The exhibit explores the ways people interacted with the environment, and how their everyday activities reflected that interaction. Artifacts and text are changed regularly, allowing us to employ a larger number of artifacts over time and to integrate Society-wide themes into this exhibit. Art on paper and sculptures are regularly rotated for preservation, to provide and opportunity to explore various themes in Russell's work, and to highlight themes in related temporary exhibitions. Photographer features artifacts related to both Yellowstone National Park and the National Pacific Railroad like a Yellowstone stagecoach, furniture from the Canyon Hotel, and a 1930s touring car.
White bison are extremely rare, historically appearing only once in every five million births.
To many Indian peoples such animals are sacred and represent great spiritual power. The birth was a crowning achievement of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' efforts to recover a population of bison for their reservation. For this reason, in the early 1950s the Montana Historical Society made arrangements to ensure that, upon his death, Big Medicine would be moved to the state's museum and permanently preserved for future generations. At his prime, he weighed 1,900 pounds, stood six feet high at the hump, and measured twelve feet from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail. Although his fame spread worldwide, Big Medicine spent his entire life on the National Bison Range where he received special care that enabled him to live much longer than bison normally do.