Since the early days of the cattle industry and the advent of the Union Pacific Railroad, Cheyenne and Wyoming have played an integral part in the development of the West. The Old West Museum gives residents and visitors to Wyoming an opportunity to discover and experience our heritage through exhibits, educational programs and research opportunities.

The Museum reflects the history of Crook County. Permanent exhibits include Indian artifacts, cowboy artifacts and pioneer artifacts dating from 1875. Also included is furniture from original Courthouse, 1888, the Sundance Kid was on trial here; a Vore Buffalo Jump Diorama and display; a Custer Trail diorama showing the route taken by Custer through Crook County and the Black Hills; and Crook County photographs, brands, and local artifacts. The Museum has a complete microfilm collection of Crook County newspapers.

The center's exhibits cover historic, prehistoric, and paleontological subjects. Exhibit topics include archaeology, the Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage Route, mining, the Texas Trail, emigrant trails, Spanish Diggings, and paleontology. Collections include regional materials ranging from Cretaceous fossils, Pleistocene mammoths, and Paleoindian artifacts to a variety of historical objects, records, and oral histories.

The Museum's exhibits cover Carbon County history. The first collection the museum acquired was that of rancher A.A. Harper, who had passed away on November 16, 1938. Harper’s daughter had two large, locked cases custom-made to display his smaller items. Rev. Fulton and County Librarian, Miss Margaret Goodrich, began the work of collecting artifacts through gifts and loans. As of January 2013, the museum collection includes 30,000 objects, which have been stored and exhibited in a former church since 1976. The museum has a full-time staff of seven, with two regular part-time and occasional seasonal/temporary employees. It is the only museum in the county to be open year-round. Admission has always been free.

The museum's exhibits focus primarily on general history with an emphasis upon Campbell County, Wyoming.

Fort Caspar Museum and Historic Site, located in Casper, collects, preserves and exhibits artifacts concerning the social and natural history of Fort Caspar, the City of Casper and central Wyoming. Exhibits include Native American artifacts, western art, and exhibits relating to the history of the area.

While outlaws roamed the windswept high plains, canyons and mountains of post Civil War Wyoming, the territorial legislature was planning a state-of-the-art penitentiary at Rawlins in anticipation of statehood. This new Wyoming State Penitentiary, which would serve from 1901 until 1981 would send a strong message to freewheeling desperadoes... Wyoming would no longer be a haven for the lawless. The Old Pen, as the Wyoming Frontier Prison is affectionately called today, is “haunted by history” around every corner. Tales of great train robbers, wily escapes and of women driven to crimes of passion are told on the scheduled guided tours offered from April through October. Group tours and off-season tours are also available.

The Uinta County Museum is located in the historic Carnegie building, completed in 1906. A lovely example of Classical Revival architecture, the building was designed by New York architect Albert Randolph Ross (who also designed a Carnegie Library in Washington, D.C.). In 2008, an expansion of the building was completed. Designed by Jackson architect Kurt Dubbe, the new building echoes the historic features of the original structure. Their mission is to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of Uinta County and the surrounding region, and to make our collections available to the public.

The Grand Encampment Museum, located in Encampment, Wyoming, preserves history with its collection of over a dozen historical buildings filled with artifacts representing the timber, mining, and agricultural history of the Encampment valley.

Fossil Country Frontier Museum collects, preserves, researches, exhibits, and interprets materials related to the natural and cultural history of South Lincoln County and southwestern Wyoming, for the education and enjoyment of the public.