A shell at the Sweetwater County Museum?

Among the collection of artifacts housed at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum is a large shell horn.

With a red and black wooden mouthpiece installed on one side and tied with a dark red cord, the shell's inclusion in a small Wyoming museum's collection may seem odd to some.

The shell horn is known as a horagai and it originates from Japan. The horn is constructed from a triton shell and red cord wrapped around from the mouthpiece and shell is known as the kainō. Tassels at each end of the cord hang from the center knots.

Horagai are still used today in Japan, usually for Buddhist p...