Living History Farm opens following Extreme History talk, return of Hops
A Mecca for the Gallatin Valley’s curious minds, the Museum of the Rockies is never in short supply of special events to accompany its many exhibits. Here’s a look at some upcoming happenings at your neighborhood museum.
On Thursday, May 23rd, the Extreme History Project Lecture series continues with “People and Place: The Seasonal Round in the Old North Corridor” at 6pm. The talk will be held in Hager Auditorium and is open to the public.
The Old North Trail, running along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, was an indigenous transportation corridor central to a historic food system. Archaeologists are confident native people followed large game animals into this area between retreating ice sheets some 12,000 years ago. The unique topographic and botanical attributes of this windswept corridor created a vital landscape that nurtured native buffalo culture through the 19th century. As part of a larger indigenous environmental history, Jill Mackin’s research documents ancestral ties to this bioregion through foodways and examines the relationship between biodiversity and cultural diversity.
MOR’s annual summer series Hops & History officially begins with Birth of a Beer on Tuesday, May 28th with Mountains Walking Brewery and Pizza Campania from 5:30–7:30pm. Explore the role that beer has played, and still plays, in the development of human societies. From the ancient Sumerians to Europe and the Americas, beer has been a staple of many peoples who all share a love of fermented grains. Admission for this 21+ event is $15, plus a $3 souvenir mug charge for new participants – reuse your mug!
Hops & History supports MOR’s Living History Farm by pairing historical talks about the Gallatin Valley’s brewing past with beer tastings from local breweries. On the last Tuesday of each summer month, the Tinsley House becomes the perfect backdrop for an evening of brewing history. Now in its sixth season, enjoy a new addition of small plate dishes served alongside the evening tastings. While you’re enjoying brews, explore the history of brewing both nationally and here in Montana with short lectures led by MOR’s Curator of History, Michael Fox and Executive Director, Chris Dobbs.
Future Hops & History events include Brewing Montana History: Part I on June 25th with The Mint Café and Bridger Brewing, Brewing Montana History: Part II on July 30th with Pizza Campania and Bozeman Brewing Company, and closing with the Hops & History Season Celebration at the Living History Farm on August 27th.
In 1989, the Tinsley House was relocated to Museum of the Rockies, and the history of Montana’s homesteading era was recreated at MOR’s Living History Farm, opening for the summer season on Saturday, May 25th. Skilled costumed interpreters will take you back in time as they cook over a wood-burning stove, demonstrate cooking skills and recipes from the 1890s, tend to the Heirloom Garden, and forge iron in the blacksmith’s shop. Take time this summer to enjoy the beautiful sights of the garden, the smells of home cooking, and the history of a time gone by that lives on today. The Living History Farm is FREE and open to the public.
Also at MOR, NEW exhibit The Real Genghis Khan is now open. Explore the culture, conquests, and heritage of one of the world’s greatest conquerors, when the treasures and stories of Genghis Khan’s Mongol Empire are presented in Bozeman for the first time. The Genghis Khan exhibition offers an adventure in the vast grassland of Central Asia, amid the relics of Genghis Khan’s reign.
Experience life in 13th-century Mongolia, entering the tents, battlegrounds, and marketplaces of a vanished world. Explore Genghis Khan’s life and those of his sons and grandsons during the formation, peak, and decline of the Mongol Empire. View rare treasures with more than 200 spectacular objects on display to illustrate this story, including gold jewelry and ornaments, silk robes, musical instruments, pottery, sophisticated weaponry, and numerous other fascinating relics and elaborate artifacts.
Enter the exotic atmosphere of ancient Mongolia and meet the man Time and The Washington Post named as “the most important person of the last millennium.” Visit this spectacular and uniquely interactive exhibition that tells the story of Genghis Khan – his life, his land, his people, his culture and his enduring legacy.
To commemorate the new exhibit, MOR will host the Genghis Khan Family Day on Saturday, June 1st from 10am–noon. Explore the life, land, people, and culture of the Mongolian Empire during a morning filled with extra educational activities. Games, crafts, and more will help attendees understand and discover this summer’s changing exhibit. Included with museum admission.
For more information about these and other upcoming events, as well as the Museum’s exhibits, visit www.museumoftherockies.org. •
