The Friends of the Yellowstone Gateway Museum announce their upcoming speaker series, “A Moving History,” featuring area experts. The four bi-monthly programs begin on Wednesday, February 28th with “The Railroad: Livingston and the Beginnings of a County” presented by Museum Director Paul Shea, and continue through mid-April. Other topics will include our area’s native trails, the Yellowstone Trail, and traveling along the Lewis & Clark trail.
Shea will share early photos — some recent donations to the museum and never seen before — and stories of our vibrant history. The railroad is the reason that Livingston is here, and the arrival of the railroad created the economic development that led to the separation of Park County from Gallatin County.
Shea has served as director of the Yellowstone Gateway Museum since December 2009. Before his move to Livingston, he was the founding executive director of the Yellowstone Historic Center in West Yellowstone, a position he held from 1998 to 2008. Shea also oversaw the restoration of West Yellowstone’s historic railroad district. He has lived and worked in and around Yellowstone National Park since 1979 and is originally from Nevada.Two weeks after the inaugural event, on March 14th, historian Jerry Brekke presents “Big Bend of the Yellowstone Trail Nexus.”On March 28th, graduate history student Lerick Allen presents “Convicts, Boosters, and Citizens: Park County’s Contribution to the
Yellowstone Trail,” and on April 11th, Lewis and Clark historian Norm Miller presents “In the Wake of Discovery: Traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail by Canoe and Foot.”Stay tuned for more details about each program.
All programs are part of the museum’s Wednesday evening programming, Hump Day History, and are held at 7pm at the Yellowstone Gateway Museum, located at 118 W Chinook in Livingston. The speaker series is FREE and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Doors open at 6pm for people to enjoy the museum’s exhibits before the program and to grab a seat. Attendees must climb stairs to the top floor of museum for the program.
For more information about upcoming programs, visit www.yellowstonegatewaymuseum.org or find the museum on Facebook, @yellowstonegatewaymuseum. •
