Exhibits
Fort Museum Grounds
The Museum Grounds are always open, always free. We have a printable Grounds Tour Map available to you to asist with your Historical Museum Visit.
Get more information on Fort Missoula Museum Grounds.
Main Missoula Gallery
"The Road to Today: 250 Years of Missoula's History"
Permanent, recently renovated exhibit showcasing Missoula's history.
View Our Missoula 250 Gallery
Heath Gallery
NOTE: Exhibitions rotate every 2 years and open last Sunday in March.
"When The Mountains Roared: The Fire Of 1910"
100th Anniversary collaborative project with USFS Region 1. Runs 03/28/10 - 01/03/12
"When the racing crowd reached the trains the rush to get into the cars was a panic. Men fought with women for precedence, well dressed men so eager to get into the coaches and save themselves that they forgot all the deference to women they had been taught. . ."
- "Daily Idaho Press," Wallace, August 22, 1910.
The Big Burn of 1910 transformed the West, reinvented the infant Forest Service, redefined the way we would look at fire for nearly a century, destroyed millions of acres of forests in western Montana and Idaho, and threatened Missoula's very existence.
The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula will open it's new exhibit, When the Mountains Roared: The Fire of 1910 on Sunday, March 28, 2010, to commemorate the centennial of this transformative fire. The exhibit will include many never-before-seen photographs, actual objects from the fire, a recreated fire camp complete with fire, sound, and scented special effects, and an interactive computer station to further explore the event with more photographs, stories, letters, artistic interpretation, posters, newspaper accounts, and reminiscences.
The 1910 fire "burned a scar in history that is both wide and deep, with its scabs still festering."
- "The Big Blowup," Spencer, 1956
For more information, contact:
Robert M. Brown, 406.728.3476
Fax: 406.543.6277
ftmslamuseum@montana.com
Orientation Gallery
A Homestead Holiday: Nighty Nite!
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the museum, the staff was stirring, just not any mice! They were hanging the stockings, and nestling artifacts in exhibits to create visions of sugar plums for all to see the annual Holiday exhibit! Come see all the holiday cheer at the Museum for our new exhibit, A homestead Holiday: Nighty Nite!
North Gallery
NOTE: Exhibitions rotate every year and open last Sunday in April.
"Ogden: Where Art and Army Met"
In-house exhibition of Museum's Ogden military art collection and rare US Army Uniforms from the Hayes Otoupalik collection. Opening date April 17.
View Exhibit Gallery
View Exhibit Installation
Hall Window (Main Gallery)
The Jay Collection
Hall window exhibition highlighting the story of Robert H. Jay, a local hero in World War II that saved the entire crew of a B-29 plane after is was hit by a Japanese bomber. Come see an actual part from the plane that Jay saved- can you tell us where this part might have come off of on the B-29?
Open September 26 - December 30, 2011
Exhibits Coming Soon
More details coming soon!
Off-Site Exhibits
"When The Mountains Roared: The Fire Of 1910"
Murray, Idaho
Selection of materials pertaining to Heath Gallery Exhibition. Running 07/10/10 - Present
"Then & Now, Re-Photographing Missoula"
Msla. Co. Courthouse
Traveling exhibit displayed in part at Courthouse and in part at City Hall; cooperative project done in collaboration w/ Missoula. Historic Preservation Office (Phillip Maechling) and UM Archives. Running 5/21/08 - 12/30/11
"No Ordinary Time, No Ordinary Place"
Missoula International Airport
View Gallery of Exhibit
Selection of materials from Museum's permanent ADC & 25th. Infantry collections. Running 09/01/10 - Indefinite
"When The Mountains Roared: The Fire Of 1910"
Seeley Lake Historical Society
View Gallery of Exhibit
Selection of materials pertaining to Heath Gallery Exhibition. Runs 08/10/10 - 01/03/12
"Just Add Water"
Seeley-Swan High School
View Gallery of Exhibit
Selection of the Museum's 'Milltown Dam' traveling exhibit displayed in the High School Library. Runs 08/26/10 - 08/12/11
Past Exhibits
I Ain't Got No-Body: An Exhibition of Hats
For the Second Annual Hysterical Museum Halloween Exhibit come see part of our rarely seen hat and accessory collection- some are fun and silly, other are a little creepy- and none of them can find their bodies!
Open October 3- November 1, 2011
"Window To The Museum- 1877 Map Book"
Hall window exhibition featuring recent acquisition of rare map book documenting 1877 Expedition to map region including Fort Missoula by Generals William T. Sherman and Philip Sheridan. Runs 04/17/11 - [TBD]
View Exhibit Gallery & Installation
View 1877 Sheridan Sherman Map Collection
"Recent Acquisitions"
A selection of materials recently donated to the Museum. Runs 01/10/11 - 06/15/11
View Exhibit Gallery & Installation
"The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: Echoes Of The Maltese Falcon"
Missoula Public Library
View Gallery of Exhibit
1930's display pertaining to book chosen for "Big Read" initiative, "The Maltese Falcon". Ran from 10/01/10 - 11/30/11
"Let Wonderland Tell Its Story: William Henry Jackson's 1871 Yellowstone Alberttypes"
View Gallery of Exhibit
Traveling exhibition featuring William Henry Jackson's 1871 Yellowstone Alberttypes (photos) supplemented by Museum's collections, courtesy of Lee Silliman, Lee's Graphics. Runs 04/25/10 - 01/3/11
"Snowflake Sonata"
View Gallery of Exhibit
Annual holiday exhibition featuring musical items from Museum's collections, supplemented by loaned materials. Runs 11/21/10 - 01/03/11.
