The Living History Farm at Museum of the Rockies is now open for the 2016 season, and has hosted more than 3,200 visitors since the Memorial Day weekend. The Living History Farm is free and open to the public daily from 10am to 5pm. Normal admission fees to the main Museum still apply. The historically accurate, working 1890s Montana homestead treated visitors to the sights, smells and activities of Montana’s long-ago homesteading era.
The Farm’s costumed interpreters provided historical understanding of the period as they spoke with visitors, cooked on the wood-fired stove, worked on the loom, forged iron in the blacksmith’s shop and started the spring planting of the Heirloom gardens. The Tinsley House, the centerpiece of the Living History Farm, is the original home of the Tinsley family. Built in 1889 in Willow Creek, Montana, it was moved to the Museum’s grounds in 1986. Visitor programming includes daily cooking lessons in the Tinsley home’s kitchen, and morning and afternoon hands-on participation in children’s games, farm activities, and tending the gardens. MOR is also bringing back its adult-focused monthly event, Hops & History, to the Living History Farm. Now in its third year, Hops & History takes place the last Tuesday of every month from 5:30 to 7:30pm, and pairs the diverse history of brewing in the Gallatin Valley with beer tastings from different local breweries. Admission to Hops & History is $7, plus a $3 mug charge for each participant’s first event, and participants who don’t wish to reuse their mug each month. The event is sponsored by Montana Ale Works Community Partnership. Guests must be 21 or older to participate. Space is limited, and advance tickets are available at museumoftherockies.org/. As part of the Living History Farm’s learning outreach, MOR will also offer a new lecture series titled Childbirth and Change: Reproduction in Montana featuring presenter Dr. Jennifer Hill. On Thursday, July 21st, Dr. Hill will present “Childbirth at the Turn of the Century,” a look at the reproductive experiences of women in the late 1800s and early 1900s. On Thursday, August 18th, Dr. Hill’s lecture topic will be “The Realities of Reproduction” as she explores the ways pregnancy, childbirth, and delivery complications affected residents of Montana and the West some 100 years ago. Both lectures will take place in the Museum’s Hager Auditorium from 6-7pm and are free to the public. Museum of the Rockies’ Living History Farm is free to all visitors all season long, and is open daily from 10am to 5pm. Support for the Living History Farm is provided by First Interstate Bank. Using the past and present Museum of the Rockies inspires life-long learning in science, history, culture, and art; advances knowledge through collections, research and discovery; and presents engaging, vibrant exhibits and programming. MOR brings the world to Montana and Montana to the world. For more information for these and future events, or to register, visit museumoftherockies.org/ or call (406) 994-5257. •
