Yeehaw!

Ah — the romance of the American cowboy. Every little boy wanted to be one, and every little girl had a crush on filmdom's white-hatted heroes ... and little boys in cowboy outfits.

We never seem to outgrow our love of the American West and the days when it was untamed and exciting. It's no wonder, then, that the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum & Cowboy Hall of Fame is one of Oklahoma City's top attractions.

In a building as vast as the West itself is an extensive collection of American western and cowboy art, trophies, and artifacts, featuring works about the American West, from the time of the frontier, to the time of rough 'n ready cowboys and Indians, to the western movie stars we cheered with admiration.

The bright lobby greets visitors with a large End of the Trail sculpture by James Earle Fraser. Created for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, it is familiar to our eyes and to our senses-a slumped over, worn out Native American, sitting on a horse equally as weary, both of them parched, drained, and down trodden.

It is a powerful introduction to a museum that is home to an enviable collection of Western art that highlights many segments of frontier life. With more than 2,000 paintings and sculptures, showing a wide range of views of the American West, we are forced to discard some of our romantic and stereotypical images of what we envision the west to have been. In their place, we get a more realistic perception of those wild and wooly times.

The museum is the creation of Chester Reynolds, a Kansas City businessman. He formed a board to look at various Western sites, with Oklahoma City luckily getting the nod. The 37-acre museum is located in an ideal site for a place that spotlights the West. The land, formerly part of Oklahoma's Indian Territory is near the Chisholm Trail as well as Route 66.

The museum opened in the summer of 1965 in a 70,000 square-foot facility; it has since expanded to its present size-a whopping 220,000 square feet. No need to sing "Don't Fence Me In" here. So much is on display that visitors must pace themselves to enjoy the exhibits without tiring.

Indeed, the galleries overflow with wonders-such as Albert Bierstadt's renowned "Emigrants Crossing the Plains," and a prominent assembly of bronzes and paintings by the distinguished Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington. An impressive tabletop bronze, The Last Drop, is by Charles Schreyvogel. It shows a thirsty cowboy selflessly holds his water-filled tattered hat to his horse's mouth, allowing his treasured companion to drink the precious water.

One of the largest — and most notable — pieces on display is "Canyon Princess" by Gerald Balciar, a self-taught sculptor. A twice life-size cougar (15 feet long) is perched on a mountain of Colorado yule marble.

The Western Performers Gallery displays an original Norman Rockwell painting of Walter Brennan, along with portraits of John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in matching fancy blue jackets with flowers and fringes, Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, Will Rogers, Ronald Reagan, and many more stars who have appeared in Western films.

The American Cowboy Gallery traces the beginnings and evolution of this unique character from its early Spanish roots to modern days. It shows how saddles, clothing, and equipment have changed.

The big social events for ranch hands and working cowboys were rodeos. There they could show off their riding and roping skills and meet people from neighboring ranches. The American Rodeo Gallery features the look and feel of a rodeo arena, with life-size bulls and horses. It has a trophy case, belts, buckles, and more, all attesting to our flirtation with the cowpoke legend.

Native Americans are not forgotten. Art of various tribes is displayed throughout the museum, and a gallery is dedicated to their history and crafts — beaded vests, moccasins, pipes, and baskets of all sizes and shapes.

If you've a hankerin' to mosey down a street of yesteryear, jangle your spurs towards Prosperity Junction. This recreation of a cowtown of a century ago boasts a schoolhouse, livery stable, train depot, church, bank, windmill and, of course, a saloon.

Children love the Cowboy Corral where they can don chaps, ride a stationary horse, build a campfire, and listen to tall tales of the old west.

Saddles, barbed wire, buckles, guns, stagecoaches, and more-thousands of items vie for your attention, ready to dazzle your eyes, to enlighten your senses, and to touch your heart. As you wend your way through the large facility, your mind boggles, and your legs wobble. You will come away with fresh images, an admiration for the resilient people who settled the west, and a pragmatic picture of frontier times — both the romance and the reality.

Happy trails.

IF YOU GO

For more information: www.nationalcowboymuseum.org

Kay Grant is a freelance travel writer. To find out more about Kay Grant and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.

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