort Reno, but conflict along the trail only escalated, culminating in the final battles of the Plains Indian Wars. Your knowledgeable guide will take you through this volatile period in Western history, pointing out the Bozeman Trail, various battles along the trail, and the site of Fort Reno.

Private Museum Tour: This tour will provide a fascinating overview of local western history, from the Native Americans through the Outlaw Period while showcasing some of the museum’s most priceless artifacts. Tour will be guided by the museum curator beginning at 9:00 at the museum and ending at approximately 10:00 a.m. Tour must be scheduled two weeks in advance and price is $50 per person (minimum of 2 persons required). For large group rates, please contact the museum.

Small Group tour Details:

  • Tour dates should be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance by contacting the museum at 307-738-2381 or Laurel at 307-251-0981. Certain dates may not be available depending on guide schedule. Last minute additions to the schedule will be considered but to secure a date it is best to schedule well in advance.
  • Scheduled tours begin at 9:00 am at the Hoofprints of the Past Museum in Kaycee, Wyoming and include a quality lunch.
  • Tour Price: $115 per person or a $350 minimum per tour. Transportation will be provided by tour attendee(s) and must be an all-wheel drive vehicle.

Video Digitization Project at the Museum

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With support from the Wyoming State Historical Records Advisory Board, the museum recently preserved digitally 40 VHS and audio cassette tapes in a digital format. This short example clip shows Bob Winingar speaking about his Dad in WWI, along with museum interviewer Sandy Dixon and Brock Hanson reads a short poem written by Bob’s Dad.

Voices of the Past Books Now Available

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Text Box: Hoofprints of the Past 344 Nolan Ave. PO Box 114 Kaycee, WY 82639 (307)738-2381 www.hoofprintsofthepast.org Board Members: Nancy Elm, President Bill McIntyre, Vice President Dwayne Christensen, Treasurer Robin Petty, Secretary Jeannie Tinnin, Board John Streeter, Board Staff Contacts: Laurel Foster: 307-738-2289 Keri Malson: 307-259-8302 Board Meetings: First Tuesday of the Month Hours: Closed for the season • Mon-Sat. from 9-5 • Sundays from 1-5 • May 15-October 31st.

Over the last year, the museum has been working with the Kaycee Community Voice to preserve and share the many historical interviews that ran in the paper over the years. The Voice gathered all the articles together, retyping in some cases, and gave them to the museum to put into a book format. The text had to be formatted for consistency, readability and printing as well as edited for any spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. The articles were ordered by date, and a table of contents and index were added. The book is 303 pages, and just as the original interviews were wonderful to read, so is this book. The reader will know many of the people, places and families, but may not know how amazing some of these people were or are. If you want to know Kaycee history and all the fascinating early history of the area this is a great start. It is for sale, at the museum, for $20 plus tax. Since we are closed until May, we will have it available at the annual talk on February 16th or call the museum and we will arrange to get it to you on a staff workday at the museum or by mail. All proceeds support the museum.

Revised and Expanded “Kaycee: A Photo History” on Sale Now

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Recently the museum greatly revised and expanded the museum produced book “Kaycee: A Photo History” and it is now available to purchase at the museum. There are almost twenty additional pages from the 2013 printing, additional historical topics, and many more photos, including a previously unknown Nate Champion photo. The book is an essential addition to any local history book collection and makes a great gift for family members and visitors.

You may purchase the books at the museum, by phone (307-738-2381) or on our website at www.hoofprintsofthepast.org

Bozeman Trail Tour

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In 1878 English cattleman Moreton Frewen named the area on Powder River where he located his 76 Ranch headquarters “Sussex” after his home county in England. But decades before Frewen marked the beginning of the Cattle Boom in Wyoming, the Sussex area East of Kaycee was the stage where early explorers, travelers, trappers, the US military, and even missionaries played their part in Western expansion.

The fascinating and little known history of these people and events will shared by knowledgeable local historians as you travel by bus eastward from Kaycee through the Powder River Country. The tour will be held on September 11, 2021.

Some of the famous sites and events explored on this guided historical tour include:

  • 1836 Portuguese Fort of Antonio Montero, trapper
  • German Lutheran Mission Station where missionaries attempted to minister to natives
  • The Bozeman Trail
  • The Townsend Wagon Train Fight along the Bozeman Trail
  • US Military Cantonment Reno and Fort Reno sites
  • Cattle Baron Moreton Frewen’s “Castle” site at 76 Ranch Headquarters
  • Notable Homestead Sites and Community Sites

Tour Cost is $85 per person, which includes lunch at Fort Reno, and begins in Kaycee at 9:00 AM. Registration is required in advance and space is limited on the bus, so sign up early.

Overlooking the Townsend Wagon Train Fight in beautiful Powder River Country East of Kaycee.

To find out more about the tour or register, you may contact the museum at 307-738-2381 or register here: http://hoofprintsofthepast.org/product/forts-fights-and-frontier-sites-tour/

To receive notification for this tour’s date in 2022, please complete this form http://hoofprintsofthepast.org/tour-information/

Please note: Dogs are not allowed on the tour for any reason.

Bison Hunting in Hole-in-the-Wall Country: Results of the Wold Bison Jump Excavation

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Hoofprints of the Past Museum is pleased to have  Spencer R. Pelton  present Bison Hunting in Hole-in-the-Wall Country: Results of the Wold Bison Jump

This presentation provides an overview of prehistoric bison hunting on the northern Plains, reconstructs the events that occurred at the Wold Bison Jump, and then contextualizes those events relative to other bison jumps across the Plains.

Driving bison off cliffs during large scale hunts (or “bison jumping”) was a widespread practice among Native Americans living on the northern Plains of Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, but less so among groups living in Wyoming. In fact, the Wold Bison Jump, located on the Hole in the Wall Ranch west of Kaycee, WY, is one of a very few number of bison jumps in Wyoming. The University of Wyoming conducted research at this bison jump in 2013 and 2014, finding evidence for a single, rather catastrophic bison jump event and potentially tying the jump to the ancestral Crow.

Spencer Pelton received his PhD from the University of Wyoming in 2018. He has worked on archaeological sites in Wyoming for the past six years, most recently at the Powars II Paleoindian ocher quarry, the La Prele Clovis site, and the Sisters Hill Paleoindian site. Spencer lives in Douglas, WY with his wife Hallie and their dog Cashew, where he works for Transcon Environmental as a senior archaeologist.

At 1:30 before the presentation the Hoofprints of the Past Museum Board will hold a brief meeting and annual report on the museum’s 2018 activities.  Coffee and cookies will be served.

Museum Donors for 2019 preservation project Needed

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Hoofprints of the Past Museum working diligently to preserve our buildings. A  project for 2019 we are working to complete is adding soffits to the north side of the building. This will ensure our buildings will last for years to come by protecting our roof from damage.  If you are willing to help with this museum need, your donation would be greatly appreciated.

Click on the link below to Donate now!

Membership & Support

New Displays at the Museum

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Have you visited the museum recently? If not, you may want to stop by soon and see the new collections and displays added at the museum. One of the more significant items is the Al Smith pistol, shot from his hand in the Hole in the Wall Fight in 1897. The museum will also be premiering a new rotating annual display on a local person or family in June. This year’s featured individual is Sandy Dixon and the museum has been working with Sandy’s friends and family to create a display that highlights the amazing person and life of Sandy with various items and artifacts from her collection.

Historical Guns of the Old West

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On February 11 at 2:00 at the Harold Jarrard Park in Kaycee, historian and gun collector Joe Hickey will be speaking on historical guns of the Old West. Hickey will tell the story of various western weapons by weaving together the related famous Western individuals and events of the period. Joe has guns used by Butch Cassidy, Tom Horn, and many others. He is a fascinating speaker and makes it fun even for people who do not know very much about guns.

Successful Johnson County War Tour

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On August 19th the museum held its annual Johnson County War Tour beginning in Kaycee at the museum. The tour was completely full, with 45 attendees traveling by bus the approximate route of the Invaders in April of 1892 and stopping at the Tisdale and Jones Assassination sites. John W. Davis, author of Wyoming Range War, and Brock Hanson were tour historical guides and speakers with John presenting additional background information at the conclusion of the tour at the museum.