Sundance, WY: The Vore Buffalo Jump Archaeological Site will be open on October 26, 2025 from 10 am to 3 pm to allow the public to view a new exhibit of bison skulls that were excavated from the sinkhole in the early 1970s. The Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation will hold its annual meeting on that day at 1 pm. The Vore Site is located on Old Hwy 14 just west of Beulah, Wyoming.
This meeting will be the official opening of a new exhibit that was funded through a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, donations to the VBJF, and in-kind contributions from VBJF board members and staff at the University of Wyoming Archaeological Repository. The new exhibit is a display of bison skulls that were excavated from the sinkhole in the early 1970s. Two panels of text and photos are associated with the exhibit. One honors the Vore family and the other describes what can be learned from scientific analysis of the skulls.
At the annual meeting, VBJF board president Jacqueline Wyatt will provide an update on the state of the non-profit Foundation including the summer season, the finances of the VBJF, and our outreach efforts. All members of the non-profit foundation are welcome to attend and may vote at this meeting. At the annual meeting this year, we will recognize the Vore family for their contributions to development of the Site.
The skulls that are part of the new exhibit are those of bison killed in the sinkhole during the jumps at the Site by Native American hunters between about 1550 and the late 1700s. Most of the thousands of bones excavated from the Vore Site were precisely mapped and cataloged by the archaeologists and are in the repository at the University of Wyoming. A number of bones, including the skulls that are part of this exhibit, were unearthed during exploratory excavations and were left in a shed on the Vore ranch as University of Wyoming archaeologists felt that they had no scientific value. They were rescued by Jan (Vore) Lund and her husband Jim.
As part of the Foundation’s educational mission, the Vore Site hosted about 650 students from the region in spring and fall for field trip programs. This fall 4th graders have come from Moorcroft, Hulett, Sheridan, Upton, Newcastle, Rozet, and Sheridan. The volunteers who make this program possible will be acknowledged at the annual meeting.
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