During your visit to the Tri-State Museum, permanent and special exhibits allow you to experience life during the 1800s in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Outdoors you can explore the home of hunter, guide scout and Black Hills area pioneer Johnny Spaulding or celebrate Belle Fourche as the geographic center of the United States at the Center of the Nation monument. Be sure to stop by the Tri-State Museum Gift Shop to browse items related to Belle Fourche and South Dakota.
Exhibits
The Tri-State Museum’s exhibits interpret the early pioneer, rodeo and old west history of Western South Dakota, Eastern Wyoming and Southeast Montana using artifacts, rodeo memorabilia, historical records, antiques, collectibles and fossils from the Museum’s collection. Discover interesting facts about the Native Americans, the first known inhabitants of the land that became Belle Fourche in Cowboys and Indians or travel further back in time and learn about the dinosaurs who roamed the area in Dinosaurs in the Tri-State Area. You can experience pioneer life in exhibits like Lingerie and Pioneer Homes. Black Hills Roundup explores Belle Fourche’s famous rodeo, the oldest rodeo in South Dakota. Discover the Story of Saloon Street. Delve into the history of Belle Fourche as one of the most important livestock shipping railheads in the West in Cattle Companies. Other industries of Belle Fourche are explored in Early Industries, Sheep Industry and Sheep and Wool exhibits.
Spaulding Cabin
Take a tour of the restored Spaulding Cabin and discover how pioneers lived way back when. Located on the grounds of the Tri-State Museum since 2006, Spaulding Cabin is a two-story cabin of hand-hewed logs built by Johnny Spaulding in 1876, a hunter, guide, scout, and a Black Hills area pioneer who came to the area during the 1876 gold rush. As civilization took hold in the area, Johnny Spaulding eventually moved west to other frontiers. Many families lived in the cabin until it was eventually donated to the Tri-State Museum by the W.A. Helmer family in 1960.
Center of the Nation
Celebrate Belle Fourche as the geographic center of the United States at the Center of the Nation monument, located on the grounds of the Tri-State Museum. In August of 2007, the Belle Fourche Chamber of Commerce and the Center of the Nation Planning Committee unveiled a new monument to designate and celebrate Belle Fourche, South Dakota as the Geographic Center of the United States, a 21-foot diameter structure made of etched South Dakota granite with a 12-inch bronze marker from the National Geodetic Survey.
Be sure to stop by the Tri-State Museum Gift Shop. Gifts and keepsakes that reflect the early pioneer, rodeo and old west history of Western South Dakota are available to purchase.
Travel Tip
- Do not forget your camera. There will be exciting photo opportunities during your visit to the Tri-State Museum.