BELLE FOURCHE—Just outside Belle Fourche, a special destination filled with curiosity and wonder invites visitors to explore animals that went extinct millions of years ago. What began as a dream for owner Walter Stein became reality when he opened Dinosaurs of the Hell Creek Museum one year ago, a milestone that was celebrated May 23 with a daylong anniversary event. “To make it one year is amazing. This has been a wonderful, terrible, frightening, but an amazing year—we got here,” explained Stein. “A year and a half ago, and most people didn’t think we could turn a garage into a museum, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job for not having a whole lot of money and not having a whole lot of manpower, so it’s all good!”
Since planning and building the museum, Stein has been going full steam ahead. He hasn’t had a lot of time to just sit and bask in all of the accomplishments he has made to date. “We’ve been running around for the last 18 months, just running around, working our tails off—trying to get this place in ship shape and fixing problems and putting out fires and working on advertising and all that good stuff—all the while trying to continue doing our dinosaur digs, which we’ve been doing for 20 years—except now we’re doing twice as many,” shared Stein. “I haven’t really had time to process—I think it’s just, okay, what’s the next thing on the list that has to be done? Get it done, check it off, cross it off my list, move on to the next thing!”
Part of the planning included setting up the one-year anniversary celebration. The day started with a reduced admission fee and 15% off at Expedition Outpost Gift Shop, including season passes, an art contest, “Name That Dinosaur” just for kids, and a dinosaur presentation.
The museum closed early to make way for a private invitation-only event. The turnout was great; the space was filled with special VIP guests that included landowners, board members, sponsors, supporters, investors, longtime fossil hunters, successful diggers, employees, and family.
Stein welcomed everyone to the event. “Wow! Thank you guys for coming out and helping celebrate our one-year anniversary! This is awesome. We would not exist without you guys; you guys really helped with supporting us and helping us this whole time,” he said.
There were a series of three videos shown. The first was a walkthrough of the history of the museum beginning with the plans and moving forward. “This did not happen overnight. We literally have spent 10 to 15 years trying to build a museum,” shared Stein. “We struggled a lot to get where we’re at.”
When the opportunity to buy the building they are currently housed in arose, they jumped at it.
“We could definitely see potential in this building. First of all, it was right on our way to our dinosaur digs, and we went past this building for 20 years—going off to the digs over in northern Butte County, in Hardin and Meade County, and we kept seeing it,” explained Stein. “That tractor repair thing over there—okay, that’s kind of cool! I love the trees in front of it, that’s really nice, right? But it was a diamond in the rough. This building was literally a diamond in the rough. We’ve got seven acres of ground here, so we can have all kinds of activities out front and food trucks!”
The next videos consisted of a humorous dinosaur hunting safety course followed by a blooper reel.
Guests were able to wander through the museum and explore all of the exhibits. There were dinosaur movies from the 1940s playing up on the wall, and delicious food and drinks were provided in the side garage area. Sandwiches, chips, charcuterie, desserts, a dinosaur head-shaped watermelon, and a special one-year anniversary cake were served.
There is always something happening at the Dinosaurs of the Hell Creek Museum. New exhibits come, progress on “Rene” happens, and new items are available in the gift shop. If you are interested in going on a dinosaur dig, there are a few spots still open! Look for the museum in the Fourth of July parade in downtown Belle Fourche and find them at the Roundup Rodeo Grounds during the celebration. On July 2, in celebration of America’s 250th birthday, there will be a presentation on “Thomas Jefferson, the First American Paleontologist!” Then on Sunday, July 5, back at the museum there will be the Raptor Roundup event. Contact the museum to find out more about any of the upcoming activities!
See more pictures and read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
