THE FRONTIER GATEWAY MUSEUM

Museum Surpasses 100,000 Visitors
in 2012

Travelers wishing to take a walk backward in time may want to stop at the Frontier Gateway Museum. It is located just north of Glendive on Belle Prairie Road and offers a wide variety of historical items.

Inside the museum are displays of local history with fossils dating back 200 million years, old-time stores and displays from World War II. An addition completed in 2001 has tripled the size of the display area. Four display booths were added to the new room in 2002. These are set up as an old photograph studio, a Christmas room and a western millinery shop.

Glendive was built around the Northern Pacific Railroad, and displays featuring artifacts from that time are on display in the museum. Also in the main lobby is a sketch of Camp Canby, which preceded Glendive. The camp was manned by the 22nd Infantry and was used to protect railroad workers as they built the railroad into the new territory.

The museum complex of seven buildings is located on an acre of land. Behind the main building is a real eye-catcher, an original log cabin moved log-by-log from Paxton, a community originally located outside of Richey. Also an original rural schoolhouse complete with authentic furnishings, and many other reproductions of buildings, are located at the museum.

Other recreated buildings include two country stores, a livery stable reproduction which houses original buggies and a blacksmith shop. A machinery storage building houses a variety of old farm equipment, and a restored windmill sits in the middle of the grounds.

In 2004, A kiosk commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition was put up by the ACT Committee of the Glendive Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. In 2006 a display of Glendive historical photographs was put together in memory of Theresa Jones.

Always of interest are fire engines, and the museum has those as well. Local fire-department employees have constructed a replica fire hall, which houses a 1916 American LaFrance fire engine on loan from the fire department. A 1930s fire engine and an old-time ladder truck are also stored in the fire hall.

Inside the museum, visitors are in for a visual treat as they can walk down a street reminiscent of Glendive’s early main street. The display, called Merrill West, is based on photographs taken of Glendive in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Buildings represented on the street include Glendive’s first mercantile, the Douglas-Mead and Company, which opened in 1885; the first women’s wear shop, the Kepp-Boertsch Co.; the first newspaper building, The Glendive Times; and the first drug store, Hope S. Davis Drug Store.

Additional displays at the museum include fossils, Montana moss agates, buckskins, many mounted animals and animal skins, authentic reproductions of medieval armor and a World War II display which features uniforms, newspaper clippings, and Japanese and American flags.

The museum also has a Northern Pacific Railroad caboose and a 1918, 155 millimeter cannon located in the park area west of the main building.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. until noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, from June through August. On Sundays and holidays it is open from 1 to 5 p.m. During the months of May and September, hours are 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Sunday. The telephone number for the museum is 377-8168.

For an appointment or for further information call the museum at 377-8168 or 365-2769.