November 2, 1999
TEXTILE COLLECTION RECEIVED An unusual group of textiles depicting early American history will soon go on display in the Old West Wax Museum in Thermopolis. The items were donated by Faribault Woolen Mills, Faribault, Minn.
Three of the textiles are related to the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition of the Louisiana Territory purchased in 1803. The exploration from Saint Louis to the Oregon Coast provided the U.S.government with the first report on the land and its people.
The textiles will be added to museum displays on Lewis & Clark, which currently include a diorama, maps and historical information.
The "Corps of Discovery" blanket is modeled after a famous painting showing the explorers when they first encountered native Americans on the river. It was designed by artist Debra J. Tate.
The "Columbia River Scene" blanket depicts three canoes descending the Columbia River in the shadow of basalt cliffs, with a Native American village of winter lodges nearby. Clark described such a scene in October 1805. The design by Kenneth G. Watson and Patricia Cosgrove is meant to capture the sense of awe the explorers felt while moving along uncharted rivers.
The "Journal Pages" blanket, designed by artist Laurie Jacobi, shows four pages from personal journals. It includes Clark's drawing and description of the sage grouse; his sketch of a bighorn sheep; Lewis' description and life-size drawing of a candlefish; and Clark's famous journal entry on first seeing the Pacific Ocean.
The "Voyageur" blanket is patterned after trading blankets used by early explorers and mountain men. Short stripes on the side of the blanket showed how many beaver pelts were needed to buy the blanket (one stripe for each pelt).
A "Plains Petroglyph" blanket shows designs found in the Northern Plains of South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. The blanket is woven of a mix of buffalo hair and sheep wool. The design was a collaboration of Sheri Settle, who raises buffalo in South Dakota, and Mary Jane Bates, a South Carolina designer.
Faribault Woolen Mills has been in continuous operation for over 133 years. It is one of the few mills that can still handle the start-to-finish process, from raw wool, carding, dyeing and spinning, to weaving, napping and finishing a textile. The designs are woven into the fabric using traditional jacquard loom techniques.
Included with the textiles are a series of photographs showing the spinning and weaving process used to make them.
The textiles were donated to Dancing Bear Folk Center, part of Big Horn Basin Foundation, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to providing educational opportunities in the region. The Center is located on the first floor of the Old West Wax Museum.