Livingston, Montana: The Yellowstone Gateway Museum is pleased to announce the opening of a new permanent exhibit in the museum’s Transportation Room. “Wilsall to Wonderland: Trails, Roads, and Rails” explores transportation themes with engaging, interactive exhibits for the whole family. The new exhibit opens to the public on Friday, February 19, from 10 AM-5 PM. Members of the Friends of the Yellowstone Gateway Museum are invited to a sneak preview event on Thursday, February 18.

Museum visitors are transported through time as they discover the different routes and modes of travel that people use to navigate this area. The exhibits interpret the trails, wagon roads, and Benson’s Ferry; move forward with the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad; and explore automobile routes as well as aviation and bicycling.

The landscape of the area guides, and also restricts, the ways that people move through this area. It also determines the course of rivers and streams, and the ways of the wind, also interpreted in the exhibit. Only the reasons for people’s travel have changed over time, driven by changes in culture and technology. All of these themes and more are explored in this stunning exhibit. Museum staff and volunteers curated the exhibit using current and historic photographs, artifacts, and stories.

Railroad history is, of course, one of the room’s primary focuses—the reason that the town of Livingston was created. Highlights of railroad interpretation include a Northern Pacific Railway Vista Dome-North Coast Limited train car that visitors can walk through to experience railroad history. It was fabricated by volunteer Daniel Davidson. Visitors can pick up a “ticket” at the Vista Dome and document their experience at ticket-punch stations as they travel throughout the museum. Numerous items in the exhibit feature our railroad collection, bringing our area’s railroad history to life.

Other exhibit highlights include large, panoramic photographs of area mountain ranges by photographer, Rob Park. A seven-foot diameter topographic floor map orients visitors to Park County and smaller wall maps, placed strategically around the room, illustrate travel routes through time. These maps were created by Jerry Brekke, long time Park County Historian, and Henry Hansen, GIS Technician for Park County.

Visitors are invited to test their history knowledge by reading more than a dozen flip boards that pose questions, inviting contemplation, and then provide answers when the top board is lifted up. Innovative “links” connect visitors to related stories and artifacts in other areas of the museum, providing a treasure hunt for all ages. This is a place where families will learn and have a lot of fun together. We hope that students of all ages and their teachers will schedule a field trip to the museum soon in order to enjoy and learn from this new exhibit.

We are grateful to our exhibit sponsors: Nikki and Peter Fox, Kit Libbey, Livingston Ace Hardware, Lore Kann Foundation, Bliss and Marcia McCrum, Paul Shea, Sky Federal Credit Union, Kate and Stan Todd, Town & Country Foods, and Friends of the Yellowstone Gateway Museum.

Exhibit volunteers provided critical assistance and support during the project: Daniel Davidson, BJ Earle, Bob Ebinger, Bruce Graham, Greg Harbright, Mariah Henry, Norm Miller, Rob Park, Dona and Hank Poeschl, Gracie Scher, Roddy Stanton, Kris Walker, and Bobbie Williams.

Other people and businesses helped with the exhibit in various ways: Ray Alt, Sarah Anzick, Blue Slipper Theater, Jem Blueher, Colleen Curry, David Rust Carpet Center, Jeanne DeHart, Paul Dix, Katie Faykosh, Mike Fleming, Anne Foster, Aaron Gilstad, Barney Hallin, Dwight Harriman, Cathy McPherson, Tom Murphy, Debi and Lucy Nemetz, Debbie Perryman, Tom L. Roberts, Bob and Gladys Taylor, and Jay Wesler. It was truly a community effort.

We invite project sponsors, contributors, and current members of the Friends of the Yellowstone Gateway Museum to a special members-only opening and reception on the evening of February 18, 5-7 PM. (Memberships and renewals will be available at the door.) The Transportation Room (along with the rest of the museum) will then be open to the public the following day, February 19, from 10 AM-5 PM. Youth 18 and under are admitted free of charge.

Please visit our website, www.yellowstonegatewaymuseum.org  or call the museum, 406-222-4184, for more information.