Museum Collection

One of more than 150 skulls and skeletal materials in the museum collection from the park’s Wolf Project, wolf 007F was released in Yellowstone in 1995 as a Rose Creek pup. She joined 002M from the Crystal Creek pack in 1996 to form the Leopold Pack, the first naturally formed pack of the new era. She was killed by wolves of the Geode Creek pack in 2002.

NPS

 

Yellowstone’s museum collection contains more than 720,000 items that, along with the archives and library collection, document the cultural and natural history of the park. The museum collection consists of natural history, archeological, and cultural objects, including obsidian points, skulls from the first wolves reintroduced in the park, Thomas Moran’s original watercolor field sketches, William Henry Jackson’s photographs, furniture from the historic hotels and other historic structures, and an extensive historic vehicle collection ranging from stagecoaches and wagons, through early buses and automobiles, to fire trucks and a snowmobile.

The collection is used each year by park staff and other researchers looking for background information on Yellowstone history, specific reference material, and illustrations for commercial products, school programs, special events, and adult education. The televised series, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” by Ken Burns contained hundreds of images from Yellowstone’s collections.

Temporary and Traveling Exhibits: While the facility was designed to be a research center and state-of-the-art storage facility, rather than a museum, the main and upper floor lobbies do include small changing exhibits for public viewing. Topics vary from history, culture, art, and natural history. Current exhibits include:

• A Window into Yellowstone’s Wonders: 150 Years of Collecting in the First National Park: This exhibit offers highlights from the museum, archives, and library collections documenting 150 years of Yellowstone and 150 years of documenting and preserving the story of Yellowstone through heritage collections.
• Through the Eyes of a Master: Thomas Moran's 1871 Field Sketches. A small selection of watercolor sketches (high-quality reproductions) done by artist Thomas Moran during the 1871 Hayden Expedition through what would become Yellowstone National Park. Previously displayed in the Albright Visitor Center.
• Thomas Moran's oil paintings, "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" and "The Chasm of the Colorado" anchor the exhibit Thomas Moran and the 'Big Picture' at the Department of the Interior Museum in Washington, D.C. Learn more here.

Tours: Free public behind-the-scenes tours are offered on Wednesays from 4:00-5:00 PM between Memorial Day (May 30) and Labor Day (Sept. 5). Space is limited, please call 307-344-2264 or email e-mail us to register.

 

Hours

With exception of some restricted collections, such as Thomas Moran’s original watercolor field sketches, William Henry Jackson’s photographs, and other rare or fragile items, the museum collections are accessible to researchers by appointment only. Appointments are generally available Monday-Thursday, 9am-4pm, with at least 48 hours notice. Email us for more information.

Closed federal holidays and the following dates:
January 15
February 19, 21
May 27
July 4
September 2
October 9, 13
November 9-10, 23-24
December 25-January 1

Research Requests

To access Yellowstone’s museum collections, researchers must complete and sign the following forms: Access Policy, Researcher Registration form, and Copyright Waiver. Anyone interested in obtaining reproduction copies in the form of one-time use digital files of historic images from the museum collections, please review the reproduction fee information. You may submit your request information and all forms electronically to [e-mail] or mail the forms to

Yellowstone National Park
Heritage & Research Center
PO Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

Online CollectionsSelected portions of our records have been digitized and placed online. This is an ongoing project.
Montana Memory Project: Collections include Superintendent's Annual and Monthly reports, maps and drawings, oral histories, and photographs.
Open Parks Network: Historic photographs taken by the Park's official photographers and gathered together into thematic albums in the mid-20th century.
NPS Technical Information Center: Historic maps and architectural drawings, and related construction reports for all parks in the National Park Service. Use the Search Filters button to select Yellowstone.
Historic Slide File: Historic photographs from the museum collection are organized by era and then by topic.
In the Shadow of the Arch: The Heritage and Research Center's blog is used to highlight collections within the Museum, Archives, and Library.

Contact Information

Miriam Watson, Supervisory Curator
email us
[phone]
Mailing Address:
Yellowstone National Park Archives
PO Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

More Information

• Library of Congress has a collection of 25 historic maps of Yellowstone: https://www.loc.gov/collections/national-parks-maps/
• United States Geological Society has an extensive collection of William Henry Jackson photographs taken during the 1871 Hayden Expedition which are available digitally: https://library.usgs.gov/photo/#/
• Yellowstone Science 12(4), 2004, Heritage and Research Center (2.0 MB PDF): Yellowstone’s museum, library, and archival collections finally move into a home worthy of their international significance.