page_title: High Desert Museum
section_title: Exhibits
hierarchical_section_title: High Desert Museum / Collections / Exhibits
caption_attribution_description: English: Forest Service Chevrolet fire truck at the High Desert Museum near Bend, Oregon
context_page_description: The High Desert Museum is located near Bend, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1982, it brings regional wildlife, culture, art and natural resources together to promote an understanding of natural and cultural heritage of North America's high desert country. The museum includes indoor and outdoor exhibits of wildlife in natural-like habitats along with traveling exhibits and living history demonstrations. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. It is also a Smithsonian Affiliate institution.
context_section_description: Exhibits focus on local culture, natural resources, wildlife, and art. The museum's indoor and outdoor exhibits of Native American, pioneer, and animal life are presented on a massive scale.  A visitor can actually walk through an early 1860s town complete with blacksmith shop, Chinese mercantile, and stage coach stop.  The Native American exhibit covers life on the land before the white man, life on a reservation, and the present day hot topic of Indian Casinos.  There is also an impressive exhibit of Native American horse tack used for the Pendleton Round-Up that is unmatched for its craftsmanship, beauty, and individuality of design.
  The High Desert Museum has a 53,000-square-foot (4,900 m²) main building. Exhibits include a Forest Service  fire truck, a stage coach, and a number of Native American history displays. The museum's Hall of Exploration and Settlement has displays highlighting a hundred years of high desert history.  Scenes include a trapper's camp, survey party's camp, pioneer wagon train, a mining claim, an early western boomtown, and a high desert buckaroo camp.
  Outside the museum building a quarter-mile trail follows a forest stream lined with aspens and ponderosa pines.  Along the way visitors can stop at a number of exhibits and animal habitats.  There is a total of 32,000 square feet (3,000 m²) of outdoor exhibits and animal habitats.  The popular wildlife exhibits feature three river otters, desert tortoises, a porcupine, and birds of prey.  There is also a Native American encampment, a start-of-the-20th-century sawmill, logging equipment, homesteaders cabin, and a forestry pavilion.
caption: Vintage U.S. Forest Service fire truck
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