The Brinton Museum
239 Brinton Road, Big Horn, WY 82833, (307) 672- 3173 www.thebrintonmuseum.org
The Brinton Museum is located on the historic Quarter Circle A Ranch in the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains. An avid collector of fine art, American Indian artifacts, firearms and books, Bradford Brinton spent several months each year at the Quarter Circle A Ranch House, filling his home with fine and beautiful items. He was personal friends with many artists, such as Ed Borein, Hans Kleiber and Bill Gollings, whose art decorated the ranch house. He also collected works by Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell and John J. Audubon. After passing away in 1936, he left the Quarter Circle A Ranch property to his sister, Helen Brinton, who, before her passing, established a trust so the Quarter Circle A Ranch could be kept as a memorial to her brother. Helen wished for the public to enjoy Bradford’s magnificent collection of art and that the ranch land be kept in a natural state to provide sanctuary for birds and other wildlife. Bradford and Helen Brinton left an enduring legacy of the golden era of an early 20th-century gentleman’s working ranch.
The Wild West had been tamed, the vast rangelands fenced and motorized vehicles were replacing horses. Americans were clinging to the images of hardy cowboys, noble Indians and untamed land filled with birds and wild beasts. Bradford and Helen Brinton have helped preserve the feeling of the West for generations to come. Incorporated in 2013, the new museum at the Bradford Brinton Ranch launched a campaign to build a 24,000-square-foot state-of-the-art museum building, which opened June 2015, to increase exhibition space, visitor services and storage vaults. With the new Forrest E. Mars Jr. Building, the Brinton Museum remains committed to preserving and interpreting the Brinton lands and all of the museum’s collections in order to demonstrate their relevance to the historic past, present and future. Brinton Museum’s collecting emphasis concentrates on American Indian arts and crafts as well as fine and decorative art relating to the late-19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Focus is placed on art and artists who depicted the West during these periods. Upcoming and current shows and events at the Brinton Museum include Carrie Ballantyne Comes Home, running through July 15, as well as the Bighorn Rendezvous Art Show & Sale from July 22 to August 4.