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Crazy Mountain Museum Memorial Day Festival 2000

Crazy Mountain Museum, P.O. Box 83, Big Timber, MT 59011.

The Sweet Grass County Museum is located southeast of the west Interstate exit to Big Timber

The Crazy Mountain Museum Festival kicks off their season opener this Monday, May 29, 2000 from 11am to 4pm with events that follow the American Legion Memorial. This event has become a tradition for Sweet Grass County held every Memorial Day. The Museum will actually be open this weekend, the 27th and 28th from 1 to 4:30. Food, entertainment, new exhibits, and old exhibits and a silent auction fundraiser will be the highlights of this years opening. Plan to spend the afternoon at the Museum grounds where activities are held and bring your youngsters. The Museum will be open for visitors to go through at any time, a silent auction will be held throughout the day, and entertainment will take place outdoors and inside the stage at the rear of the museum.

The Museum Festival is a good fundraiser for the museum, which is a non-profit museum that depends on support from memberships, gift shop sales, and donations. For more info on the museum and membership see their website at www.sweetgrasscounty.com/museum.

The lunch features Montana beef and sample Norwegian goodies from the Sons of Norway. The lunch is $6.00.

Entertainment this year, coordinated by Judy Fjell, for you to enjoy your day out at the Crazy Mountain Museum includes:

New Exhibits:

Historic Crossroads- 7 Paintings by Jack Hines that depicts Sweet Grass County over time.

Collection of Chaps- This year, a collection of old chaps, from the 1890s to the early 1900s, will be presented in an aspen tack room built by Jerry Latraverse. Every attempt to make this authentic has been made, however, many ranchers will envy the Museum its beautiful tack room.

Evelyn Cameron Pioneering Photos- Evelyn Cameron, early Montana homesteader, is the feature of another exhibit. During the summer of 2000, the museum will have a display by early Montana photographer Evelyn Cameron. Evelyn and her husband, Ewan, homesteaded in Montana is about 1889. Expecting great wealth, the couple instead found many hardships. The photographs are on loan from the Western Heritage Museum in Billings. Her photos show the true story of early life and items of clothing and homemaking from that period are on exhibit. Jack Hines' Historic Crossroads will dominate the Pioneer Memorial Gallery. A collection of names of veterans from the Spanish American War through the Gulf War has been assembled by Bill Esp. This list of 1750 names from Sweet Grass County will be on display with related items.

Walk Through Time- A geologic and archelogical collection of Sweet Grass County arrowheads, minerals, and geology. A Walk in Time features the collection of Ed Adams' spheres and arrowheads from Sam Morris. There are also many ancient geological rocks on display in the main exhibition hall.

Other exhibits have been updated and continue to fascinate guests at the Museum. The Schoolhouse, Norwegian Stabbur, Cobblestone City, Cremer Rodeo, and many more.

Sheep and Wool Exhibits- shows the sheepherding tradition of Sweet Grass County, once the worlds biggest source of wool. The 1994 season brought the first in a series of exhibits on the sheep and wool industry and how they shaped Sweet Grass County. Since then the exhibits have been expanded to feature the entire spectrum of the sheep industry from sheep herding, herders, and dogs to lambing, shearing, and marketing.

School Exhibits- Permanent exhibits at the museum include a detailed model of Big Timber in 1907 called "The Cobblestone City", a Norwegian stabbur, and a one room school house, formerly Sourdough School. A pioneer room has many pictures and histories of early settles.

Cramer Rodeo- Leo Cramer traveled all over the world with his rodeo stock in the 40s and 50s and this display is a tribute

Veterans from Sweet Grass County- Bill Esp researched and found 17,000 veterans who lived in SGC

The Museum Society welcomes new members. There are three levels of membership: General, $10; Donor, $25; and Founder, $100. Memberships include a subscription to "The New Breeze". Make checks payable to the Sweet Grass Museum Society and mail to: P.O. Box 83, Big Timber, MT 59011.