Discovering History Through Primary Source Documents

Researching local history or family history takes on a new meaning when you discover how to locate and interpret primary source documents.  Rick Ewig and Carol Bowers will demonstrate how important primary sources (firsthand accounts) are to understanding and reconstructing events from the past.  Enrich your classroom teaching experience by utilizing firsthand accounts of historical events.  This workshop is designed for the 4th grade through college classroom, and may be scheduled in your classroom or at the AHC.

Soiled Doves:  Prostitution in Laramie, Wyoming, 1868-1920

Prostitutes, following the westward progress of the transcontinental railroad from one end-of-tracks town to another, were among the first women to arrive in Laramie, Wyoming.   Eager entrepreneurs and anxious to profit from the railroad boom, these women established an occupational culture that would maintain a tenacious presence in the Laramie community well into the twentieth century.  Their story, as told by Carol Bowers, is one of suffering and hardship, despair and humor, sisterhood and vicious enmity.  "Soiled Doves" provides an inside look at the culture of the Laramie brothel district and at the public and private lives of the women who lived, worked and sometimes died there.  

On Patrol with Buffalo Soldiers on the World Wide Web: A Different Method of Researching

Through a combination of presentation, online demonstration, and audience participation, this program will demonstrate how people can use the World Wide Web for both exploration and information, including Buffalo Soldiers.  Starting in 1866 those African-Americans who served in the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry--nicknamed Buffalo Soldiers by the Indians they sought to contain--were the first blacks to enlist in the regular U.S. Army.  Former slaves, freedmen, and volunteers from the U.S. Colored Troops of the Civil War, they performed unheralded work in helping to settle, protect, explore, and patrol vast spaces of the American West.  The program, led by Mark Shelstad, will be illustrated with examples from a variety of web sites that demonstrate its potential for research in different ways.

 Papermaking and Marbling Traditions

This talk by Ginny Kilander will trace the development and history of the papermaking and marbling traditions, and include a discussion of materials, equipment, and methods used in the production of these arts. Papermaking developed in ancient China and was kept a closely guarded court secret for hundreds of years. The knowledge of the tradition slowly spread to the Middle East and to Europe, where papermaking mills replaced the Asian production methods. The art of marbling on paper and fabric developed in both Japan and Persia in the thirteenth century, but each method used unique supplies and equipment. Like papermaking, the knowledge of marbling was kept secret and the marbling guilds were reluctant to share their knowledge with the world. As the tradition spread through various countries the patterns and colors were altered and adapted, and today certain historic styles are associated with, and often named for, the country of origin. This talk can include both the papermaking and marbling traditions, or either of the traditions can be presented individually.

The Western Photography of Charles Belden

The AHC houses approximately three thousand original glass plate and nitrate negatives taken by Charles J. Belden between 1908-1940. The majority of these photographs were taken on the legendary Pitchfork Ranch in northern Wyoming. Located at the base of the Absaroka Mountains, the 250,000 acre ranch proved fertile ground for Belden’s photography. Belden created some of the classic images associated with ranching by filming cowboys and cattle against the dramatic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. The Belden papers, however, also contain hundreds of lesser known photographs. Carol Bowers’ talk will focus on showing the artistry of Belden’s work, and how he marketed his images to the public at large and provide background information on the fascinating history of the Pitchfork Ranch.

Charles J. Belden photograph, Pitchfork Ranch near Meteetse, Wyoming, ca. 1930's.

In The Right Place:  Crow Indian Photographer, Richard Throssel

Born in 1882, Richard Throssel was a North American Indian, of Cree heritage, and an adopted Crow. Arriving at the Crow Reservation in 1902, Throssel lived with and photographed the people and places there at a crucial time as the Crow made the transition to new lifeways on the reservation. He produced more than one thousand photographs, creating a "virtual census" of the Crow. In addition, Throssel was allowed to photograph Northern Cheyenne ceremonies prohibited by government regulations. Join Leslie Shores in an exploration of the remarkable life and candid photographs of this Native American photographer.  See the Throssel Digital Collection.

Crow Indian couple, Richard Throssel photograph.

 It Is My Duty to Write:  Wyoming History in Pre-Territorial Diaries and Letters

There is nothing quite like the connection to the past that can be achieved by reading diaries and personal letters. The intimacy and familiarity of these voices lends a human element to historical trends and reminds us that history is created by people who were very much like ourselves, but who sometimes thought very differently. "It Is My Duty To Write" selects from diaries and letters which were written in the area from the 1830s to 1868, when Wyoming Territory was officially created. D. C. Thompson’s presentation includes slides and excerpts which profile some of the people who came into the area during that time, falling roughly into four categories: trappers and traders who arrived in the 1830s, emigrants who were passing through in the 1840s to 1860s, soldiers who lived in isolated posts and forts in the 1850s and 1860s, and builders, first of the transcontinental railroad and then of towns. 

Frances Jennings Casement and John Stephen Casement on wedding trip in 1857.

Beaver Dick

Richard "Beaver Dick" Leigh ran away from home in Manchester, England, at the age of 16, went to sea, and later joined the Hudson’s Bay Company, which brought him to America. He came west to be a trapper; however, the fur trade was over and he became a guide for the Hayden surveying party in 1872. Brigham Young first called Leigh "Beaver Dick" because of his ability to trap beavers, although some believe it was because the protrusion of his two front teeth made him look like a beaver. Leigh Lake in Grand Teton National Park was named for Beaver Dick, and Jenny Lake for his first Indian wife. Guided by Kim Winters, the presentation allows people to use primary sources and participants will have the opportunity to examine material written during Beaver Dick’s lifetime.

Beaver Dick, first wife Jenny, and their family.

Egyptian and Egyptian-inspired items in the Charles Howard Colket Collection

The Colket Room on the second floor of the AHC houses artifacts that Charles Howard Colket collected from around the world in the late nineteenth century. The focus of this presentation is on the custom-built furniture and artifacts that reflect Mr. Colket's fascination with Egypt. Originally housed in the Colket's Philadelphia homes, son Tristram brought his father's collection to his Sheridan, Wyoming ranch in 1948. In his father's memory, he donated it in 1964 to the American Heritage Center (then located in Coe Library). AHC Rare Books Curator, Anne Marie Lane, who provides access to the Colket Room from the adjacent Toppan Library, will be giving this slide presentation. It includes images photographed from AHC archival material, such as Philadelphia interiors showing the items as they were originally displayed.  Lane will also give background information on the family, their travels, the collection, and Egyptian imagery in general.

Teaching with Archives and Rare Books

Today's teachers (and also parents), at all levels, are constantly challenged by students who are "surfers" of T.V., video games, and the Internet, rather than natural "readers" of books and magazines.  By introducing students to archives and rare books, teachers encourage their mass-media soaked students to slow down and explore historic treasures such as diaries, journals, original correspondence, scrapbooks, and artifacts housed in the collections for a greater appreciation and awareness of reading and writing in a historical context.  Also, when students discover books from the past, they compare old, elaborate binding and printing formats with modern media sources, which engenders a new critical awareness of human communication.  This presentation will provide ideas for using archives and rare books in classrooms, plus a display of collection materials at the American Heritage Center when given on site.  Scanned images of collection examples will illustrate the talk when done off campus.

Caroline Lockhart:  She Did It Her Way

No one reflects frontier feminism in the Suffrage State more than Caroline Lockhart (1871-1962).  This presentation will provide an overview of Caroline Lockhart's charismatic life.  After a brief career as a journalist for the Boston Post and the Philadelphia Bulletin, by 1904 she was assigned to do a feature on the Blackfoot Indiains, which took her to Cody, Wyoming.  From then on, Lockhart lived and wrote about her adventures in Wyoming in her novels, short stories, poetry, and screenplays for silent film.  A fervent anti-Prohibitionist, Lockhart's brazen, outspoken ways resulted in numerous libel suits.  Amidst her writing career, Caroline owned and operated a cattle ranch near Dryhead, Montana in 1926.  She was the first President of the Cody Stampede Board in 1920 for the next six years.  From 1920 to 1925 she also owned and edited the weekly Park County Enterprise, renamed the Cody Enterprise in 1921.  Her notoriety lived on after her death in 1962.  This presentation will include a display of many treasures from the Caroline Lockhart Collection when given on site at the American Heritage Center.  Scanned images will illustrate the talk when given off campus.

Caroline Lockhart, bartending.