Scope of Collections
The Yellowstone County Museum cares for over 30,000 objects that document the history of the greater Montana region. The focus of the collection is objects from or materials that have the ability to tell a story about Montana’s Yellowstone River Basin. Collections include archaeological materials, Montana Tribal Nations artifacts, firearms and other weaponry, objects highlighting rural and urban Montana life in late 19th to early 20th, historic photographs, archives, and works of art.
Click the box above to view a portion of the YCM collection online.
Do you have an object that you would like to donate to the YCM? Help us preserve the past to save the future! (406) 256-6811 or info@ycmhistory.org
Featured Artifact of the Week
Double Wheel Coffee Grinder, Circa 1900
Vananda, Montana is a ghost town located 19 miles northwest of Forsyth. Rosebud County received limited attention from Montana's earliest settlers. This changed as the Milwaukee Road railway was built across Montana in early 1908. The Milwaukee began a townsite development program and advertising campaign designed to attract homesteaders to the region. Vananda was not chosen as a townsite, even though there was a depot. By 1915 approximately 75 to 100 people resided in the immediate area of Vananda. By 1918, Vananda had a post office, school, hotel, bank, mercantile, Catholic and Protestant churches, a rustic movie theater, and a weekly newspaper called the Vananda Sun.
The population never exceeded 200. Most townspeople either worked in local businesses or were employed by the Milwaukee. A prolonged period of draught that began in 1918 and low wheat prices resulted in a substantial exodus from the region. By 1930 nearly all the population and economic activity was gone. For the next two decades, the population was around two dozen. Most of Vananda's buildings disappeared during this period; some burned, others were razed for salvage, and at least two were moved to other communities. Vananda's final demise came in 1953 when the Milwaukee Road ended its local employment and closed the depot. One or two families remained in the town during the 1960's and 1970's, but by the mid-1980's only a single house was occupied.