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The Brinton Museum

Introduction

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Located on the Quarter Circle Ă Ranch in Big Horn, WY, the Brinton Museum land features Western & American Indian Art. The Museum was established in 1960 and opened to the public in 1961 as a memorial to Western art and history through his sister Helen Brinton’s will in 1961. It includes the historic Brinton Ranch House, built in 1892 and expanded by Brinton in 1927-28 to accommodate his extensive collections, the well-kept grounds, gardens and outbuildings such as a carriage barn, saddle barn, milk house, and Little Goose Creek Lodge—Brinton’s hunting cabin.


Images

  • Peaks to Plains Design was presented a Merit Award for general design by the Idaho/Montana Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects for The Brinton Museum’s Forrest E. Mars Jr. Building. Credit: The Brinton Museum
  • In the John and Adrienne Mars Gallery of American Indian Art “To Honor the Plains Nations” Gallery at The Brinton Museum, the display cases do not have tops, maintaining the theme of the open sky the Plains Indians lived under. Credit: Mike Dunn, the Sher
  • The Historic Bradford Brinton House was built in 1892. Brothers William and Malcom Moncreiffe built the original structure and when Brinton bought the property 31 years later, an immediate restoration project had begun. Credit: Smithsonianmag
  • The Brinton Museum Little Goose Creek Lodge--Brinton's hunting cabin. Credit: The Brinton Museum

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Built in 1892 by William Moncreiffe, the Ranch House on the Quarter Circle Ă Ranch, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Bradford Brinton purchased the property in 1923.  The Brintons’ collection, on display in its original setting, includes splendid artwork by Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington, Edward Borein, Frank Tenney Johnson, Hans Kleiber & Bill Gollings, among others. In addition, "To Honor the Plains Nations" displays the highlights of the Brinton and Gallatin Collections' American Indian art and artifacts in a spiritually engaging exhibition.

The Brinton Museum, located on the 620-acre historic Quarter Circle A Ranch in Big Horn, is conveniently located between Yellowstone and the Black Hills. It offers an authentic view into the life and lifestyle of a Western gentleman and art collector who was a patron and friend of many of the most celebrated 19th- and 20th-century Western artists. The grounds of the Quarter Circle A Ranch are designated an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society and are open for bird watching and walking on a designated nature trail.

The Brinton Museum’s collections includes historic and contemporary western art, American Indian art and artifacts, historic photography, rare books and documents, period furnishings, ranch outbuildings and vehicles and farm implements. People from all over the world have visited the museum, even Queen Elizabeth.

The Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Building environmentally-sensitive design aligns with the natural geography of the Quarter Circle A Ranch. Nestled into the hillside, it is anchored by a two-foot thick, 51-foot high, 209-foot long arced rammed earth wall, and the tallest in North America. The design symbolically defines the space, bringing together the geological and spiritual nature of its Western and American Indian Art collections.

Brinton had 650 paintings at the time of his death.

Sources

The Brinton Museum. NARM Association. Accessed April 05, 2018. https://narmassociation.org/the-brinton-museum/.

The Brinton Museum. Travel Wyoming. Accessed April 05, 2018. https://www.travelwyoming.com/listing/big-horn-sheridan/brinton-museum.

The Quarter Circle A Ranch. The Brinton Museum. Accessed April 04, 2018. http://thebrintonmuseum.org/about/the-quarter-circle-a-ranch/.

Additional Information