Wyoming Pioneer Association

Wyoming Pioneer Association in Douglas, Wyoming, formed in 1884 and incorporated in 1926, exists to secure Wyoming's pioneer history and traditions. Headquartered in a small Pioneer Cabin located on the Wyoming State Fairgrounds in Douglas, the Wyoming legislature appropriated funds for construction of a museum at the same location in 1956. The association works to make sure its museum retains plentiful space for displaying artifacts and holding social functions, it expanded its facilities in 2013 to add the Ruthe James Williams Center.

History
The first unofficial meetings began in 1884. The first annual meeting was held in Douglas during the first Wyoming State Fair in 1905. At that time, attendees included soldiers, freighters, cowboys, and stockmen. Many of these had been instrumental in achieving statehood for Wyoming. The Wyoming Pioneer Association was incorporated on January 8, 1926. The Wyoming Pioneer Cabin was the group's original meeting site. By the 1950s, the cabin was strained to its limit due to the growth of members when being used for meetings. In 1956 the Wyoming Legislature appropriated state funds to build the Wyoming Pioneer Museum. This allowed the Association to build a new structure to replace the cabin's functions for social gatherings and for housing the Association's possessions. The museum was approved and built on the Wyoming State Fairgrounds next door to the cabin. In 2013, the Association financed and constructed the Ruthe James Williams Center located adjacent to the museum.

The Wyoming Pioneer Association celebrated 125 years in 2015. They celebrated during the Wyoming State Fair which ran from August 7 through 16 in Douglas, Wyoming. Specially for this year were the 1926 Pioneer Cabin and the Grist Mill being open to the public. The association tallied almost 1,200 people visiting the cabin. "It was very exciting, and this is just the beginning,” Mary Engebretson, president of the association says. “We now have a Memorandum of Understanding with State Parks and Cultural Resources and the Wyoming Department of Agriculture that allows us the flexibility to open, use and showcase the historical buildings, which are the original Pioneer Cabin, two school houses and the Grist Mill, to do a lot more with the old buildings and more in creating the complex."

Mission and purpose
In 2016, the Association's president, Bob Vollman, changed the association's mission to the following: "The mission and purpose of the Wyoming Pioneer Association is to keep alive the traditions of family loyalty, integrity, and honor that have sustained us in the past and made Wyoming great. We will build on our heritage and history with the confidence that our future generations will be as proud of us as we are of our ancestors." The Wyoming Pioneer Association acts as an advisory board to the Pioneer Museum, which has state and national membership. The State of Wyoming is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the museum. The museum is open all year. The museum collects and displays artifacts important to the West and its expansion as well as to pioneers.

Ruthe James Williams Center
“In 1927 the Wyoming Pioneer Association built the Pioneer Cabin to host their annual meetings. Just one year earlier, the group dating back to 1884, was incorporated,” says President Mary Engebretsen. “In recent years, with a group too large for the cabin, we’ve been meeting in the Wyoming State Fair Cafeteria.” Circa 2012 the association recognized a need to increase the size of their meeting facilities, but also attract new community members by offering additional space for historic artifacts.

A large contribution from Jack and Ruthe James Williams to the new building named in Ruthe's honor ensure the couple will always be remembered. James Williams' parents were pioneers who made their home in the Douglas, Wyoming, area in 1917, and gave birth to her in 1919. James Williams grew up mostly in Douglas. She received formal education in Douglas, but also in Idaho, where her parents had immigrated from. In Douglas, she and Jack courted.

Williams was a member of the Wyoming National Guard, stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington, when Pearl Harbor was bombed in December of 1941. In March of 1942, Williams was lost in an accidental fire in the company barracks in Roseburg, Oregon, that morning.

Unbeknownst to anyone, six months prior, Williams and Wiliams James had gotten married when Williams was on a two week furlough in Wyoming. Due to the circumstances of his death, Williams James went ahead with the earlier plans she and Williams had to move further west and lived her life out in the state of Washington. When James Williams died in 2008, she bequeathed Wyoming Pioneer Association a significant piece of her estate. The Wyoming Pioneer Association expended the bulk of those funds to construct the Ruthe James Williams Center. In 2013, association members met in the new center.

Wyoming Pioneer Museum
The museum was first created in 1927 in what is now referred to as the Wyoming Pioneer Cabin. Not only did it house artifacts but it served as a place to conduct association meetings. In 2017, the museum created an Advisory Council to assist the superintendent and ensure worthwhile experiences to visitors. For over 30 years, the association ran the museum in the cabin, right up until ownership was turned over to the state in 1956, funds having been appropriated from them and a new facility built. The association continues in its role as the Friends of the Museum Group. It has a permanent voting member on the council.

The museum has been running continuously since 1927, and over 50 years in its current building. All of the historic displays are first class. Some examples of items on display are an original jackalope, a historic bar, and a Native American artifact collection. An exciting item also is the bib overalls from ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee stock contractor Charles Irwin, who was inducted in 1979. The museum is also a font of historic photographs.

Old Timers Association
The Wyoming's Old Timer's Association, created in 1914, is the precursor of the Wyoming Pioneer Association. The members had been meeting informally since 1884. This association had been vital in help Wyoming Territory achieve statehood. They met continually at the Wyoming State Fair. Some members defined "Old Timers" as "including only those who personally had a part in bringing the Territory into Statehood." In 1914, the fairgrounds were filled with activity. The first president of the association was John Hunton. The association first met on September 15, 1926, in downtown Douglas, at the Princess Theater. Hunton called the first meeting to order that day. The association founded itself upon the Old Timers association.

Memorials
One of the ways the Wyoming Pioneer Association currently gets involved in the Wyoming community is to recognize and honor work having to do with cemeteries and veterans.

In 2016, the association granted its second Historical Restoration Award to a community who refurbished a cemetery in Niobrara County, Wyoming.

In 2010, the first president of the association, in 1884, John C. Hunton received a proper grave marker from the association. Hunton was also one of Wyoming's first cattlemen. In 1839 Hunton was born in Madison, Virginia and served in the American Civil War prior to relocating to Wyoming. He worked many positions and started his own businesses throughout Wyoming Territory. His diaries serve as historical documents today. He helped found the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and the Cheyenne Social Club. In 1890, Wyoming achieved statehood, and helping found the Wyoming Pioneer Association was key to that goal. Hunton served as Laramie County Commissioner in Cheyenne. He is buried in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The first marker on his graver is not a proper marker.

Association member and Cheyenne resident, Beverly Holmes, worked with the necessary individuals in Cheyenne to make this happen. Retired Army Colonel Bob Fesack volunteered to assist. He acquired the American Civil War records for Mr. Hunton. He applied to the Veteran's Administration. The Department of Veterans' Affairs required the records in order to provide the gravestone. Hunton died September 4, 1928, at 89 years of age. The original marker is a smallish white stone with only his initials, J.H. carved on it. The new gravestone was installed next to the original marker in Westlake Cemetery.

Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources announced on their web site September 2, 2010, that the first president of the Wyoming Pioneer Association, John Hunton, was honored with a confederate grave marker on September 10 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Prior to the ceremony, there was a presentation at the Wyoming National Guard Museum, where retired U.S. Army Colonel Bob Bezek shared Hunton's military history. The unveiling then took place at Lakeview Ceremony. Hunton served in the Virginia Infantry for the Confederate Army, including a spell as a prisoner of war.