Visions of the West: Western heritage museums preserve stirring chapters in our nation's wild and wooly past

Travel America, Jan-Feb, 2005 by Ellen Clark

The West I grew up with was a mixture of fact and fiction. True tales of westward expansion were intertwined with what I saw in the movie theaters and on television. My sister had a Pocahontas outfit and my brother wielded a pint-sized six shooter.

The West captured the nation's imagination and it still does, but now there are museums dedicated to preserving its fascinating stories, both real and imaginary, with exhibits that follow the West's history and folklore from the first Americans to the present.

Real Western history starts with Native Americans whose history is preserved through artifacts, artwork, and crafts. Paintings and sculptures by artists like Frederic Remington and Charles Russell help to recapture the West's wilder days. Dioramas and memorabilia recreate the early settlers' struggles toward a promised land that often brought heartbreak and disappointment. Long since endangered wildlife is depicted by the world's most famous animal painters and sculptors like John James Audubon and Robert Bateman.

Then there's the imaginary West of television, radio, film, and advertising. The West as Hollywood saw it is remembered through film footage of everything from the original "B" Westerns to updated high-budget pictures like Dancing With Wolves. Displays of movie memorabilia include such gems as John Wayne's boots. And there are even displays of toys inspired by Western heroes, like a bedspread with Hopalong Cassidy's name embroidered on it and a lunch box decorated with pictures of Roy Rogers, his dog Bullet, and horse Trigger.

Cowboy Culture

Each of the museums listed here has a slightly different focus, but they all have one thing in common--the goal of preserving the history and folklore of America's West:

ARIZONA

Desert Caballeros Western Museum, 21 N. Frontier St., Wickenburg, AZ 85390; (928) 684-2272; www.westernmuseum. org. Dioramas, period rooms, and a street scene show how the old mining town of Wickenburg looked in its Wild West days. There are also displays of Indian crafts, both ancient and modern. The art gallery features an excellent selection of Western paintings and sculpture, including those of Frederic Remington and Charles Russell.

CALIFORNIA

Museum of the American West, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA 90027-1462; (323) 667-2000; www. muse umoftheamericanwest.org. Spanning the West's temporal, geographic, and artistic scope, this museum in Griffith Park (founded by "singing cowboy" Gene Autry and formerly known as the Autry Museum of Western Heritage) displays everything from armor of Spanish conquistadors to the Lone Ranger's spurs. Besides collections that include firearms and Western art, it has the world's best accumulation of material related to the mythical West of film, radio, television, and advertising. In 2002 the museum merged with the Women of the West Museum, which traces and interprets the history of women in the American West through online exhibits.

INDIANA

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, 500 W. Washington St., White River State Park, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2707; (317) 636-9378; www.eit eljorg.org. This museum's Western art extends from the early 1800s to the present. In addition to works by classic Western artists like Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, there are contemporary works exploring Western themes, including those by Georgia O'Keeffe and various Taos, New Mexico, artists. Native American artifacts and videos represent various peoples, including those in the sub-Arctic. A major expansion, opening in June, will double the gallery space and add a sculpture court and cafe.

MISSOURI

Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum, 3950 Green Mountain Rd., Branson, MO 65616; (417) 339-1900; www.royrogers. com. Family photos, movie and television memorabilia, and personal items of the famous duo share space with costumes, parade saddles, and fan mail. The collection moved from California to Branson in 2003, but its best-known exhibit continues to be Trigger, Roy's exquisitely preserved palamino. At the 325-seat Happy Trails Theater, Roy's son, Roy "Dusty" Rogers Jr., accompanied by the High Riders, performs his parents' signature songs while reminiscing about growing up with Roy and Dale.

MONTANA

C.M. Russell Museum Complex, 400 Thirteenth St. North, Great Falls, MT 59401; (406) 727-8787; www.cmrussell. org. This seven-gallery, 46,000-square-foot museum houses the world's largest collection of Charles Russell's works and belongings. Besides Russell originals, there are artworks from other Western artists such as O.C. Selzer, Joseph Henry Sharp, and photographer Edward Curtis. Russell's final home and log-cabin studio are next door to the museum and are filled with Russell memorabilia.

NEW YORK

Frederic Remington Art Museum, 303 Washington St., Ogdensburg, NY 13669; (315) 393-2425; www.fredericremington. org. A Remington family home has been turned into a museum for the world's largest collection of the works of Western artist Frederic Remington. The collection includes 14 bronzes, 140 watercolors, 70 oils, and many pen and ink sketches as well as some of his personal effects and diaries.