This exhibition presents a rare collection of vintage 1871 William Henry Jackson alberttypes that are the first depictions of Yellowstone National Park. Jackson was privileged to be appointed the official photographer for Ferdinand Hayden’s epic governmental exploration of the Yellowstone Plateau during the summer of 1871. These images created the first large assemblage of photographic images taken in Yellowstone and were used to produce multiple alberttype copies to be used in the congressional effort to establish Yellowstone as our first national park.
March – Sept 12, 2026
Between 1930 and 1941, Montana experienced one of the worst droughts in modern history. Coupled with America’s Great Depression, Montanans struggled to scratch a living. Throughout the 1930s, the Farm Securities Administration sent photographers, Arthur Rothstein and Marion Post Wolcott to document the realities, grit, and hope the times. Their images create one of the most vivid and lasting collections of New Deal Montana.
Exhibit Sponsor: First Montana Title
March – December 2026
From its earliest days, Billings has been a city shaped by transportation, commerce, and community gatherings—and nowhere was this more evident than in its breweries and saloons. Having a Beer in Billings explores the role of beer in the city’s social and economic life. Through artifacts, photographs, and stories, visitors will discover how beer helped bring people together, fueled early business ventures, and left a lasting mark on Billings’ culture. Raise a glass to history, and step into the city’s spirited past.
Exhibit Sponsors:
Bill and Anne Cole
Montana Brewing Company
Angry Hank’s Microbrewery
March – August 15, 2026
In the late 1800s, Apsáalooke leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., to resist land loss and defend their homelands. Their experiences were recorded in ledger drawings—sketches made with graphite and colored pencil that captured trains, circuses, Capitol buildings, through moments of negotiation. Preserved in the Barstow Collection, these rare works provide an unparalleled Apsáalooke perspective on diplomacy at a time of immense pressure from U.S. policies. This exhibition places the ledger drawings at the center, revealing them as both art and testimony to Apsáalooke resilience, leadership, and sovereignty.
Exhibit on loan from MSU Billings Library Special Collections
James Kenneth (J.K.) Ralston (1896-1987) was a noted western artist who lived in Billings for many years. In 1946, Ralston and his son built a log cabin to serve as the artist’s studio. In 2005, the cabin was moved to the Western Heritage Center and the cabin’s interior was restored to reflect his working environment. Ralston’s oil paintings and sketchbooks include scenes depicting his early years growing up on ranches and riding the range in Montana. The Western Heritage Center merged with the J.K. Ralston Studio and now houses a significant repository of the famed artist’s letters, memorabilia and artwork. Please ask at the Front Desk for a private tour of the studio cabin.
Many individuals from the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes generously gave of their time, memories, and knowledge so that priceless stories could be recorded and retained before being lost. We gratefully thank them for their efforts and give these educational resources in their honor. These interviewees shared stories from their personal and cultural histories in order to preserve this important history, educate the public, and to promote understanding. We urge our web users to approach these materials in the same spirit. We provide these resources to students, teachers, researchers, and the general public for educational purposes.
Access to the American Indian Tribal Histories Archive collection
Interviewees shared stories from their personal and cultural histories in order to preserve this important history, educate the public, and to promote understanding. We urge our web users to approach these materials in the same spirit. We provide these resources to students, teachers, researchers, and the general public for educational purposes.
To help ensure proper use of the archive, the Western Heritage Center requires a free registration process to gain access to the archive. For more information, please click on Register for the Archive. These tribal oral histories are passed down through family or clan. Each account is told by individuals with specialized knowledge and may not necessarily reflect the history of the tribe as a whole. From the ordinary to the divine, these stories survived for generations despite attempts at repression and assimilation.
For a full list of Crow interviews, please click here.
For a full list of Northern Cheyenne interviews, please click here.
For Permission To Use Archival Materials, please email archives@ywhc.org or call 406-256-6809.
To view the American Indian Tribal Histories Project DVD Videos, please click here.
American Tribal Histories Project Staff
A letter from Francine D. Spang-Willis, Former Director, American Indian Tribal Histories Project (2003-2008)
The mission of the American Indian Tribal Histories Project is to preserve and maintain American Indian tribal histories and cultures from an American Indian or Indigenous perspective. Often, in the past, knowledge about each nation’s history and culture has been told or written from a non-Indigenous perspective by historians, agencies, scholars, and reporters. In this oral history project, Crow and Cheyenne tribal members share their tribal history and culture from their perspectives.
Preserving tribal history and culture, from Indigenous perspectives, for future generations is important. Also, sharing the history and culture of each nation with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people will help bring about a deeper understanding of America’s first people and the landscape’s layered history. In this oral history project, Cheyenne and Crow cultural knowledge and views are available to you in various ways, including traveling and online exhibitions, public viewing stations, educational DVDs, teacher resource CDs, online language presentations, photographs, and an oral histories archive collection.
Explore this website, and you will find the extraordinary gifts shared by select Crow and Cheyenne people.
Sincerely,
Francine D. Spang-Willis
Former American Indian Tribal Histories Project Director
Francine D. Spang-Willis, Former American Indian Tribal Histories Project DirectorMardell Plainfeather , Former Crow Field DirectorJona Charette, Former Northern Cheyenne Field DirectorRubie Sooktis, Former Production CoordinatorPaul Littlelight, Former Crow Production Coordinator
The museum’s lower gallery has been made over to replicate the lobby of a 1930s dude ranch lodge. Rustic western furniture, inspired by the designs of Thomas Molesworth, and a stone fireplace, provide the ideal setting to display paintings by James Kenneth Ralston, a regional artist inspired by the great stories of the West, and the paintings & sculpture of Bill Rains.
Many individuals from the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes generously gave of their time, memories, and knowledge so that priceless stories could be recorded and retained before being lost. We gratefully thank them for their efforts and give these educational resources in their honor. These interviewees shared stories from their personal and cultural histories in order to preserve this important history, educate the public, and to promote understanding. We urge our web users to approach these materials in the same spirit. We provide these resources to students, teachers, researchers, and the general public for educational purposes.
