The Tread of Pioneers Museum’s History Happy Hours are the perfect pairing of local craft beer and spirits and the rowdy and raucous side of Routt County and Colorado history.

Join the museum at 5:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of every month October through April in Olympian Hall at Howelsen Hill, 845 Howelsen Parkway, for this popular event series featuring free craft beer provided by Storm Peak Brewing and whiskey tasting with Mythology Distillery.

These free events are for adults 21 and over, except the Feb. 4 talk with the Lighted Man, which is for all ages.

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What do we mean by rowdy and raucous history? The talks focus on the mysteries, legends, lore, debauchery, conflicts, wars, crimes, lawlessness and wayward ways of the Wild West. Here’s the lineup of these upcoming events:

• Oct. 1 — Acclaimed author Randi Samuelson-Brown is back by popular demand to present “Icon of the American West – The Western Horse.” Explore heroic horses, daring rides, early rodeos, and the cowgirls that didn’t ride “slick.” Although seldom considered, the horse has an outsized influence on the culture of the Western United States.

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Samuelson-Brown will briefly cover the reintroduction of equines to North America but will focus on the more notorious aspects of equine history. The talk will include the uncertain history of the Pony Express, Comanche (the reported lone survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn), horse thieves and anti-horse thief societies, early rodeos, famous horses and women’s events in the 1920s.

Samuelson-Brown is an award-winning C-SPAN author originally from Golden. Her latest books are “The Western Horse: A Popular History of the Wild and Working Animal” and “Branded Past” (Book 4 of the Dark Range Series).

• Nov. 5 — “Riots, Reefer & Rock n’ Roll: When Rock Music Came to Colorado” with Megan Friedel, assistant professor and lead archivist for the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries’ Rare & Distinctive Collections.

Join us to explore of the epic music and wild stories of conflicts, culture clashes and debauchery that exploded in Colorado in 1968, when legendary promoter Barry Fey first brought rock and roll to the state. Professor Friedel will take us through stories of the first years of Colorado’s rock scene, including the rise and fall of the Family Dog rock club in Denver, the 1971 “Riot at Red Rocks,” the Grateful Dead’s first shows in Colorado and much more.

• Dec. 3: “The Scandals of Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp” with historian and author Dagny McKinley. With a 111-year history, Perry-Mansfield has had more than just success stories of attracting the top modern dancers of the day and a few famous actors.

With a drama camp comes drama. Learn about the scandals of Perry-Mansfield through this behind-the-scenes talk with McKinley, an author and historian. McKinley wrote “Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp: A History of Art in Nature.”

• Jan. 7 — “Colorado’s Women of the Red Light” with Cassidy Nemick, collections specialist at History Colorado. From Mattie Silks to Laura Evans, Nemick explores the sex workers who settled the West. The world’s oldest profession has deep roots in early Colorado. From paying off authorities, to charity races and broken glass doors, these wild women lived life to the fullest.

• Feb. 4 — The Tread of Pioneers Museum teams up with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club to kick off Winter Carnival with a very special all-ages program: “Three Generations of Winter Carnival’s Lighted Man” with Jon, Ron and Kent Banks.

Since 1936, the Lighted Man has delighted and dazzled audiences at the annual Winter Carnival. From that first year when Claudius Banks showcased his first Lighted Man pyrotechnics suit using Roman candles and Christmas lights and skied down Howelsen Hill, to the cutting-edge technology of today’s impressive display, the Banks family carries on the legacy and tradition of the Carnival’s most popular event.

• Mar. 4 — “Beer on the Frontier: How Suds and Saloons Made the West” with Sam Bock, historian and Publications Director for History Colorado. Saloons on the Rocky Mountain mining frontier were more than just places to drink. Just as often, they served as churches, post offices, boarding houses, restaurants, union halls, social clubs, banks and more.

Come learn about how Colorado’s saloons helped launch our state’s booming beer industry, and what happened when Prohibition brought the party to an end. Sam Bock is History Colorado’s director of interpretation and publications. His scholarship on Colorado’s beer history has appeared in exhibitions and in a new book forthcoming from The History Press early next year.

• April 1 — “The Hazards and Hardships of Mining in Early Routt County” with historian Paul Bonnifield. Don’t miss this final talk of the season, when beloved historian Bonnifield, a regular speaker for the History Happy Hour series, explores local mining companies’ exploitation of miners, the many dangers and extreme conditions within the mines, the lack of safety regulations, and mining disasters throughout the county.  

Meet a friend, grab a craft beer or taste of whiskey, and explore the rowdy side of the history of our state.

Candice Bannister is the executive director Tread of Pioneers Museum.