Thank you everyone for attending Dr. Newton’s presentation on the archeology of the Portuguese Fort! We had a great turn out and enjoyed visiting with so many.

Thank you to all the volunteers that worked at the site preserving the history, and the landowner, to make all of this possible. 

Thank you also for your great patience and kindness as we resolved our technical difficulties. We want to offer a special thank you to Victoria Davis, for technical assistance, and Nancy Tabb and Bonnie Ross for a loaner projector.

Thank you volunteers and helpers: Nancy Elm, Dwayne Christensen, Darcy DeLapp, Nolan Davis, Dick Gould, and Jeanie Tinnin for all the help that day and any volunteers we missed.

What a fantastic group of people!

Archeologist Cody Newton will be presenting the history and archeology of the Portuguese Fort site using artifacts from the site, including recent excavations, on March 10 at 1:00 at the Harold Jarrard Park Building in Kaycee.    

Fort Antonio, known locally as the Portuguese Houses, was built in 1834 east of Kaycee as a fur trading post by independent trapper Antonio Montero from Portugal. The fort experienced a series of difficulties: attacks by Blackfeet, competition from Jim Bridger’s fur company, theft, and legal challenges from government bureaucrats. However, it was the demise of the beaver and the fall in demand for its felt that dealt the final blow. The fort was abandoned in 1840, and the fur trade had collapsed by then.

However, many items were left behind which tell a detailed story of how fort residents worked and lived. Dr. Newton will reveal its fascinating secrets and these new additions to the museum collection.  

Coffee and cookies will be served.

The 2023 Rifle Raffle Fundraiser winner was drawn at our December monthly meeting and the winner was Hal Norvell of Ballantine, Montana. Thank you to all those who bought tickets, and everyone who sold them for us: The Kaycee Sinclair, Kaycee General Store, Invasion Bar and Restaurant, Cassidy Inn, Country Inn, and Chicken Coop. We also would like to thank the Sports Lure for help purchasing the rifle.  We are grateful for the support!

On November 12th the museum held a successful open house with many visitors. We sold some great Christmas gifts from our gift shop and enjoyed seeing our friends and supporters. Thank you for all the support!

Our museum gift shop recently added many beautiful items from artist Mary Cunningham, former Kaycee resident for many years. We hope you stop in and take a look. These are perfect for gifts or just to treat yourself.

We enjoyed a beautiful day on Powder River east of Kaycee seeing the sites of the Bozeman Trail and other early frontier sites. Thank you to all who attended in support of the museum, and all the landowners, speakers, and volunteers who made the day possible. Thank you!

The museum had a great turn out for the presentation by historical author Tom Rea on March 5th. The presentation covered everything from the ancient peoples that once inhabited the famous valley to the more recently famous, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We will continue with some additional related tidbits and stories on Facebook if you would like to learn more. If you would like to purchase Rea’s book, please contact the museum at 307-738-2381. We appreciate all of our followers and supporters!

If you have not been to the museum in a while, you may want to visit and see two of our newest displays.

One of the new display cases features the role of rodeo in Kaycee, and local rodeo stars such as Deke Lathum, Larry Sandvick, and Chris Ledoux. Artifacts in the display include chaps worn by Larry Sandvick while winning rodeos as well as artifacts associated with the Deke Lathum Memorial Rodeo and Chris Ledoux’s career.

The second new display case reorganizes and better displays all of the items associated with many of our local pioneer women. There are many small personal items that are now much easier to view, as well as unique jewelry, pins, and dresses. There are several beautiful quilts, and artifacts belonging to many other early local women.