In our travels we always enjoy visiting all types of Museums. We were recently in Oklahoma City and visited the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum which houses the largest collection of Cowboy memorabilia in the country. Actually they have over 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts including the world’s most extensive collection of rodeo photographs, barbed wire, saddlery and early rodeo trophies.
It was established in 1955 and has involved into what it is now. The museum has more than 200,00 square feet of display space. Their collection includes of 2,000 works of western art including landscapes, portraits, still lives and sculptures by 19th and 20th Century artists with more than 200 by Charles Russell, Frederic Remington, Albert Bierstadt, Solo Borglum, Thurmond Restuettenhall, Robert Longhead and Charles Schreyvogel.
The museum has an authentic late 1800’s Western town where you can stroll the streets and look into store windows and walk into some of the furnished building. You will actually think that you are REALLY there back in the day! The town is called Prosperity Junction and is 14,000 square feet of space. There are three separate ‘Halls of Fame’ at the museum. One is for the Rodeo Hall of Fame, another for the Hall of Great Western Performers from the movies and the Hall of Great Westerners for actual people who lived through the frontier times.
There are many different galleries and one of our favorites was the American Cowboy Gallery which dealt with the life of working cowboys living and working on their ranches. It shows how they really lived. Outside, beautifully landscaped gardens flank the Children’s Cowboy Corral and other children’s spaces.
More than 10 million visitors from around the world have visited the Museum to gain better understanding of the West, a region and history that permeates our national culture. It will take several hours to see and do everything at the Museum so plan your day well.
The Museum is located just to the north of downtown a few miles with plenty of free parking. Their address is 1700 Northeast 63rd St. which is just off Interstate 44. Their website is: https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/ They are open Monday thru Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM and on Sunday from noon to 5 PM. Before going to Oklahoma City, check out https://www.visitokc.com/ for more places to visit and things to do.
For those that are REALLY into western songs, check out this Willie Nelson song which is a song about Gay Cowboys:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u4CXlIYjyE
Always remember to have fun when traveling, meet new people and talk to everyone!
TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS GAY WORLD is written by Donald Pile and Ray Williams, Award-winning, Celebrity travel columnists who write for gay publications from coast to coast (And now legally married).
Proud members of the IGLTA. You can email them at gaytravelers@aol.com and visit their website at http://gaytravelersataol.blogspot.com/