Western Heritage Awards

Inductees and Winners

Each year, the Western Heritage Awards celebrates excellence in three areas, adding new names and works to the story told by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The Western Heritage Awards single out the best of the best in Western books, television, film and music, while our Halls of Fame welcome Great Western Performers and Great Westerners.

Who do we honor?

More about our awards and Halls of Fame

The Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum has been celebrating the most notable figures of the American West since before there was a building to house our Halls of Fame.

In 1955, upon the decision to start the project which grew into our Museum, the founders selected the first five people to enter as Great Westerners: Teddy Roosevelt, artist Charles Russell, Will Rogers, cattleman Charles Goodnight and rodeo performer Jake McClure.

Since then, our hundreds of Western Heritage Award winners and Hall of Famers have created a mosaic which fills in the legacy of the West. We’ve honored poets and scholars for the books they’ve written, historic giants for the changes they have made to the American landscape, movie stars and musicians.

We’ve shown there’s not one single way to express a feeling about the West. It comes in all sorts of varieties, but it is a story worth telling and an honor to showcase those who live it best.

Making Western History

Great Westerners

From the first steps west of Lewis, Clark and Sacagewea, the expansion of the American West has been driven by larger-than-life figures.

Our Hall of Great Westerners honors the builders and explorers, the men and women, the cowboys and ranchers and more who put the pieces together to create the West we know.

Explore The Great Westerners

Creating Western Stories

Western Heritage Award Winners

There are so many ways the West can be expressed.

Our Western Heritage Awards have been seeking out and honoring creators of all types who convey both the real and fictional experiences of Western life.

These tales are worth telling and its our duty to discover them.

Explore the WHA Winners

Bringing the West to Life

Great Western Performers

Westerners have had a home in Hollywood since the first cameras began to roll.

We have made a home for acting legends to honor the important place films and television have in culture’s love of the Western.

Explore the Great Western Performers

Other Awards

The Chester A. Reynolds and Western Visionary Awards

Two other honors giving during our annual Western Heritage Awards spotlight individuals who have made made their mark on the legacy of the American West.

In 1990, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum established the Chester A. Reynolds Award, named in honor of the founder of the Museum. It is given to a living honoree or group that has notably perpetuated the legacy of the American West. We want to recognize those who have made an unwavering commitment to Western ideals and values.

The Western Visionary Award has only been given three times. It is a rare honor bestowed on an individual that has made significant contributions and had a national impact on preserving Western heritage and Western ideals.

Explore Chester A. Reynolds Award winners Explore Western Visionary Award winners