Western Heritage Awards

Overview

The Western Heritage Awards honors individuals who have made significant contributions to Western heritage through creative works in literature, music, television and film that share the great stories of the American West.

Presented by celebrity hosts, this black-tie event also honors individuals who have made significant contributions to Western heritage with their inductions into the Hall of Great Western Performers and Hall of Great Westerners as well as the presentation of the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award and Lifetime Achievement Award.

Due to the overwhelming support of our Inductees, Honorees, their families and sponsors, tickets to the 2021 Western Heritage Awards Induction Ceremony in the Special Events Center are sold out, but tickets for a special livestream remote dinner held in the Museum’s Annie Oakley Center will be available for purchase and will include access to the cocktail reception preceding the induction ceremony.

Tickets will also be available for the Western Heritage Awards Luncheon on Friday, September 17 honoring individuals in the literature and music categories as well as the Western Heritage Cocktail Reception and Autograph session.

2020 Inductees and Honorees

Inductees

Hall of Great Western Performers
Kurt Russell
Neil Oliver “Bing” Russell (1926-2003)

Hall of Great Westerners
Montford T. Johnson (1843-1896)
Bennett Richard “Ben” Houston (1929-2016)

Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award
John Scott

Lifetime Achievement Award
Robert Duvall

Special Directors’ Award
Traditional Cowboy Arts Association

*Inductees anticipated to attend

Honorees

LITERATURE

Western Novel

The Cheyenne Story: An Interpretation of Courage, written and published by Gerry Robinson

Nonfiction Book

Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power by Pekka Hämäliänen published by Yale University Press

Art Book

Don Weller Tracks, by Don Weller, published by Weller Institute for the Cure of Design

Juvenile Book

J is for Jackalope by Teal Blake.

Magazine Article

“If You had Fought Bravely I would have Sung for You” The Changing Roles of Cheyenne Women During Nineteenth-Century Plains Warfare, by David Beyreis, published Montana The Magazine of Western History

Poetry Book

We Make a Tiny Herd: Poems to Honor the Burro Lady of Far West Texas by Lucy Griffith, published by Main Street Rag

MUSIC

Original Western Composition

“Hats Off to the Cowboy” recording artist Red Steagall, composed by Red Steagall and Joe Merrick

Traditional Western Album

Shadow of a Cowboy, recording artist Andy Hedges

New Horizon

“Desert Dwelling Mama” recording artist Adrian Brannan, produced by Craig Schumacher

FILM & TELEVISION HONOREES

Western Lifestyle Program

Cow Town, produced by Robert Burch at OETA

Theatrical Motion Picture

Deadwood: The Movie starring Timothy Olyphant, directed by Daniel Minahan, produced by HBO

Documentary

Country Music, directed by Ken Burns, written by Dayton Duncan, and produced by Duncan, Burns and Julie Dunfey

Fictional Drama

“Touching Your Enemy” Yellowstone S2, E5 starring Kevin Costner, written by Taylor Sheridan

2021 Inductees and Honorees

Inductees

Hall of Great Western Performers
Woodrow Wilson Woolwine “Woody” Strode (1914-1994)

Hall of Great Westerners
Matthew “Bones” Hooks (1867 – 1951)
Mel O. Potter

Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award
R.W. Hampton

Lifetime Achievement Award
George Strait

Honorees

LITERATURE

Western Novel

The King of Taos: A Novel by the late Max Evans, published by the University of New Mexico Press

Nonfiction Book

Sand Creek and the Tragic End of a Lifeway by Louis Kraft, published by the University of Oklahoma Press

Art Book

Making a Hand: The Art of H.D. Bugbee by Michael Grauer, published by Texas A&M University Press

Juvenile Book

Silverbelly: The Adventures of Wilder Good by S.J. Dahlstrom, published by Paul Dry Books

Magazine Article

“Transitions in the Changing West: The Photographic Legacy of Jessamine Spear Johnson,” by Tempe J. Javitz, published in Montana: The Magazine of Western History by the Montana Historical Society

Poetry Book

Second Wind by Patricia Frolander, published by High Plains Press

MUSIC

Original Western Composition

“El Caballo del Fuego” recording artist, Doug Figgs/The Cowboy Way, composed by Doug Figgs, Floyd Beard, Mariam Funke

Traditional Western Album

A Place to Land, recording artist Kristyn Harris, produced by Aaron Meador

FILM & TELEVISION HONOREES

Western Lifestyle Program

Today’s Wild West, E307 produced by Mark Bedor at Today’s Wild West LLC

Theatrical Motion Picture

News of the World, starring Tom Hanks, produced by Universal Pictures

Documentary

Charlie Russell’s Old West by coproducer and director Gus Chambers and writer and coproducer Paul Zalis at MontanaPBS

Fictional Drama

“I Killed a Man Today” Yellowstone S3, E8 starring Kevin Costner, written by Taylor Sheridan

Schedule of Events

Western Heritage Awards Luncheon NEW THIS YEAR

Honors individuals in the literature and music categories.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021
Member Pricing $50 | General $65
Western or business attire
11:30 a.m. | Lunch Service
12:00 p.m. | Western Heritage Awards Ceremony

Western Heritage Cocktail Reception

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2021
Member Pricing $40 | General $50
Western or business attire
5:30 p.m. | Cocktail Reception | Hors d’oeuvres and cash bar
6:00 p.m. | Autograph Session with Honorees

Western Heritage Awards Induction Ceremony

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
Western black-tie optional
5:00 p.m. | Cocktail Hour
6:00 p.m. | Dinner & Western Heritage Induction Ceremony | Special Events Center

Western Heritage Awards Induction Livestream

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
Member Pricing $100 | General $120
Western black-tie optional
5:00 p.m. | Cocktail Hour
6:00 p.m. | Dinner & Livestream | Annie Oakley Society Event Center

*Tickets for the Western Heritage Award Luncheon, Western Heritage Cocktail Reception, and Western Heritage Awards Induction Livestream will available August 2 at 8:00 a.m. and will be processed in the order that they are received. Please note these events will sell out very quickly.

2022 Call For Entries

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is among the nation’s most prestigious museums of Western heritage and art. Set atop historic the Persimmon Hill district overlooking Oklahoma City, the Museum is surrounded by beautiful gardens, fountains, and a flagstone esplanade representing the 17 Western states.

Believing the Museum should have a national influence beyond that of solely exhibitions, the Board of Directors established the Western Heritage Awards in 1960. The purpose was to encourage others to tell the great stories of the West, both past and present, with accuracy and artistic quality. The developing West is one of history’s most exciting eras, when people of all nationalities, from all walks of life, sought their futures on America’s Western frontier.

Standing more than a foot in height, the Wrangler, an impressive bronze sculpture, is awarded to principal creators of the winning entries in specified categories of Western literature, music, film, and television. The Museum also may award Wranglers to organizations or individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the nation’s Western heritage during a period of years, or whose contributions lie outside established categories.

Past recipients include distinguished writers, musicians, actors, and directors such as John Wayne, C.J. Box, Robert Knott, Lynn Anderson, Red Steagall, Clint Eastwood, Sam Elliott, Kevin Costner, and John Ford.

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum invites your entries in this nationally recognized awards program.

Online Entry Form