Museum of the Fur Trade

[BlackHillsScout]

My wife and I are going to visit (finally) the museum, I pretty stoked about visiting and doing some research.

[Tsalagidave]

That's great stuff man. Enjoy!  There is a lot to research.  What will be your primary research objectives?

-Dave

[BlackHillsScout]

I'll only have a couple of hours, so I plan to focus on what is available that will transition into the plainsman era and get a good look at items I can reproduce.

I hope to get some insight into creating a more authentic persona and generate more specific questions for follow on visits.
I'm only a few hours from the museum.

More than likely I'll behave like a kid in a candy shop.

I'm open to suggestions of things to watch for. 

[Niederlander]

That's an EXCELLENT museum!  A lot of one-of-a-kind items.

[Tascosa Joe]

2 hours?  That is barely enough time to see the book shop.  LOL  Good luck.

[Tsalagidave]

They have a couple of good pattern books in the gift shop.  Don't go home empty-handed.

-Dave

[BlackHillsScout]

Well, we got back from our trip. We wound up spending more time at the museum, my wife was enjoying it as much as I was.
Unfortunately my camera died before we got to the museum, so I wound up taking pics with my old phone.

I didn't realize how many trade guns made it west, clear up into the 1910's HBC was selling flintlock trade guns, most in the museum were about 24 bore.

It would seem that after 1840 half-stock percussion were the most popular.

We also followed the Mormon trail East and checked out most of the roadside signs. My wife would research the markers and narrate as we would keep driving, it was pretty neat if she found journal entries that matched our location,

On the way back from Missouri we followed the South bank of the Platte and saw Courthouse and Jail rocks, Chimney rock and Scott's Bluffs, we visited the Pioneer museum at Chimney rock and the visitor center at Scott's Bluffs.

Picked up some good books and maps.

I did get some good pics of Bordeaux's trading post at Museum of the fur trade (good spot to get out of the heat), it fits in well for Plainsman stuff.

Also talking to one of the ranchers here at home about the trip he heard when he was a kid, that there used to be a trading post about a mile from my place, you can still see teepee rings out in the pastures. Lt. Warren passed by here in 1857, Custer in '74 and Lt Col Dodge in '75.

I'd like to work on my persona time period for late '40's to early '50's before the major hostilities with the tribes broke out and the treaty was signed.

I hope to spend some time at Ft. John/ Ft. Laramie and more Oregon trail sites here in Wyoming later this summer.

[Oregon Bill]

I've been away for a while, and your post reminded me of my visit to the Museum of the Fur Trade about 15 years ago. I need to return. I love that Niobrara country, and the Sand Hills to the east.

[BlackHillsScout]

Got to drive some of that Niobrara country yesterday to one of my stations, I'd sure like to ride a horse in there.
I may have to pack my Navy .36 to do some stump shooting

[Oregon Bill]

Scout, that is an outstanding plan.  And if you bring your old percussion double, you'll have some fabulous sharptail hunting this fall.