Brian Beauvais, Park County Archives curator and popular speaker, kicks off this year’s Draper Natural History Museum’s Lunchtime Expeditions lecture series. On Thursday, Feb. 6 at noon in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Coe Auditorium, Beauvais recounts his own travels through the Absaroka Mountains to retrace the steps of a long-ago expedition.

In summer 1893, 22-year-old Thomas Jaggar, fresh out of college, joined that expedition, led by U.S. Geological Survey geologist Arnold Hague, to chronicle what had recently been designated the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve.

Beauvais said Jaggar, “kept a journal of the expedition and field notes of his geological observations.” Of particular interest are the photographs Jaggar took throughout the trip.

“Looking at Jaggar’s photos today provides a fascinating glimpse at the character of the landscape over 130 years ago,” says Beauvais. So intrigued by the images and interested in how the land might have changed in the intervening years, Beauvais set out, starting in spring 2020, to locate and rephotograph the same locations Jaggar captured in 1893 and 1897.

In his talk, Jaggar Revisited: Rephotographing the 1893 Absaroka Expedition, Beauvais discusses the original expedition and shares the photos he used as guides on his own journey hiking and horseback riding along the same route, some of which was accessible and some quite remote. He describes the historic landscape as well as how comparing older photos with contemporary shots from the same locations can illuminate changes in a landscape over time.

While there will be no virtual attendance option for Lunchtime Expedition talks in 2025, all presentations are recorded and will be posted to the Draper Museum’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/@drapernaturalhistorymuseum3506) within a day.

Beauvais holds a Master of Arts in History and is currently pursuing his Master of Library Science degree. He writes about and gives numerous public presentations on various topics relating to the history of northwest Wyoming — from hunting and wildlife conservation, mining and prospecting, recreational pack trips, historic preservation, vernacular architecture, ranching, homesteading and local art.

In addition to his work with the Park County Archives, Beauvais is a member of the Park County Historic Preservation Commission, the Park County Historical Society, the Wyoming Historical Foundation, and the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund.

The Draper Museum’s Lunchtime Expedition lecture series is made possible through support from Sage Creek Ranch and the Nancy-Carroll Draper Charitable Foundation. All talks in the series are free and open to the public, and most take place the first Thursday of the month from February through December.

To find out more about this presentation and the Lunchtime Expedition series, contact Draper Museum Curator Corey Anco at coreya@centerofthewest.org or 307-578-4093. The Center of the West’s full calendar of events can be found at centerofthewest.org/events.