Valley County Pioneer Museum Welcomes Those Of All Ages

As students and families get ready to head back to school, the Valley County Pioneer Museum may see a decrease in visitors, but the staff is still available for anyone and everyone looking to learn more about the history of the area, view artifacts and take a step backward in time.

The museum was constructed in the early 1970s and made possible by countywide donations through the fund drive sponsored by the Historical Society. From the time of opening to the 1990s, Mason Bailey had served as curator and volunteered his time as the principle school tour guide for the museum. In 1996, it was estimated that teachers had brought over 11,000 students from nine counties and Saskatchewan for educational tours of history.

There have been many changes to the county since the Museum opened, including the closure of the Base, which resulted in closure of schools. However in the 2020s, the Valley County Pioneer Museum still serves as a field-trip location for many local schools as the school years come to a close. In addition to students from Irle Elementary in Glasgow attending, the Museum sees students from all over northeast Montana, including Lustre, Poplar and Wolf Point.

"Wolf Point, when they come, and Poplar too, they'll come here, splitting their time between the Museum and the Children's Museum of Northeast Montana. Then they drive out to Fort Peck and have a picnic at Kiwanis and then go to the Interpretive Center in the afternoon. They spend their day in Valley County that day," explained Leta Godwin, who has been the director of the Valley County Pioneer Museum for the past three years. "I would estimate that about 20 to 25,000 kids have come through the museum on tours since the beginning."

As a way to mix up the tours year-after-year for students, Godwin explains the different grades get different views of the museum. For example, Glasgow's third graders learn about the communities, tour the main building of the museum, and learn a touch of Native American history. The next year, when these students are in fourth grade, they learn more about the State's history, including more about Native American heritage as well as get a tour of the machine lot next door to the museum.

"Craig Gilchrist and Lori Sampson volunteer their time in providing a presentation of the caboose and railroad. The kids really enjoy it and like to go into the caboose to explore," said Godwin. Over the years of providing these tours, one thing that is has been interesting is the kids' reactions to the mannequins and the porcelain dolls. "I guess they're just not used to seeing mannequins or like the old porcelain dolls" reflected Godwin. "Over in the Quast, they're freaked out about that stuff. They're always like 'oh did you see that?' or 'That's so creepy.'" The Quast house is a catalog home built in 1924 in Glentana and it was relocated to the museum, to allow visitors to walk through.

The museum isn't only limited to school tours as they have also entertained home school groups, a 4-H group out of Malta, a Leadership Montana conference and in the 1990s, the chief of the Redbottom Celebration Robert Fourstar brought some of his students from the Fort Peck Community College. Godwin stressed any group that is interested in a tour of the Pioneer Museum is welcome to contact them to get something set up, as the tours are not just limited to kids.

In addition to the tours to learn more about the past of the area, the Museum also has archives of family histories where people can come and do research to learn about their ancestral past. They also hold the archives of The Glasgow Courier, where anyone can come in or call in and get articles that were printed in past issues. "It's fun because you start looking through the newspapers or the archives and find different kids of things!," expressed Godwin.

Anyone can support the Valley County Pioneer Museum to ensure it's sustainability over the next generations of Valley County. They offer annual and lifetime memberships to the museum as well as has a gift shop, with proceeds benefiting the Museum. "Honestly just spreading the word, supporting our programs, when we have programs, come to the program and encourage your family, bring your grandkids, kids, to come. Supporting the programs and bringing generations together will help continue the museum to grow," said Godwin.

The Pioneer Museum is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through September. They can are located at 54109 US Highway 2, Glasgow and can be contacted at 406-228-8692.