Washakie Museum

The Washakie is a delightful and informative museum in Worland, WY  

Deinonychus was discovered in 1960s by John Ostrom. 

He theorized the revolutionary idea that dinosaurs were related to modern birds.

What a large beak you have

Leaping forward in time. The indigenous natives hunted 

the mammoth and other large mammals after the last ice age.

Bones found at the kill sites

The atlatl was important in the natives pursuit of large mammals.

The atlatl makes the thrower's arm longer and greatly increases 

the speed of the dart.

 Atlatls were extensively used into the 

12th century when bows started to appear

This guy pops up and tells you the history of settlement in the area

What you would find in the kitchen

and in the closet

After the civil war large cattle operations moved into the Big Horn Basin. 1980s saw the arrival of small ranchers and conflict ensued between the two.  They overstocked the Basin's ranges, and their bottom lines suffered after the winter of 1886-1887. This was followed by the introduction of sheep. Sheepherders took pride in their work, but cattle ranchers did not like the intruders.

Sheepherder's wagon

Shearing demanded skill and strength. An expert fleecer could sheer 100 sheep a day; it took weeks to clip an entire flock. In 1905 W.T. Hogg and Company sheared 20,000 sheep: 14 men worked for more than two weeks to accomplish the task, each earning nine cents per ewe.

One needs a strong grip to work these. 

Wool going to market.