Wyoming Pioneer Association facts for kids
| Established | 1926 |
|---|---|
| Location | PO Box 1545, Douglas, Wyoming 82633 |
| Type | Association |
The Wyoming Pioneer Association is a group dedicated to keeping alive the stories and history of Wyoming's early settlers. This association started meeting unofficially in 1884. It officially became an organization in 1926. The first meetings were held in a small pioneer cabin at the Wyoming State Fairgrounds in Douglas. In 1956, the state of Wyoming provided money to build a museum at the same location. The association added a new building, the Ruthe James Williams Center, in 2013.
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How the Association Started
The group that later became the Wyoming Pioneer Association began holding yearly meetings at the Wyoming State Fair in 1905. Before that, they had unofficial gatherings dating back to 1884. The people who attended these early meetings in the Wyoming Pioneer Cabin were a mix of soldiers, freighters, cowboys, and ranchers. Many of them played a big part in helping Wyoming become a state.
A group called Wyoming's Old Timer's Association was created in 1914. This group was the first version of the Wyoming Pioneer Association. Some members believed that "Old Timers" were only those who helped Wyoming become a state. The first president of the association was John Hunton. The Wyoming Pioneer Association officially became a non-profit organization on January 8, 1926. Their first official meeting was on September 15, 1926, at the Princess Theater in downtown Douglas.
Growing and Building
By the 1950s, the original cabin was too small for the association's growing number of members. In 1956, the Wyoming Legislature gave state money to build the Wyoming Pioneer Museum. This allowed the association to build a new place for their gatherings and to store their historical items. The museum was approved and built right next to the cabin on the Wyoming State Fairgrounds.
In 2013, the association paid for and built the Ruthe James Williams Center. This new center is located right next to the museum.
The Ruthe James Williams Center
The Wyoming Pioneer Association built the Pioneer Cabin in 1927 for their yearly meetings. Just one year before, the group, which had been meeting since 1884, officially became an organization. As President Mary Engebretsen explained, the group grew too large for the cabin. They had been meeting in the Wyoming State Fair Cafeteria. Around 2012, the association realized they needed more space for meetings and for displaying historical items.
A large donation from Jack and Ruthe James Williams helped fund the new building. It was named in Ruthe's honor. Ruthe James Williams' parents were pioneers who settled in the Douglas, Wyoming, area in 1917. Ruthe was born there in 1919. She grew up mostly in Douglas and went to school there. She also studied in Idaho, where her parents had moved from.
Ruthe's husband, Jack Williams, was a member of the Wyoming National Guard. He was stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington, when Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941. In March 1942, Jack Williams died in an accidental fire in his company's barracks in Roseburg, Oregon.
Six months before his death, Jack and Ruthe had secretly gotten married when he was on leave in Wyoming. After his death, Ruthe James Williams moved to Washington State, as she and Jack had planned. When Ruthe James Williams passed away in 2008, she left a large part of her estate to the Wyoming Pioneer Association. The association used most of this money to build the Ruthe James Williams Center. In 2013, association members held their meetings in the new center.
The Association Today
In 2015, the Wyoming Pioneer Association celebrated 125 years since its unofficial start. They celebrated during the Wyoming State Fair, which ran from August 7 to 16 in Douglas, Wyoming. For this special year, the 1926 Pioneer Cabin and the Grist Mill were open to the public. The association counted almost 1,200 people visiting the cabin.
Mary Engebretson, the association's president, said it was very exciting and just the beginning. The association now has an agreement with State Parks and Cultural Resources and the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. This agreement allows them to open, use, and show off the historical buildings. These buildings include the original Pioneer Cabin, two schoolhouses, and the Grist Mill. This helps them do more with the old buildings and create a larger historical area.
What the Association Does
In 2016, the association's president, Bob Vollman, updated the group's main goal. He stated: "The mission and purpose of the Wyoming Pioneer Association is to keep alive the traditions of family loyalty, integrity, and honor that have sustained us in the past and made Wyoming great. We will build on our heritage and history with the confidence that our future generations will be as proud of us as we are of our ancestors."
The Wyoming Pioneer Association also acts as an advisor to the Pioneer Museum. The state operates this museum, and it is open all year. The museum collects and displays items important to the history of the American West and its early settlers.
Wyoming Pioneer Memorial Museum
The museum first started in 1927 in what is now called the Wyoming Pioneer Cabin. The association ran the museum there until 1956. That's when the state built a new museum using money it had set aside. In 2017, the museum created an Advisory Council to help its superintendent. The association has a permanent voting member on this council. The association continues to support the museum as a "Friends of the Museum" group.
The museum has been open continuously since 1927, and for over 50 years in its current building. Some of the interesting items on display include an original jackalope, a historic bar, old photographs, and a collection of Native American artifacts. The museum also shows the bib overalls worn by Charles Irwin, a stock contractor who was honored in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
Honoring History and People
One way the Wyoming Pioneer Association helps the community is by recognizing and honoring work related to cemeteries and veterans.
In 2010, John C. Hunton received a proper grave marker from the association. Hunton was born in Madison, Virginia, in 1839. He served in the American Civil War before moving to Wyoming. Besides being the first president of the Pioneer Association, Hunton was one of Wyoming's first cattlemen. He held many jobs and started his own businesses across Wyoming Territory. His diaries are some of Wyoming’s earliest historical documents. He helped start the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and the Cheyenne Social Club. Hunton also played a key role in helping Wyoming become a state in 1890. He served as a county commissioner in Cheyenne.
John Hunton passed away on September 4, 1928, at 89 years old. He was buried in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with only a small white stone marking his grave. Beverly Holmes, an association member, and retired Army Colonel Bob Fesack worked to get a new marker. They used Hunton's Civil War records to apply to the Veteran's Administration for the gravestone. The new gravestone was placed next to the original marker in Westlake Cemetery. Before the ceremony, there was a presentation at the Wyoming National Guard Museum. Colonel Bob Bezek shared Hunton's military history there. The unveiling then took place at Lakeview Cemetery. Hunton served in the Virginia Infantry for the Confederate Army, and was even a prisoner of war for a time.
In 2016, the association gave its second Historical Restoration Award. This award went to a community that had restored a cemetery in Niobrara County, Wyoming.
See also
- Wyoming Pioneer Memorial Museum
