W. H. Over Museum

The W. H. Over Museum is rich in the history of the land. From its early beginnings the museum has collected and exhibited the natural history materials of the state and region. View an outstanding collection of Sioux artifacts, and historic photographic portraits of the legendary leaders and daily life of the tribes of the upper Missouri river.

The Museum’s collection of over 500 stereographic cards of Stanley J. Morrow’s photographs document the drama of the west; the Indians, the U.S. Army, the river trade and booming mining towns during the post Civil War period.

See the display of an 8’x10′ claim shanty constructed by Gabriel Mydland, a Norwegian ship carpenter, on his homestead near Lake Preston, South Dakota in 1882. All nine family members lived in the claim shanty and an adjoining covered dugout for one year until a more permanent structure could be constructed. The shanty was donated to the Museum by Gordon Mydland, Gabriel Mydland’s grandson.

Full participation by the visitor is the goal of the Discovery Room. Laid out in islands and drawers are things that reflect the natural world which the visitor may play with and study. Rock hounds can ‘dig’ for minerals or fossils, touch models of footprints of gigantic creatures that roamed the Great Plains, and study with microscopes, magnifying glasses, books, and a computer.