A Place Called Thorofare: People, Wilderness & Wildlife Management
Opening March 19 through Sept. 9, 2009
Western Heritage Center
2822 Montana Ave.
Billings, Montana
In truth there's almost no end to the ferocity of this place, a wildness that tugs and shapes everyone who spends any amount of time here, on occasion wrenching them into something bigger than life itself.
- Gary Ferguson *
The year 2005 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Thorofare cabin, the center of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's backcountry outpost lying in the heart of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem – the most remote spot in the lower forty-eight states. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center celebrated this milestone with the exhibition, A Place Called Thorofare: People, Wilderness & Wildlife Management.
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is proud to have this exhibition travel to the Western Heritage Center in Billings, Montana. Opening March 19, 2009, the show runs through September 6, 2009.
Through historical and contemporary photography, the exhibition explores the spectacular Thorofare region, the cabin and its builders, and those who have used the outpost to help conserve wildlands and wildlife in this unique place. Since 1955, the outpost has been used for landmark wildlife research, monitoring, and management of grizzly, elk, wolf and numerous other species. Learn how it will be used to deal with more wildlife challenges and opportunities in the 21st century.
Approximately 70 photographs, maps, and documents tell the interesting story of the Thorofare - the place, the people and the wildlife.
Historical images from the McCracken Research Library 's Jack Richard Photography Collection and stunning contemporary photography by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center are complemented by objects from the Wyoming Game & Fish Department.
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center, on the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park, is proud to present the first exhibition about this special place – and especially pleased to have our neighboring institution the Western Heritage Center host this exhibition about one incredible area of our beautiful Yellowstone Country.
*Quoted in Gary Ferguson, Hawks Rest: A Season in the Remote Heart of Yellowstone (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Adventure Press, 2003), p xvii.