Founded in 1895, and located in the Barrett Building just south of the State Capitol Building, the Wyoming State Museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to the entire history of Wyoming. The museum also hosts several temporary exhibits throughout the year.

In the Wyoming’s Story gallery visitors can view artifacts from many eras of Wyoming’s history. The Blocks of Time exhibit compares the significant amount of time involved in the state’s natural history and the relatively small amount of time the state’s human history occupies. A large interactive map highlights archaeological sites, trails, military forts, mountain man rendezvous sites, and military battles. It is the focal point of the gallery and allows visitors to mentally orient themselves.
The Wild Bunch gallery attempts to acquaint visitors with some of the state’s more common wildlife. The exhibit examines the impact that humans can have on wildlife populations. A diorama depicting a scene from central Wyoming with flora and fauna specimens is the highlight of the exhibit

The Swamped With Coal gallery educates the visitor about the importance of the mining industry to the state. Swamped With Coal also describes the geologic events in the distant past, which created modern Wyoming’s vast mineral wealth. A large model reminds visitors that the swamps of ancient times are the coal mines of today.

Younger visitors love the Hands-on History, but all ages can benefit from a visit here. Touchable reproduction artifacts, a curiosity cabinet filled with objects to examine, a chuck wagon, and a child-sized tipi are just some of the many features that bring Wyoming’s history to life in this gallery.

Wyoming is a dinosaur graveyard and the state’s dinosaur and other fossils can be found in museums throughout the world. The R. I. P. - Rex in Pieces gallery tells of fossil discovery competitions in the nineteenth century, and examines some of the state’s earliest prehistoric residents. R. I. P. - Rex in Pieces features a cast (reproduction) of a full-sized Camptosaurus skeleton. Camptosaurus was one of the first dinosaurs found in the state. Another highlight is a cast of a huge leg bone from an Apatosaurus.

Highlights of Wyoming’s Common Wealth gallery include the silver service from the battleship USS Wyoming, fine Native American beadwork and quillwork, a marble sculpture depicting the state’s animals and plants, firearms, and a diorama made in the 1950s of Wyoming cowboys at work branding calves.

The Drawn to This Land gallery looks at the reasons why certain industries and peoples have been drawn either permanently or temporarily to what is now Wyoming. Its six sections tell the story: animal management, retail, tourism, agriculture, the military, transportation and mining.

The living in Wyoming gallery focuses on six themes to address the social history of Wyoming: the home, Wyomingites, traditions, government, education, and recreation. This is the largest permanent gallery in the museum.

Prestigious temporary exhibits rotate through The Changing Exhibits Gallery each year. Some recent ones included the Wyoming Game & Fish Department Conservation Stamp Art Competition, Show & Sale in the spring and the Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition in the summer. Throughout the year, other temporary exhibits related to Wyoming’s history are on display here, as well as temporary exhibits created through the museum’s From the People of Wyoming program.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday year round. Call for hours. Admission is free.