On a Saturday morning in Laramie, the stone walls of the Wyoming Territorial Prison rise against a bright blue sky, and the old exercise yard fills with a different kind of commotion than it once knew. Instead of guards and inmates, there are archaeologists, flintknappers, potters, and families with children clutching freshly chipped arrowheads. This is the Wyoming Archaeology Fair, the state's largest annual celebration of its deep human past, and for one day each September, the prison's historic grounds become a living laboratory where Wyoming's deep history is laid out for anyone to touch, try, and question.
The 2026 fair takes place Saturday, September 12, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site in Laramie. Admission is free, and the event is the signature gathering of Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month, a statewide observance proclaimed each September by the governor. More than thirty booths and activity stations will fill the prison yard, offering hands-on experiences that range from flintknapping and atlatl throwing to pottery making, rabbit hide painting, cordage making, yucca processing, and mock excavations. Visitors can also meet professional archaeologists, ask them about artifacts they have found, and learn about careers in the field. Special features this year include blacksmithing demonstrations by Charles Prior, living history presentations from Fort Laramie, live music from the Twaynes, and a 1 p.m. performance by the Wind River Dancers, who demonstrate a variety of Indigenous dance styles.
The fair's setting is as much a part of its story as the activities themselves. The Wyoming Territorial Prison was built in 1872 and restored in 1989. Today, visitors can tour furnished cells, the warden's office, the infirmary, and the Butch Cassidy exhibit gallery, all within the same walls that once held some of the West's most colorful characters.
The fair itself began in 2015, the product of a partnership between the Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist, the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office, and a broad coalition of organizations including Wyoming State Parks, the Wyoming State Museum, the Wyoming Arts Council, the George C. Frison Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists, the Wyoming Archaeological Society, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology. The first fair drew nearly fifty volunteers and more than a thousand visitors, who came to see demonstrations of flintknapping, soapstone carving, hide working, flute and bow making, cordage making, experimental grinding, and pottery making, as well as performances by the Wind River Dancers and a Shoshone storyteller. The event was conceived as the centerpiece of Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month, which itself dates to 1990, when the state began an annual September campaign to educate the public about the importance of preserving and protecting Wyoming's archaeological heritage.
Over the past decade, the fair has grown into a beloved annual tradition. Organizers reported that the 2025 fair drew nearly fifteen hundred attendees, the largest crowd yet. Gwendolyn Kristy, chief of the Planning and Historic Contexts Development Program at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office and the coordinator of Wyoming Archaeology Awareness Month, has described the fair as an opportunity for the public to talk with real archaeologists, learn about possible careers in archaeology, and discover how to steward the state's important cultural resources. She has emphasized that the event brings attention to the importance of protecting and preserving Wyoming's archaeological heritage.
For many visitors, the most memorable experiences are the hands-on ones. The atlatl station lets participants throw darts at three-dimensional targets, exploring a prehistoric hunting technology. The flintknapping booth, staffed by longtime volunteer and professional archaeologist Damian Kirkwood, is consistently one of the most popular attractions. Kirkwood has said that his booth averages between two hundred and three hundred children each year, and that he has seen kids return from previous years with their unfinished arrowheads, eager to complete them. He has even heard from university students who declared anthropology majors at the University of Wyoming because they discovered the discipline at the fair. For Kirkwood, the event is one of the most impactful public outreach efforts in the state's archaeological community, a chance to inspire a new generation to care about the past.
The fair also offers a window into the lives of the people who inhabited this landscape long before the prison was built. Activities like yucca processing, cordage making, and hide painting connect visitors to the Indigenous lifeways that flourished across Wyoming. The Wind River Dancers, who have performed at the fair since its earliest years, demonstrate a variety of Indigenous dance styles, sharing Native American culture and heritage with audiences of all ages.
Beyond the activities, the fair serves a deeper purpose: stewardship. Archaeologists are on hand to talk about the importance of protecting archaeological sites and preserving Wyoming's archaeological heritage. Visitors are encouraged to bring artifacts they have found and have them identified by experts, a practice that began in 2023 when Wyoming State Archaeologist Spencer Pelton offered artifact identification at the fair. The event also highlights careers in archaeology, with a strong presence from the University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology.
The Wyoming Archaeology Fair is more than a festival; it is a bridge between the present and a past that stretches back through the ages. Set against the grim stone walls of a prison that once confined outlaws, it offers a reminder that the land itself holds stories far older than any human institution. For a few hours each September, the old prison yard becomes a place where history is not just displayed but experienced, where a child can hold a stone arrowhead they made with their own hands, and where the echoes of ancient hunters and dancers mingle with the laughter of a modern crowd. It is a celebration of everything that came before, and an invitation to become part of the story that will be told to those who come after.