The museum is hosting Yellowstone Perspectives, a virtual speaker series beginning on Wednesday, April 6, 7:00pm, and continuing on Wednesday evenings through April. Participants can register for any or all of the Zoom programs at https://www.parkcounty.org/Yellowstone-Gateway-Museum/webinars-programs/yellowstoneperspectives/. Programs are uploaded to museum’s YouTube channel after the live virtual event.

Museum curator Karen Reinhart said, “Not only is this the 150th year for Yellowstone National Park, but historians, archaeologists, geologists, artists and writers, and many more people have studied it and added to the understanding of the park. These programs give us an opportunity to learn more about a place we love.”  The first program is “Horses, Hotels,nd Hospitality: The Huntley, Child, and Nichols Families in Yellowstone” on April 6 with Ruth Quinn. Yellowstone National Park's grand hotels—Old Faithful Inn, Mammoth Hotel, and Lake Hotel—are the realization and evolution of one man's vision. Coming into the park with stagecoach transportation in 1892, until his death in 1931, Harry W. Child built and shaped a tradition of service we enjoy in Yellowstone today. The program tells the story of three generations of the Child Family, along with their friends and relations.

Ruth Quinn has spent summers in the Park’s interior for 32 years, including 25 years conducting tours of Old Faithful Inn.

She is a Certified Interpretive Guide with the National Association for Interpretation. Winters bring her to Gardiner Human Resources to help hire staff for Xanterra’s nine lodging facilities. Quinn is the author of Weaver of Dreams: The Life and Architecture of Robert C. Reamer, and and co-author of Horses, Hotels, and Hospitality: Harry W. Child’s Epic Vision for Yellowstone Park. She is excited to share their recent efforts at combining old time stories with historical tidbits to tell the story of three generations of the Huntley, Child, and Nichols families, and their contributions to Yellowstone’s tradition of service.

The second program, “Before Yellowstone: Native American Archaeology in the National Park” is on April 13 with Douglas MacDonald, Department of Anthropology professor at the University of Montana. On April 20 “The Dynamic Floor of Yellowstone Lake: The Last 14,000 Years of Hydrothermal Explosions, Venting, Doming, and Faulting” is with Lisa Morgan, scientist emeritus for the US Geological Survey. The final program is on April 27 with Katie Christiansen, editor of The Artist’s Field Guide to Yellowstone: A Natural History by Greater Yellowstone’s Artists and Writers. Featured artists DG House and Jenni Lowe-Anker, and writers Elise Atchinson, Todd Burritt, and Karen Reinhart will also participate.

Visit Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for program updates or contact Karen Reinhart, 222-4184 or kreinhart@parkcounty.org. Register for Zoom programs at www.yellowstonegatewaymuseum.org; please call if you need assistance.