The Smithsonian’s SPARK! Places of Innovation exhibition explores how creativity, curiosity, and new ideas emerge in small towns and rural communities across America. While innovation is often associated with technology or invention, the exhibition reminds us that innovation can also mean rethinking the way we understand our own history and community.

It is also about finding new ways to tell old stories, looking at familiar events from different perspectives, and asking deeper questions about the past. It invites us to explore not just what happened, but why it happened, and how those events shaped the people and places we know today.

Our companion exhibit, Legends at Las Moras, embraces this same spirit of inquiry. Rather than simply repeating familiar stories, the exhibit seeks to spark curiosity by examining the region’s history through a broader and more thoughtful lens. By bringing together historical research, community memories, and cultural traditions, the exhibit explores the deeper context behind the legends, events, and people who shaped life at Fort Clark and across the frontier.

Together, SPARK! Places of Innovation and Legends at Las Moras encourage visitors to think differently about rural communities like ours. They remind us that innovation can take many forms — from new technologies and ideas to the simple but powerful act of reexamining our history and discovering new meaning in the stories we share.