Grant award
Sublette County Historical Society President, Clint Gilchrist (Left), receives the $5000 Upper Green Sustainable Communities Endowment Fund grant award from Ana Cuprill (Middle) and Alexis Berg (Right) of the Wyoming Community Foundation. Photo by Sublette County Historical Society.
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Lander Trail-New Fork River Crossing site
The 82-acre historic property was purchased through a generous contribution by Shell, Ultra and PacifiCorp through a mitigation agreement with the Bureau of Land Management. Many entities and organizations were involved in the negotiations to acquire the site. The Sublette County Historical Society will own and manage the historic park along with numerous cooperating partners. The SCHS hopes to open the site to the public in 2012.
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Sublette County Historical Society receives $5000 WCF grant
by Laurie Hartwig, Director of the Sublette County Historical Society/Museum of the Mountain Man
April 25, 2011
The Sublette County Historical Society/ Museum of the Mountain Man are happy to announce that they have been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Upper Green Sustainable Communities Endowment Fund of the Wyoming Community Foundation.
According to Laurie Hartwig, Director of the museum and Clint Gilchrist, President of the Historical Society, the donation from the UGSCEF will assist in the development and interpretation of the recently-acquired New Fork River Crossing Historical Park located on the Lander Trail.
After two long years of hard work, preparation and negotiations, the SCHS became the recipients of the 82 acre site on August 20, 2010. This significant historical site has been preserved thanks to the generosity and agreements by the Bureau of Land Management, Shell Rocky Mountain Production, Ultra Resources and PacificCorp. The two Pinedale Anticline operators alongside the Intermountain utility company each donated one-third of the cost to purchase the private property and bequeathed it to the Historical Society, which will be developed and operated as an historic public park.
The Lander Trail is a variant of the Oregon Trail system and was the first federally constructed road west of the Mississippi River in 1858. It was used extensively by emigrants from 1859 – 1869 and it is estimated that 13,000 emigrants used the road in the first year. The Lander Trail is 256 miles long starting at South Pass and ending at Fort Hall in Pocatello, Idaho.
The Sublette County Historical Society was founded in 1935 and celebrated its 75th Anniversary last year. As the oldest historical society in the State of Wyoming, the organization oversees the Museum of the Mountain Man and is dedicated to preserving the history of the mountain man and fur trade, 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 eight 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 that graces the center rotunda of the museum and was a major contributor to the elderly/ handicap elevator constructed in 2008.
"We are so grateful to the Upper Green Sustainable Communities Board and the Wyoming Community Foundation for this generous grant," Hartwig said, "the New Fork River Crossing Historical Park will be enjoyed by thousands of people for many, many years."
Related Links
Agreements pave the way for historic New Fork River Crossing Park - Pinedale Online, September 30, 2011
Buried Treasure: Oil and Gas exploration leaves undiscovered artifacts - Greg Nickerson, WyoFile, April, 2011
New Fork River Crossing Historical Park - Photo archive for media
Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office release - September 20, 2010
New park will preserve historic Lander Trail river crossing - Jeff Gearino, Casper Star Tribune, September 29, 2010, Billings Gazette
www.MuseumoftheMountainMan.com - Museum of the Mountain Man
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