Pioneer Kids Bedroom Hands-On Discovery Exhibit
On Display: 5/2017
Step back in time to experience life as a pioneer child. Get hands-on: dress up in pioneer clothes, play with antique toys, and explore a realistic pioneer bedroom from the past.

Edward S. Curtis Exhibit
Currently On Display
“It’s such a big dream, I can’t see it all.”
Edward S. Curtis was a driven, charismatic, pioneer artist and photographer who set out at the turn of the last century to document traditional American Indian life before it disappeared. He rose from obscurity to become the most famous photographer of his time. Curtis abandoned his career as a successful portrait photographer and spent 30 years creating an astonishing body of work capturing Native American culture: 10,000 audio recordings, 20 volumes of text, a full length motion picture, and 40,000 photographs.

“A Legacy of Learning: Celebrating 50 Years of Colorado Mountain College and the Bud Werner Memorial Library” exhibit at the Tread of Pioneers Museum
On Display: March 24 - Sept. 24, 2017
Location: Tread of Pioneers Museum, Crawford Community Room
As the center for history and remembrance in Steamboat Springs, the Tread of Pioneers Museum coordinated a partnership exhibit with Colorado Mountain College and the Bud Werner Memorial Library to celebrate their 50th anniversaries of serving the Steamboat Springs community. The exhibit will also feature a historical perspective on early libraries and education in Steamboat Springs.

Staking Their Claim
On Display: 7/2017 – 6/2018
Pioneers experienced extraordinary hardships and rewards making a life for themselves and their families in the Western frontier with no towns or amenities. In this exhibit, learn about the strength and courage of the early settlers who faced danger, starvation, privation, and loneliness in order to create a new life in the early West. Early pioneers showed amazing resourcefulness and ingenuity to create a new life out of nothing.

SKI TOWN USA EXHIBIT
SOAR into the the history of skiing in Steamboat Springs in our new exhibit! "Ski Town USA" traces the evolution of skiing in our town from essential winter-time transportation to the wolrd reknown recreational sport of today. See the predecessor of the today's snowboard, a chair from the chairlift that once went to the top of Emerald Mountain, and memorabilia from Steamboat's Olympic athletes.

Steamboat Springs: The Land, The People, The Town
Discover the inspiring landscapes, indigenous Utes, hardy settlers, and rugged ranchers who made this valley home. Learn about town founders and how the town of Steamboat Springs developed in this introductory exhibit. Don’t miss our “Hands On Fun!” elements throughout the exhibit.

Olympian Tribute Display
Honoring all our local Olympians who represent Ski Town USA ® on the world stage. Located on the second floor of Thunderhead Lodge (upper gondola building) at the Steamobat Ski Area.

Western Heritage Exhibit
Our Western Heritage exhibit which is located in the Victorian house features an extensive firearms collection, a replica chuckwagon, an agricultural heritage display, and an audio exhibit and the artifacts from the capture of the infamous outlaw, Harry Tracy (ruthless member of Butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall Gang).

Victorian House - Period-Furnished Rooms
Tour the Zimmerman House and step back in time in our turn-of-the-century period-furnished rooms. A ranch-style kitchen, Victorian dining room, parlor, and bedroom await you.

Native American Exhibit
The Native American exhibit features a popular selection from our collection of Edward S. Curtis photogravures. These powerful Native American images have become famous around the world. As well, this exhibit displays our extensive collection of American Indian weaving, pottery, basketry, and beadwork.

Semotan - A Steamboat Legacy Since 1886
Feb. 2015 - Feb. 2016
Tread of Pioneers Musueum's Newest Installment of the Foundation of Steamboat Exhibit.

Journeys West: Pioneer Tales from the Wagon Trail
On Display: 6/15/2015 – 5/2017
In 1873, the Crawford family loaded up their wagons in Sedalia, Missouri and headed to Colorado in search of a new life in the area that would eventually become Steamboat Springs. But how did they and other pioneer families do it? What were their routes? What did they eat? How did they survive sickness, inclement weather, wild animals, treacherous mountain passes with no roads and the grueling long hours? Drawing on diaries, personal memoirs, photographs and actual objects from Routt County’s first pioneer families, “Journeys West: Pioneer Tales from the Wagon Trail” explores what life was really like for these brave frontier adventurers.

Lost Steamboat
On Display: 2/3/2017 – 4/30/2017
A photographic exhibition from the Tread of Pioneers Museum collection of significant buildings lost over the years.

River rock, logs and quarry stone: the practical builders and architects of Routt County used locally available material to build Steamboat Springs’ early stores, schools and churches. As a result, those buildings reflected history, geology, talent and Northwest Colorado style.

Snowflakes - Nature’s Dazzling Design Photograph Exhibition
On Display from December 10, 2013 - April 10, 2014

Discover nature’s dazzling designs through this photographic exhibition of enlarged microscopic images of snowflakes from photographer Kenneth Libbrecht and world famous weather and snow crystal photomicrography expert Wilson A. Bentley.

Soldiers On Skis
World War II Exhibit Open May 29, 2014 - May 30, 2015

The Horse
6/2015 - 5/2016
Explore the profound relationship between horses and humans in Northwest Colorado

“When you are on a great horse, you have the best seat you will ever have.” Winston Churchill From the Ute Indian’s first use of the horse in the 1630s to the modern Dude ranches of today, horses are a central part of our local history.

Art Of The Crawfords
Opens July 24, 2015

Two Friends Meet
Exhibit On Display
“Two Friends Meet”

These limited edition fine art prints created by Hawk, a renowned Western and wildlife watercolor artist, capture the mood, quality and simplistic lifestyle that is uniquely our local heritage. The prints were bequeathed to the Tread of Pioneers Museum by the Vernon Summer estate and feature Vernon Summer, the quintessential cowboy, working on his ranch in Sidney, just south of Steamboat Springs.

Creativity in Motion: Celebrating 100 Years of Perry-Mansfield : June 2013-May 2014
Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp began in 1913. Located in a charming, rustic camp setting in Steamboat Springs’ Strawberry Park, the camp is the longest continuously operating camp of its kind in the United States. Creative and educational programs in dance, theatre, art, music, writing, equestrian, and more, make it a unique haven for diverse artistic expression for students ages eight through college. Camp founders Charlotte Perry and Portia Mansfield had a tenacious and innovative vision. Their vision and camp are thriving today in its 100th year.

Foundations of Steamboat Exhibit: The Squire/Hogue Family
On Display: 3/2016 - 3/2017
The Foundations of Steamboat exhibit honors families who have made a significant contribution to Northwest Colorado. With roots in Routt County since 1884, the Squire/ Hogue family has successfully run a 100-year- old ranch and an iconic historic downtown building. The exhibit is told through the words of Margaret Squire Hogue, a light-hearted and hard-working rancher and mother. Highlighted are family keepsakes and a 10th Mountain Division soldier’s love letters sent from the front lines of World War II.

Ski Patrol in Steamboat Springs: Celebrating 75 Years
12/2015 - 6/2016
When Norwegian ski jumper Carl Howelsen introduced recreational and competitive skiing and ski jumping to Steamboat Springs in 1913, he could have never imagined the skiing legacy that would follow. Known as the “Father of Skiing in Colorado,” in Steamboat Springs, Howelsen started the first ski club and Winter Carnival (both now over 100 years old) and built the first ski jump on a steep hill in downtown Steamboat Springs, now known as the Howelsen Hill Ski Area. Howelsen’s influence would later transform Steamboat Springs into “Ski Town USA®,” a town now boasting more Olympic athletes than any other town in the nation.

Foundations of Steamboat: The Summer Family: October 2013 - September 2014
The Foundations of Steamboat Exhibit Series highlights families whose members have made a significant contribution to Northwestern Colorado. This year the Tread of Pioneers Museum honors the Summer family.