The great American west

November 8, 1:42 PMOklahoma City Insider Travel ExaminerMicki (M.J.) Van Deventer

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A replica of a rodeo arena greets visitors to the National Cowboy Museum.

National Cowboy Museum

If you believe the Old West is confined to a region that stretches from Mexico to Montana, think again. Right in the middle of the United States is a treasure trove of western lore and culture not to be found anywhere else in the United States.

This incredible repository of Western Americana is housed in a spectacular 45-year-old museum, located high on a hill on 32 acres in the northeast corner of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Yes, this is the place where the wind comes sweeping down the plain,, according to the popular Rodgers & Hammerstein timeless Broadway play, “Oklahoma!” This is also where legendary movie star John Wayne led the parade that opened the museum, June 26, 1965.

Among the attractions are galleries that feature the best of western art ~ from Charlie Russell to Frederic Remington ~ as well as contemporary artists, many of whom were trained in their youth as pulp fiction illustrators for early-day western, adventure and romance magazines.

The Western Performers Gallery, with its own intimate movie theater, honors everything from John Wayne’s classic films to B-westerns and early-day singing cowboys. It has its own Hollywood-style walk of fame.

Movie stars are still a major attraction at the museum’s annual Western Heritage Awards April event, which honors the best in western literature, films, television, music and singles out heroes who have contributed to the growth and legends of the West.

Among some of the Hollywood greats who have been honored, served as master of ceremonies, or award recipients are Tom Selleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Charlton Heston, Maureen O’Hara, Wilford Brimley, Rex Linn, Ernest Borgnine, Louis L’Amour, of course, John Wayne, and the entire cast of television’s long-running series, “Gunsmoke.” The stars add glitz to this black-tie show business event.

Want to know the real history of the American cowboy? This historical presentation includes a stone floor map you can walk on to trace the famous ranches across the West, while you are surrounded by early day trappings of a cowboy’s not-so-easy or glamorous life. A bunkhouse replica shows just how spartan their life was.

Rodeo, which began as a ranch diversion to keep the cowboys from getting restless, has its own replica of an authentic rodeo arena, complete with bucking chutes and all the real-life sounds of a rodeo. Old rodeo greats are honored each year at a Rodeo Historical Society ceremony.

That’s the tip of the western mountain in this attraction, one of the most popular visitor destinations in Oklahoma. There’s Native American art, firearms, all kinds of real western life memorabilia, even a gallery for the kids. The usual museum trappings ~ a restaurant and a Museum Store, along with beautiful gardens filled with western sculptures, highlight any visit to this contemporary bastion of the Old West. It’s a visit bound to enhance your image of the cowboy lifestyle and linger in your memory of the West.
 

For more information: www.nationalcowboymuseum.org