Oklahoma City, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

On our second day in Oklahoma City, we went to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. This is a very large and beautiful museum building. 

One of the first things you see inside the museum, is a huge statue of the famous, "End of the Trail."

We were totally unprepared for the magnitude and amount of wonderful art and artifacts housed here as well as the beauty of the building. This is a spectacular display of amazing art.

There are numerous galleries that cover various types of fine art, all with a western emphasis. The Native American Gallery has lots of Indian artifacts.

Indian Headdress from the front.

Indian Headdress from the back.

There is a Western Performers Gallery dedicated to the cowboys (and cowgirls) of the silver screen. 

Here are artifacts and souvenirs from the old Western cowboys such as Gene Autry and Smiley Burnett, Roy and Dale Rogers and Gabby Hayes, Dennis Weaver as Chester in Gunsmoke, Dale Robertson, The Cisco Kid and Poncho, The Duke, The Lone Ranger and Tonto and many more.

Jay Siverheels, (Tonto) we found out was a Canadian Indian, which was an interesting and not well known fact.

Also, this gallery included shows such as Bonanza, The Big Valley and Stoney Burke. If you don't remember some of these names, it means you are younger than we are.

There is also an American Rodeo Gallery that included videos of rodeo events and honored some of the best in the individual events, and many, many more.

In many of the galleries we were not allowed to take pictures, though I am not sure why. Our favorite was an enormous oil painting done in the 1800's. I really wanted a picture of that, but was not allowed.

There were a number of large seven-foot tall bronze statues of people or things both inside and outside the museum.

John Wayne

Charlton Heston as Will Penny



Ronald Reagan





Cougar

There was also a full sized frontier town that was decorated for Christmas that we walked through.

The outside of the museum had beautiful horses all the way around it. It was easily visible from the Interstate that ran near it.

However, probably my favorite bronze statue was outside the museum. It's one of those things that just gives you a good feeling.

Happy trails, to you all.