
About Us
The Shoshone Museum Association is a nonprofit organization, incorporated in 1989.
The Shoshone Museum was created to collect, preserve, research, exhibit and interpret objects that best illustrate the natural and cultural history of the local Shoshone area as well as the surrounding Death Valley/ Amargosa desert region.
Our mission is to serve as a center for interpretation and preservation of the unique cultural, historical and natural resources within the Amargosa and Death Valley region.
The Shoshone Museum is governed by a Board of Directors, and staffed by local residents.
The Backstory
Of course, the collections that make up many of our most popular exhibits began much earlier than 1989 – desert dwellers are notorious scrounges and packrats. Over the years, local residents had accumulated a museum-worthy collection of desert specimens, local history, and pre-historic treasures – all gathering dust and rust in living rooms, yards, barns, and sheds scattered throughout the area. Recognizing the educational and historical value of these items, and well aware of their fragility in this harsh desert environment, it was decided: time to get serious!
The Shoshone Museum was established in the historic old general store building. After removing a tree growing through the floorboards and sweeping out mini dunes of alkali dust, the museum was in business! With the generous support of our local community, our collection soon grew to fill the building. But it was the mammoth that really brought it all together. Discovered in 1981, the mammoth (and mastodon) bones were taken to Sonoma State University for study. In 1997, the bones were finally returned home to Shoshone for permanent display. Today, they are the centerpiece of our collection!