Rare tour of Arapaho Ranch

The Alliance for Historic Wyoming and the Arapaho Ranch Field Station hosted a rare tour of the property on Saturday, Aug. 27. The tour was previously announced in the IR. Participants in the tour were limited and spaces filled up fast.

Originally founded as the Padlock Ranch in 1867 and purchased by the Northern Arapaho Tribe in 1940, the ranch now produces non-hormonal, grass-fed beef. The historic buildings, including the Arapaho Mansion, a horse barn, a blacksmith and carpenter shop, a schoolhouse, and C-Store, are currently being developed for place-based learning. The ranch is located about 20 minutes northwest of Thermopolis.

The tour included talks on the history and development of the property by Lorre Hoffman and Thom Tisthammer, a presentation on local rock art by Michael Bies and a poetry performance by Crow poet and former Montana Poet Laureate Henry Real Bird. Attendees got to explore the historic buildings and the interpretive exhibit recently installed in the C-Store.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Telling the Full History Preservation Fund announced an award of $25,000 to Maker Space 307 earlier this year. 

The grant was one of 80 given to select organizations nationwide with projects that helped preserve, interpret, and activate historic places to tell the stories of underrepresented groups in our nation.  

A collaboration of Maker Space 307 and the Arapaho Ranch Field Station is making the development possible. Stories are being used in an interpretive exhibit curated for the Arapaho Ranch Field Station located on the Arapaho Ranch west of Thermopolis. This project provides a rare opportunity for American Indians to tell their own stories about their histories connected to place and time.

The grant was made possible through a one-time $2.5 million grant program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021. 

“The Telling the Full History Preservation Fund represents the largest number of grants given through a single program at the National Trust,” said Katherine Malone-France, Chief Preservation Officer. “These 80 projects are driven by many dedicated volunteers, staff, and experts, all seeking to expand how we compose the American narrative. We are grateful for the work that they do on the ground and in their communities to reveal, remember, celebrate and illuminate these stories through these extraordinary places.” 

For more information about the Arapaho Ranch Field Station visit arapahoranch.org, to learn more about other programs visit makerspace307.org.