Museum OF THE American West
Celebrating the American West and the People Who Shaped It
About the MAW
Established in 1998, the Museum of the American West (MAW) is a unique, not-for-profit, outdoor/indoor museum complex that educates the public by presenting the unmatched natural and cultural history of the Wind River and Sweetwater Valleys and the South Pass region of the Rocky Mountains.
Our Collaborators
As a community-based nonprofit organization, The Museum of the American West (MAW) commits its resources and energies to establishment, promotion, and maintenance of a Museum Complex dedicated to preserve and perpetuate the natural and cultural history of the South Pass, Sweetwater and Wind River valley areas. We are governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors and with the help of our collaborative partners, the Fremont County Pioneer Museum, Fremont County Pioneer Association, the City of Lander, and Native American groups from the nearby Wind River Reservation, we provide a wide variety of museum services including exhibits, cultural entertainment, lease/rental services, and most importantly educational programs and opportunities for the general public, thereby providing a positive, quality cultural heritage experience.
Our Mission
The Museum of the American West commits its resources and energies to promote, establish, and maintain a museum complex dedicated to preserve and perpetuate the natural and cultural history of the South Pass, Sweetwater, and Wind River Valley areas.
With the help of our collaborative partners, we aim to offer sustainable museum services including exhibits, events, lease/rental services, and educational programming and opportunities for residents and visitors of all ages thereby creating a visitor destination that provides a positive, quality cultural heritage experience. In a collaborative partnership with the Fremont County Pioneer Association (FCPA) and the Arapaho and Shoshone tribes of the Wind River Reservation, we offer our resources and services to the public schools and local and regional museums as an integral part of our mission.
Our Vision
The Museum of the American West highlights a nationally significant cultural heritage geographic area through presentation and interpretation of relationships among four distinct cultures that occupy the nearby Wind River and Sweetwater Valleys: the Eastern Shoshone, the Northern Arapaho, the pioneers and their descendants, and others attracted to this community.
MAW and it collaborative partners bring an authentic cultural history to life for many generations of residents and visitors, providing an opportunity to broaden appreciation and understanding of the significant role this area played in the expansion of the American West.
