National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum and art gallery, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, housing one of the largest collections of: Western, American cowboy, American rodeo, and American Indian; art, artifacts, and archival materials, in the world. Focused on the hardships and rough life of taming and living in the western United States, and its effects on people living there.

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Museum - Art - Gallery - Oklahoma City - Oklahoma - Western - American - Cowboy - American rodeo - American Indian - Artifacts

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It was established in 1955 as the "Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum", from an idea proposed by Chester A. Reynolds, to honor the cowboy and his era. Later that same year, the named was changed to the "National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum". In 1960 the name was changed aqain to the "National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center." The American Association of Museums gave the museum full accreditation in 2000. The name was changed again to the "National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum" on 16 November 2000.

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1955 - 1960 - 2000 - 16 November

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A large facility, currently encompassing more than 200,000 square feet of display space, its purpose is to preserve and interpret the heritage of the American West for the enrichment of the public. Among its numerous sections, the operation includes a large collection of over 2,000 works of western art, the "William S. and Ann Atherton Art of the American West Gallery", which includes over 200 works by Charles Marion Russell and Frederic Remington. The gallery also includes over 700 pieces by Edward S. Curtis, and over 350 from Joe DeYong (1894–1975). Additionally there is the "American Cowboy Gallery" depicting the life of the American cowboy from ranch to roundup, to driving the cattle to market; the "American Rodeo Gallery" showing the life of men and women engaged in American rodeo; the "Native American Gallery" showing the lives of the American Indians in the West. There is also a number of other attractions, including the "Weitzenhoffer Gallery of Fine American Firearms", which houses over a hundred examples of firearms, by Colt, Remington, Smith & Wesson, Sharps, Winchester, Marlin, and Parker Brothers, used to tame the West.

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American - Art - Charles Marion Russell - Frederic Remington - Edward S. Curtis - Joe DeYong - 1894 - 1975 - Colt - Remington - Smith & Wesson - Sharps - Winchester - Marlin - Parker Brothers

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The Museum includes three Halls of Fame that honors men and women of the American West including, entertainers such as musicians and actors and those involved in the television and Western film genre in its Hall of Great Western Performers. They include from the early days: William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Owen Wister, William S. Hart, Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson, Ken Maynard, Tim McCoy, Harry Carey, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Rex Allen, John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Richard Widmark, James Stewart, Ben Johnson all the way up to Tom Selleck.

Related Topics:
Musicians - Actor - Western film - Hall of Great Western Performers - William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody - Owen Wister - William S. Hart - Tom Mix - Hoot Gibson - Ken Maynard - Tim McCoy - Harry Carey - Roy Rogers - Gene Autry - Tex Ritter - Rex Allen - John Wayne - Randolph Scott - Joel McCrea - Richard Widmark - James Stewart - Ben Johnson - Tom Selleck

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