Home » Museum Minute: Amelia Earhart in Wyoming
Amelia Earhart, ca. 1934–1936 at the Double D Ranch on the Wood River in northwest Wyoming. MS 3 Charles Belden Collection. P.67.1477

Museum Minute: Amelia Earhart in Wyoming

Amelia Earhart at a Wyoming ranch
Amelia Earhart, ca. 1934–1936 at the Double D Ranch on the Wood River in northwest Wyoming. MS 3 Charles Belden Collection. P.67.1477

The famous aviator first visited Wyoming in 1934. She traveled to Meeteetse for summer break where she stayed on local guide Carl Dunrud’s dude ranch. Earhart fell in love with the region right away. She wanted to make it her summer home. After the summer, she asked Dunrud to build her a log cabin.

Sometime between 1934 and 1937, Earhart either brought one of her aviator coats to Wyoming or sent it out to Dunrud. She wanted it kept at her cabin since it was a nice, heavy warm coat, which would do well in the windy Wyoming winter weather.>

Amelia Earhart flight jacket, ca. 1930. Gift of Carl Dunrud. 1.69.2200
Amelia Earhart flight jacket, ca. 1930. Gift of Carl Dunrud. 1.69.2200

Earhart disappeared over the Pacific in 1937. Dunrud never finished the log cabin but if you go to Meeteetse you can see the foundation of the cabin.

Although Dunrud claims the coat is the one Amelia Earhart wore on her first transatlantic flight, there is no proof of this. There are promotion photos of Earhart wearing this coat, but in all of the images of her arriving in Europe, she’s wearing a very heavy flight suit. The coat could be underneath the suit but the museum is still trying to prove this.

Amelia Earhart in Wyoming
“The famous aviatrix goes aloft on a corral fence in Wyoming to get a view of her surroundings.” Amelia Earhart and Carl Dunrud sitting on the top rail of a fence at Double D Ranch on the upper Wood River with Absaroka Mountains in the background. MS3 Charles Belden Collection. P.67.1476.1

Earhart’s attraction to Wyoming represents the interest of the American West, the legacy of Buffalo Bill and the Wild West.

Museum Minute was a series co-produced with Wyoming Public Media (WPM).

Written By

Kamila Kudelska avatar

Kamila Kudelska

Kamila Kudelska was the multimedia journalist for the Center and for Wyoming Public Media. In that role she told the hidden stories of all five museums and reported on the news of northwest Wyoming. Kamila has worked as a public radio reporter in California, Poland and New York. She enjoys skiing (both downhill and crosscountry) and loves to read. Since has since taken on a larger role with Wyoming Pubic Media.

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