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The Story of the 10th Mountain Division 

Enjoy this award winning film, then join staff at the Wood River Museum of History + Culture for a reception and to view the Wall of Honor installation created for Veterans Day.

Thursday, November 14, 2024
5:30pm – 7:00pm
More/register here.

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN celebrates the United State’s indomitable snowmen, the men of the 10th Mountain Division, America’s only mountain and winter warfare troops.

This award winning film is an emotional portrait of the mountain warriors’ creation, grueling training, daring World War II exploits, then focuses on their next 50 years. United by their love of the mountains, the 10th attracted championship skiers & mountaineers.

Their first battle was the spectacular night climb of Italy’s Apennine Riva Ridge where they surprised the Germans on top. That led to a push that ended World War II a week earlier in Italy than the rest of Europe. After the war, they pioneered the United States’ infant ski industry and became the backbone of its outdoor education and conservation movements. Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division include many familiar names and faces from Sun Valley in the 1930s as well as after the war: 

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN comes full circle as it follows members of the 10th Mountain Division on their 1995 re-climb of Riva Ridge. Again, the Germans were waiting on top, but; this time, veterans from the United States, Austria, Germany and Italy, now members of the International Federation of Mountain Soldiers, celebrated a coming together of old foes turned friends and renewed their pledge for world peace.

“Bracing exploits, hearty outdoorsmen powerfully captured on film!” – New York Times

​”Among the best documentaries about skiing ever filmed!” – Snow Country Magazine

Presented by The Community Library in partnership with the Idaho Conversation League and the Climate Action Coalition of the Wood River Valley

In celebration of Earth Day 2022, Kurt Tardy and Rob Trahant joined us to discuss their salmon recovery work with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. They shared the history of the Tribes’ fishing practices along Idaho’s rivers and current tribal resource management and inter-agency coordination, including specific projects at Pettit Lake and on the Middle Fork of the Salmon. They also looked ahead to the future of sockeye and chinook, rivers and dam management, and climate change before inviting your questions.

Kurt Tardy, Fisheries Manager, is an anadromous fish biologist who has worked with the Shoshone-Bannock tribes in central Idaho for nearly a decade. Kurt’s focus is on fish restoration, with the long-term goal of restoring salmon and steelhead populations to their historic abundance and the short-term goal of saving them from impending extinction. 

Rob Trahant (Shoshone-Bannock) is a fisheries technician for the Tribes and lead technician on the Pettit Lake Weir facility. He has worked since 1995 on sockeye recovery efforts in the Sawtooth Basin.

Watch the replay on Vimeo here.

by Debra Magpie Earling

From the award-winning author of Perma Red comes a devastatingly beautiful novel that challenges prevailing historical narratives of Sacajewea.

“In my seventh winter, when my head only reached my Appe’s rib, a White Man came into camp. Bare trees scratched sky. Cold was endless. He moved through trees like strikes of sunlight. My Bia said he came with bad intentions, like a Water Baby’s cry.”

Among the most memorialized women in American history, Sacajewea served as interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. In this visionary novel, acclaimed Indigenous author Debra Magpie Earling brings this mythologized figure vividly to life, casting unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and recentering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history.

Raised among the Lemhi Shoshone, in this telling the young Sacajewea is bright and bold, growing strong from the hard work of “learning all ways to survive”: gathering berries, water, roots, and wood; butchering buffalo, antelope, and deer; catching salmon and snaring rabbits; weaving baskets and listening to the stories of her elders. When her village is raided and her beloved Appe and Bia are killed, Sacajewea is kidnapped and then gambled away to Charbonneau, a French Canadian trapper.

Heavy with grief, Sacajewea learns how to survive at the edge of a strange new world teeming with fur trappers and traders. When Lewis and Clark’s expedition party arrives, Sacajewea knows she must cross a vast and brutal terrain with her newborn son, the white man who owns her, and a company of men who wish to conquer and commodify the world she loves.

Written in lyrical, dreamlike prose, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea is an astonishing work of art and a powerful tale of perseverance—the Indigenous woman’s story that hasn’t been told.

Find it in our collection here.

by Louise Erdrich

In this powerful and timely novel, National Book Award winning author Louise Erdrich explores how the burdens of history, and especially identity, appropriation, exploitation, and violence done to human beings in the name of justice, manifest in ordinary lives today.

Revolving around a small independent bookstore in contemporary Minneapolis, The Sentence follows a turbulent year in the life of a strong though vulnerable Ojibwe woman named Tookie. 

After serving part of an outrageously long sentence, Tookie, who “learned to read with murderous attention” while in prison, naturally gravitates toward working at a bookstore. There she joins a dedicated community of artists and book lovers and begins to build a new life for herself. 

When Flora, the store’s most persistent customer, suddenly dies, her ghost refuses to leave. Flora returns on All Soul’s Day to haunt the bookstore and in particular, Tookie. Why? The mystery of this revenant’s appearance leads Asema, a fellow Ojibwe bookseller, and Tookie to a shocking personal discovery with historical reverberations. Tookie finds that this year of disease, violence, and political upheaval is, on a worldwide scale, a year of ghosts and hauntings. 

A complicated love finds Tookie as well when Pollux, who has been in love with her for years, proposes, and they marry. Pollux was the tribal police officer who arrested Tookie all those years ago for a crime which turned out to be more serious than Tookie knew. How Pollux and Tookie overcome past betrayal and learn to trust each other is a challenge that will either deepen or destroy their love.

The Sentence begins on All Soul’s Day 2019 and ends on All Soul’s Day 2020. Its mystery and proliferating ghost stories during this one year propel a narrative as rich, emotional, and profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written.

Find it in our collection here.

This hand-painted helmet, donated by extreme skier Kent Kreitler, is a remarkable blend of athletic gear and personal expression. Kreitler, a pioneer of big mountain skiing, made his name by pushing the boundaries of the sport in ways few had before. Born in Kansas City, MO and raised in Sun Valley, Kreitler honed his skills in the challenging terrain of the Sawtooth Mountains, and Ketchum became a home base for his lifelong passion for skiing. His influence is deeply felt in the world of extreme sports, where his daring descents and inventive tricks earned him a place in the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame.

The helmet, which he wore during his illustrious career, is covered in vibrant, hand-painted details. On the left side, a man in a red shirt with a clenched fist stands out against a white background, symbolizing resilience and strength. The center features “JONES” in hand-painted letters, a nod to one of Kreitler’s key sponsors, Jones Soda, along with “Boeri” in white stickers, representing the helmet manufacturer. The right side adds a playful touch with “WHOOP ASS” written in red novelty font, while the back repeats the Boeri name in yellow stickers.

One of the most distinctive features of the helmet is the red chin guard, which boldly displays “THE KREITLER”, marking this helmet as a true piece of personal memorabilia from his distinguished career.

Kreitler’s connection to the Wood River Valley runs deep. He was part of a generation of skiers who helped solidify Ketchum’s reputation as a hub for extreme sports. This helmet, with its mix of personal touches and sponsor shoutouts, represents not just an athlete but a pivotal moment in the culture of skiing.

From the Kent Kreitler Collection, Wood River Museum of History and Culture.