Margaret Sibylla dedicated her life to documenting her exploration of a single location: an abandoned mine believed to be near Helena, Montana. A confirmed recluse, Margaret rarely left home except to make her secret expeditions underground. We rely on this collection as the only known record of this unique ecosystem.

From an early age, Margaret was curious about everything, and she became a brilliant scientist, a genius inventor and a gifted artist. Rumor has it that in attempting to avoid the chitchat of a family picnic, a young Margaret went for a walk and fell through a rotted mine shaft cover. She tumbled down into a tunnel where she discovered a unique ecosystem found nowhere else in the world. Though incredibly varied, the plants and organisms had all developed bioluminescence to thrive in the darkness.

Margaret was spellbound by their intriguing adaptive attributes, their fragility, and their luminous beauty. She spent much of the rest of her life underground, exploring the miles and miles of tunnels, shafts, and stopes that honeycombed the mountain mine, and studying, drawing, sculpting and recording what she found there.

In addition to preserving hundreds of specimens and samples, Margaret assembled intricate miniature recreations of the plants, animals, and tunnel environment. You will notice Margaret repurposed her childhood dollhouse to house her collection. Also look for clock housings, jewelry, shells, and other items incorporated into the dioramas, all of which were scavenged from the family home where she lived.

The display also includes special viewing devices of Margaret’s own invention, which can be used to view the full effects of the bioluminescence.