Discovering Where We Came From At Peteetneet Museum

Pictured: A horse saddle replica in the Lee and Jean Staheli Western Room at the Peteetneet Museum and Cultural Arts Center in the foreground; photographs and artwork depicting local cowboys and cowgirls behind.

“We see people from all over the world,” Deb Evans told The Payson Chronicle last Friday when we stopped by the Peteetneet Museum and Cultural Arts Center to see what’s going on. The near-decade-long Peteetneet caretaker was at the museum greeting and directing guests and meeting colleagues, Gary Schwartz for one, as they arrived to oversee the day’s operations.

“Everyone wants to know where they came from,” she reasoned for the Peteetneet’s wide-ranging year round visitors.

She directed the Chronicle to a newly acquired museum artifact, western apparel placed side-by-side on a glass case shelf. The vintage fancy fringed jacket and pink and black cowgirl boots have become part of the permanent Lee and Jean Staheli Western Room’s display. They were donated by the Henline family--notably Pearl Elaine Henline Peters, who graduated from Payson High School in 1955.

The Lee and Jean Staheli Western Room is located on the northwest corner of the museum's basement level, an area that can be accessed by stairs or elevator. A horse-lover’s dream, the western-themed room was established in the early 2000s. The exhibition site preserves and showcases artwork and memorabilia once belonging to local and national cowboys and cowgirls, creatives, athletes, and enthusiasts. With his wife Jean by his side, Lee Staheli worked with horses all his life, performing in rodeos, horse shows, and western movies, according to Payson Historical Society records. His trick saddle and gear are prominently displayed, though the room is well balanced with other famous cowboy and cowgirl markings.

The Peteetneet’s exhibits elsewhere within the building include the School, Victorian, and Historical Society rooms, the Peteetneet Art Gallery, and Nebo Stake Tabernacle Display on the main floor. Upstairs are the Freedom and Austin Henry History of Writing and Communications rooms, a former classroom-turned Orson P. Daniels Black and White Photograph collection and permanent art exhibit space.

Located downstairs with the Lee and Jean Staheli Western Room are the Fashion Room and the Humber Blacksmith Shop. Pioneer and Native American artifacts are located downstairs also, along with on the Peteetneet’s main level.

These exhibits are free to view by tour or solo. The Peteetneet Museum and Cultural Arts Center is open on special occasions and regularly from Monday-Friday, 10 AM until 4 PM. It is located at the top of the hill at First North and Sixth East, Payson.