Hoofprints of the Past Museum

06/15/2026

Every country kid has a swimming hole in the summer. These are some of the Keith kids on the former Keith Ranch west of Kaycee swimming in Middle Fork of the Powder River.

06/09/2026

This photo is labeled "Sunday School Class in Hole in Wall." The one man standing appears to be holding a bible in one hand.
While it won't be Sunday school, we are looking forward to our Saturday tour in the Hole in the Wall with everyone registered. Thank you to all the landowners, volunteers and attendees for your support!

06/05/2026

This was the back of the Grange Hall in 1989 shortly before it became the Hoofprints of the Past Museum. But it what is inside that truly makes us special.

06/01/2026

It is rodeo season again!
This photo is from a rodeo in Kaycee circa the 1930's. Norris Graves is the roper.
Check out the 2026 Kaycee Friday night rode schedule here: https://www.facebook.com/KayceeNightRodeo

05/30/2026

This photo is from the parade that occurred prior to Sheepherder's Rodeo in 1990. This rodeo was held in Kaycee for many years.

05/27/2026

Although they look like small thumb-scrapers made by Indians, these are actually flints manufactured in England or France. Flints were used in flintlock rifles to strike the gunpowder in in the pan of the flintlock trigger mechanism, so it was very important they worked correctly each time.

Raw flint was mined by hand in vertical shafts without any explosives or other mechanized means. The industry was a small cottage industry, and skilled workers would take the mined material and then flake it and knap it into the final product. A skilled worker could make upwards of 3,000 flints in a day. They were then counted and packed in bags or crates for transport, and used as ballast if transported by ship.

These three flints were found at Fort Antonio (Portuguese Houses) and are on display at the museum.

05/25/2026

Even the small town of Kaycee has lost at least one person in every 20th century war, from World War I, II, Korea, and the Vietnam War. This recently installed Vietnam Memorial shows the names of two Kaycee boys lost in that war, Ernest Taylor and George Harrison. On this Memorial Day we honor all American soldiers lost in all the wars.

05/23/2026

05/21/2026

As Memorial Day approaches, we share the story of one young man from Kaycee lost in the Korean War. DeMaret Martston Kirtley went missing in action during the Korea War on December 6, 1950. After 68 years, his fate is finally known. Thawing relations between the US and North Korea in 2018 resulted in the return of the remains of American soldiers who fought in the war and their identification by DNA analysis. Kirtley was one of the soldiers identified. The Kirtley family had one of the
first hardware stores in Kaycee and ranched at Antelope Basin outside Kaycee before moving to Buffalo in 1957. A long overdue graveside memorial service was held at the Kaycee Cemetery in 2019.
References: DPAA Public Affairs, May 24, 2018 via Johnson County Library.

05/17/2026

This photo shows a well being drilled at the Garrett Homestead on Dry Fork in 1927. Roy Garrett came to the Kaycee are in 1910, living in a dugout until he married. His wife, Elizabeth, came from Missouri to work as a school teacher and also homesteaded on Dry Fork. After marriage they built a cabin and drilled the well with the help of an old Page car and neighbor Pete Skiles.
Names in photo: Roy Garrett horseback, Pete Skiles next to the well, and Jack Garrett aged approximately three years old.