A series where we take a #lookback at the stories and history of our community, brought to you by Mick Pryor, Financial Advisor with Edward Jones.
Lander and the Wind River Mountains have attracted visitors since the area was settled. A hunting mecca, sportsmen would take the train to Green River or Rawlins, then stage coaches to Lander and hire guides and horses to take them into the mountains to hunt and fish.
With the creation of a south entrance to Yellowstone National Park, Lander became the closest town to that entrance, and a steady stream of visitors came to Lander to take stage coaches into the park.
Once the train arrived in Lander in 1906, visitors would stay in one of the Lander hotels, like the Fremont or Noble, going on by stage to stay in Lodges owned by Lander’s Eugene Amoretti at Fort Washakie, Brooks Lake, and Jackson Lake before they entered Yellowstone. The stagecoaches were replaced by Motor Coaches in the 1920s.
By that point, though, the motor car was becoming a part of many people’s lives – and people would load up their automobile with camping gear and head out.
Road improvements hadn’t kept pace with car sales, though, especially in rural areas. Many motorists discovered road conditions in the mountains, Yellowstone, or even the next town were often primitive at best.
Towns and states made road building a priority, realizing the financial impact of motor tourism, but it took time. A 1926 editorial in the Lander paper read: “Here is a crop that cost us little save the publicity to swing it our way. The volume we have has come as a result of the efforts of those good road boosters of the past 15 years who unceasingly have called aloud the scenic attractions of the Wind River Country.”
The rough roads didn’t stop a steady and growing stream of cars from heading to the best fishing spot, National Park, or scenic view.
The Lander Pioneer Museum has a new exhibit on motor tourism called “Gone Fishing.” The exhibit features a 1920 Maxwell Coupe, a popular car of the era, loaded up for a camping trip in the mountains.
The exhibit features camping and fishing artifacts from the early days, and photos of vintage cars and recreation in the country around Lander.
Next up for the Fremont County Museum
August 5, 7 pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Eagle Spirit Dancers” FC Pioneer Association
August 7 & 8, 8 am with the Dubois Museum, “Miller’s Wonderful WY Honey Ranch Trek” Wind River Visitors Council Adventure Trek
August 8, 10 am with the Pioneer Museum, “Louis Lake Lodge Trek” Wind River Visitors Council Adventure Trek
August 12, 7 pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Eagle Spirit Dancers” FC Pioneer Association
August 12, 6 pm at the Riverton Museum, “120 Years of Riverton” Wyoming Community Bank Discovery Speakers Series
August 15, 2 pm at the Riverton Museum, “Archaeology Day” (Children’s Exploration Sponsorship Available)
August 15, 10 am at the Dubois Museum, “Kids Corner: Tie-Dye (Children’s Exploration Sponsorship Available)
Daily through December at the Pioneer Museum, “Sweetwater Ranch Life, The Paintings of Jack Corbett” Exhibition Opening
“Dinner and Dancing at the Cowboy Starship” August 22, 6 pm, Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation https://dinneranddancingatthecowboystarship.funraise.org/
Rare Relics Road Show: Save the Date: Saturday, October 10, 2026, Lander, WY, Lander Community Center, You Are Invited! Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation
Call the Dubois Museum 1-307-455-2284, the Pioneer Museum 1-307-332-3339 or the Riverton Museum 1-307-856-2665 for details regarding their programs. The Dubois Museum, the Pioneer Museum in Lander and the Riverton Museum need your financial support. In the current economic environment, the museums are more reliant than ever on donations from the private sector to continue to provide the quality programs, collections management, exhibits and services that have become their hallmark over the last four years. Please make your tax-deductible contribution through the Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation https://windriverccf.funraise.org/ or by sending a check to Fremont County Museums, 450 N 2nd Rm 320, or taking it directly to the museum you choose to support.