During the 17th National Cowboy Festival the museum featured several special exhibits. In the Halleck Bar Gallery was "Ranching Families of the Great Basin," an exhibition of photos and artifacts of family ranching life. The exhibit will be featured until June, 2001. It covers all aspects of ranching life, from work to play. Displays include historical photos of early ranching outfits as well as images of modern ranching essentials.
In the Museum Gallery is "Honest Horses: A Portrait of the Mustang in Nevada's Great Basin." The exhibit features 30 hand painted black-and-white photographs of mustangs on the range taken by Paula Morin. Include are excerpts of conversations with folks whole lives have been entwined with wild horses. Folklorist Andrea Graham has compiles some stories, songs and poems expressing wild horse tradition.