Lander turned out to be an interesting and charming town of around 7500. We got into the museum an hour before closing but still managed to soak up quite a bit of history and get a feel for the rugged lives of the settlers in the area.
On display was the most extensive collection of ledger art I’ve seen. Ledger art is the name given to simple colored drawings, often on lined paper, by Native Americans who were forced onto the reservations and given art supplies to try and “rehabilitate” their savagery. Very evocative images came from the hands of some of the most famous warriors, chiefs and sages of the Great Plains tribes.
Battle in Progress.
Upstairs, on display was a series of paintings by J.K. Ralston depicting the life and adventures of the famous Shoshone chief Washakie. These moving images once lined the walls of an old hotel in downtown Lander, and needed major restoration to remove 120 years of cigar smoke.
Chief Washakie in Action
