News – Sheridan Media
A large crowd joined museum staff, board and volunteers at the preview of the Museum at the Bighorns Phase 1 of their relocation/ expansion project on Tuesday, June 10, before opening to the public on Thursday, June 12th.
The event included a silent auction fundraiser, a slide show about the planned museum space, a raffle for a museum membership, drinks and a charcuterie board for the attendees.
The building that is housing the museum was once the Woolworth’s Department store in Sheridan, from the 1940s up until the mid-1960s, and was a popular shopping place for area residents. As a part of remembering the history of the building, attendees were asked to write about their memories of the Woolworth Store while it was in operation in Sheridan.
Thane Magelky, President of the Museum board, opened the event, saying it has been a long road to get to this point, but things are falling into place. He thanked everyone for their support. “It’s super exciting for us.”
Carrie Edginger, Museum Director, thanked everyone for coming and introduced Leonard Bends of the Crow nation, who bestowed a Crow Blessing in the Crow Language on the museum and the building.
Bends said a few words before he started the blessing, saying “It is an honor for me to be here.”
He added that the lodge is their mother that takes care of them, their children and their elders. The mother of the lodge provides food for the family, and mother earth provides nourishment when they harvest deer, elk and buffalo.
This is a portion of the Crow blessing.
People will come in and enjoy all the artifacts and pictures in the museum, Bends added.
He said Sheridan is our neighbor and our home. “We come to visit all the time,” he added. He told a story about his brother, Joe Medicine Crow, who was in France in the military, and he thought about Louie’s hamburgers in Sheridan. When he got home after his military service, his first stop was grabbing a hamburger at Louie’s.
Carrie Ida Edinger, Museum Director has organized some ways people can see selected pieces of the museum’s collection, including Tom Warnke’s diorama of Sheridan in 1888. There will be several upcoming events combining history, art and other hands-on activities. There will be four themed hands-on activities during Downtown Sheridan’s 3rd Thursdays Festival this summer.
She talked about upcoming events in 2026, as it is the 250th anniversary of the United States, as well as the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. July through December 2026, they will be highlighting all American Indian Days, and then in 2027, Whitney Benefits asked the museum to do an exhibit on E.A. Whitney, who helped to get Sheridan started. Then there are plans for a Native American doll collection on display.
In addition, there will be a summer exhibit displayed in the Phase 1 section of the museum about the history of 171 N. Main Street. The history of the site ranges from a brick building that was built in 1888 for the newly formed Sheridan County government. During the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the building was used as the Woolworths Department Store.
As the Museum of the Bighorns keeps making progress with their expansion project, community members and visitors to Sheridan can visit the museum website museumbighorns.org for updated-to-date information and summer hours of operation.
Contact Information – Carrie Ida Edinger, Museum Director, Museum Phone: 307- 675-1150, Carrie’s Cell, 302- 893-2843, or email director@museumbighorns.org
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Last modified: June 12, 2025