Museum of the Rockies
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2008-07-02T14:22:24Z
Jllm06
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/* About */ Added image of Tinsley House
{{infobox Museum
|name= Museum of the Rockies
|image= Museum of the Rockies.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Museum of the Rockies front entrance
|established=
|location= 600 W. Kagy Boulevard, [[Bozeman]], [[Montana]], [[USA]]
|visitors=
|director=
|website= [http://www.museumoftherockies.org Museum of the Rockies]
}}
The '''Museum of the Rockies''', affiliated with [[Montana State University - Bozeman|Montana State University in Bozeman]] and the [[Smithsonian Institution]], is located in [[Bozeman, Montana|Bozeman]], [[Montana]], and is known for its [[Paleontology|paleontological]] collections despite dinosaurs not being its sole focus. The museum houses the largest collection of [[dinosaur]] remains in the United States and possesses the largest ''[[Tyrannosaurus]]'' skull ever discovered as well as the thigh bone of a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' that contains soft-tissue remains.<ref name="gfttt">{{Cite web|url=http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/NEWS01/806020305/1002|title=Take the State's Dinosaur Trail|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2008-06-02|work=Great Falls Tribune}}</ref> The museum is also part of the [[Montana Dinosaur Trail]] and is the state's official repository for paleontological specimens.
The museum's collection about the physical and cultural history of the [[Rocky Mountains]] and the people and animals who have lived there dates back more than 500 million years. Its permanent exhibits include: ''Enduring Peoples'', which chronicles the life of [[American Indian]]s on the [[Great Plains|Northern Plains]] and near the Rocky Mountains; ''History of the Northern Rocky Mountain Region'', whose inhabitants included Native Americans, fur traders, gold seekers, and white settlers from frontier days through [[World War II]]; ''Living History Farm'', which includes the [[Museum of the Rockies#Tinsley House|Tinsley House]] where costumed interpreters demonstrate life in a turn-of-the-century home; and the [[Taylor Planetarium]], a 40-ft, 104-seat domed theater.
==About==
[[Image:Museum of the Rockies Cowboys&Indians.JPG|200px|left|thumb|Cowboys and Indians exhibit]]
The Museum of the Rockies exists to preserve and tell the stories of [[Montana]] and the Northern [[Rocky Mountains|Rockies]] in order to educate visitors about the region's rich history, which includes but is not limited to its rich paleontological roots.<ref name="realjp">{{Cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=RM&p_theme=rm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4DCB277C96CAC&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=The Real Jurassic Park Lies in Montana|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=1993-06-17|author=William F. Allman|work=U.S. News and World Report}}</ref> The museum was founded in 1957 due in part to a gift from Caroline McGill and the museum's collection has grown to 300,000 objects that cover more than 500,000,000 years of history. The museum frequently offers symposiums allowing [[Native Americans]], whose tribes called the region home, to share their stories with visitors.<ref name="montt">{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1452228951.html|title=Montana Tribes to Share Living Histories at Montana State University|accessdate=2008-06-12|author=2008-03-21}}</ref> In 2005, the Museum became an affiliate of the [[Smithsonian Institution]], which provided the museum with greater access to the collections and programs of the Smithsonian. <ref name="siaff">{{Cite web|url=http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/08/06/montana/a10080605_01.txt|title=Museum of the Rockies to Become Smithsonian Affiliate|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2005-08-06|work=Helena Independent Record}}</ref>
Traveling exhibits that visit the museum cover topics as diverse as [[African American art]],<ref name="prjones">{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1158279661.html|title=Paul R. Jones Exhibit at Montana State|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2006-02-28}}</ref> [[television]] and [[film]] [[costumes]],<ref name="costu">{{Cite web|url=http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=8463496&nav=menu227_3|title=Costume Display at Bozeman Museum|accessdate=2008-06-12|publisher=Montana's News Station|year=2008-06-11}}</ref> the impact of [[weapons]] on the cultures of the Rocky Mountains,<ref name="wartool">{{Cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DP&p_theme=dp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EC6FF403A204582&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Tools of War Create Lessons of Survival |accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2001-06-03|author=Ron Franscell|work=The Denver Post}}</ref> an exhibit on [[King Tut]] that toured internationally,<ref name="tut">{{Cite web|url=http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/05/14/outdoors/out80.txt|title=Tut Exhibit Injects New Life|accessdate=2008-06-12|author=Rob Chaney|work=The Missoulian}}</ref>
===Tinsley House===
[[Image:Tinsley House.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Tinsley House]]
The Tinsley House, which is preserved by the Museum of the Rockies as a [[living history museum]], is intended to provide an overview of homestead life in the 1800s in the [[Gallatin Valley]]. The 100 year-old house was originally located in [[Willow Creek, Montana|Willow Creek]] and it was moved to its present site on more than ten acres behind the museum in 1989. The house is made of logs accumulated over the course of two years from the [[Tobacco Root Mountains]] and interior items are believed to have been ordered from the [[Sears, Roebuck and Company|Sears]] catalog.<ref name="tinsh">{{Cite web|url=http://www.outsidebozeman.com/magazine.php?action=fullArticle&articleID=299|title=The Tinsley House|accessdate=2008-06-12|author=Chaundera Wolfe|work=Outside Bozeman}}</ref> Most items in the house have been donated by Tinsley descendants.
The Tinsleys migrated west during the [[Civil War]] in search of a better life. William and Lucy Tinsley (née Nave) met in [[Virginia City, Montana]], where both worked, and after marriage they relocated to the Gallatin Valley. They built their house in 1889 once the original cabin was too small to accommodate their family. At the museum, visitors can learn about the life of the Tinsleys and others who lived at the time. Children try on clothes and play with toys typical of the time. The house includes a functioning [[outhouse]], water pump<ref name="tinsh"/> and kitchen where food typical of the time is sometimes prepared.<ref name="lhdes">{{Cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=DSNB&d_place=DSNB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F6390D6513C6B75&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Living History|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2002-09-22|work=The Deseret News}}</ref>
===Paleontology===
[[Image:Museum of the Rockies Dinosaur Heads.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Duck-billed dinosaurs and ''Triceratops'' skulls]]
While not its sole focus, the museum is primarily known for its paleontological collections. This was not always the case, however, and for a long time specimens found in Montana were taken out of state to other museums. This changed in 1990 with the discovery of a ''[[Tyrannosaurus|Tyrannosaurus rex]]'' skeleton that would remain in Montana and be exhibited at the museum.<ref name="bonan">{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1144672.html|title=Montana's Bone Bonanza; Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleteon to Remain in the State|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=1990-08-28|work=The Washington Post}}</ref> While fossils continue to be property of the [[federal government]], the museum has been able to increase its collection due in part to Curator [[Jack Horner (paleontologist)|Jack Horner]]'s agreement and work with the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] and the federal [[Bureau of Land Management]].<ref name="theor">{{Cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503EED61238F935A15751C1A9669C8B63|title=Theories Evolve in T. Rex Discoveries|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2000-12-26|work=The New York Times}}</ref> The museum is now home to twelve ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' specimens, including one of only two complete that have ever been found.<ref name="cnn">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/08/25/dino.profile/index.html|title=Jack Horner Knows his Dinosaurs|accessdate=2008-06-12|publisher=CNN|year=2007-03-08|author=Peggy Mihelich}}</ref>
Apart from housing one of the largest collection of dinosaur [[fossil]]s in the world and the largest in the United States,<ref name="dinoh">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/travel/thisweek/stories/DN-dino_0518tra.ART.State.Edition1.1f64fa4.html|title='Dinosaur Highway' Rich in Dig Sites, Museums|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2008-05-20|author=Claire Walter|work=The Dallas Morning News}}</ref> the museum is also home to the world's largest ''Tyrannosaurus'' skull narrowly beating out that of [[Chicago]]'s [[Field Museum]].<ref name="head2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1623702.html|title=Head to Head, new T. Rex Beats Field's Museum's Sue|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2006-04-12|author=Andrew Herrmann|work=Chicago Sun-Times}}</ref> The museum's [[Siebel Dinosaur Complex]], designed by curator and [[paleontology|paleontologist]] [[Jack Horner (paleontologist)|Jack Horner]] is home to one of the first identified female [[dinosaur]]s, an ovulating ''T. rex''.<ref name="gfttt"/> Curator Horner, who served as adviser to the ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' films,<ref name="dinoh"/><ref name="dys">{{Cite web|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60257201.html?dids=60257201:60257201&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+21%2C+1993&author=SUSAN+GALLAGHER&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Maverick+Dinosaur+Expert+Gets+in+His+Digs+in+Montana+Fossils%3A+Jack+Horner+was+the+inspiration+for+%60Jurassic+Park.'+The+top+paleontologist+is+also+a+dyslexic+college+dropout.&pqatl=google|title=Maverick Dinosaur Expert Gets in His Digs in Montana Fossils|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=1993-11-21|author=Susan Gallagher|work=The Los Angeles Times}}</ref> was one of the main scientists involved with the discovery of soft tissue remains in the thigh bone of a ''Tyrannosaurus'' in 2005,<ref name="majort">{{Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A63318-2005Mar24?language=printer|title=A Major T. Rex Breakthrough|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2005-03-25|author=Guy Gugliotta|work=The Washington Post}}</ref> which were later brought to the museum. The museum has also been involved in a number of other finds, including a baby ''[[Triceratops]]'' in [[Jordan, Montana]] in 2006.<ref name="tric">{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1110360421.html|title=Baby Triceratops Found by Museum of the Rockies Researchers|accessdate=2008-06-12|year=2006-07-21}}</ref>
In June 2008, the museum formed part of a consortium that obtained a mobile paleontology lab that would assist researchers and allow them to chemically analyze fossils while still in the field in order to help prevent degradation.<ref name="mobpa">{{Cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/06/11/New_mobile_paleontology_lab_begins_work/UPI-31301213200449/|title=New Mobile Paleontology Lab Begins Work|accessdate=2008-06-12|publisher=UPI|year=2008-06-11}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
* [http://www.museumoftherockies.org Museum of the Rockies official website]
[[Category:Natural history museums in the United States]]
[[Category:Museums in Montana]]
[[Category:Native American museums]]
[[Category:History museums]]
[[Category:Smithsonian Institution]]
[[Category:Montana State University System]]
[[Category:Museums accredited by AAM]]
[[Category:Planetaria]]