Follow the invention of the chuck box and the chuck wagon from Charles Goodnight in the mid-1860s to the chuck wagon’s use on ranches in the American West today. Learn who the cooks were who sometimes — intentionally or not — spoiled the broth, er, beans, on the trail and on the ranch, and who …
Explore the nineteen works of art at the National Cowboy Museum currently on loan from the Gilcrease Museum located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Examine why these works of art were selected specifically to be exhibited at The Cowboy and how they contribute to the story of the American West. Discover master artists and their significant contributions …
Painters who were trained in the transcendentalist and Hudson River “schools” began traveling to the American West and other exotic parts of the Americas beginning in the late 1850s. These artists sought healing for the United States in the canvases they produced from the time of the Civil War to World War I. Albert Bierstadt, …
Join the National Cowboy Museum for an evening filled with programming! Kick off the evening with the Curator Conversation with special guest Dr. Marie Sarita Gaytán, Associate Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of Utah, discussing her extensive study of the tequila industry. Immediately following the presentation, raise a glass to the …
Mysteries and murder; art and adventure; rodeo and rebellion – the Dickinson Research Center (DRC) has it all. In this Curator Conversation, Kera Newby, Director of the DRC and Curator of Archives, presents a behind-the-scenes look at the archives and library of the Museum. Experience the personal stories, rare books and surprising finds preserved in …
Join Museum Curator Michael Grauer in examining the development of what is known today as a “cowboy hat” using the Museum’s permanent collection. Beginning with wide-brimmed leather hats (vaqueteadas), the exhibition will explore the evolution of the cowboy hat from woven sombreros, to “John B.s” or “Stetsons” (whether they were Stetson-made or not), to today’s …
Join Associate Curator of History Nathan Jones for a playful telling of Western history through the games we play, starting with the Oregon Trail video game first released in the 1970s. Examine the fascinating worlds of board games, video games, toys and roleplaying and how they connect to the history they explore. Registration requested.
Join Museum Curator Michael Grauer in examining the often-thin line separating the outlaw from the lawman, i.e. the lawless from the law-enforcing in the American West. In fact, many outlaws became lawmen and vice versa. Through firearms, badges, bank and railroad ephemera, incarceration tools and photographs, Grauer will share the truth about outlaws and lawmen …
The National Cowboy Museum is the repository of a purse allegedly belonging to Bonnie Parker. To determine the veracity of that claim, the Museum turned to the W. Roger Webb Forensic Science Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma to determine what information they could collect. Hear from a representative of the Forensic Science Institute …
In conjunction with the exhibition ARToons, join Kera Newby, Director of the Dickinson Research Center and Curator of Archives at the National Cowboy Museum, for an evening exploring the cartoony side of Western art. $5; free for Museum members.
