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Mel Stonehouse: Story of a Horse Wreck
I have been hearing about Mel Stonehouse since I arrived here, and he’s become a legend in my mind. Many of the colorful Cody characters ...
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Museum Minute: Winchester Archives
The Cody Firearms Museum is well known for its huge collection of Winchester firearms. But Danny Michael, museum’s curator, said the museum actually has a ...
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Seldom Seen: Elusive Predators of Yellowstone Country – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineWinter 2019–2020 Seldom Seen: Elusive Predators of Yellowstone Country By Mark Davis Bill Hackney was driving on Muddy Mountain near Casper, Wyoming, ...
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Alaska Man, Part 2 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2017 Alaska Man, Part 2 Click here to read part one… By Mary Robinson In part one of Alaska ...
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Everything You Need to Know About Will James
You have questions about Will James … we have the answers. Here’s everything you need to know about James in a nutshell. ...
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Alaska Man, Part 1 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2017 Alaska Man, Part 1 By Mary Robinson “You’d take him for a schoolmaster, precisely like a schoolmaster, or ...
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Museum Minute: A Modern Pipe Bag
Lauren Good Day is Arikara Hidatsa Blackfeet and Plains Cree. Rebecca West, the curator of the Plains Indian Museum, said this diverse cultural heritage informs ...
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A Year in Review with the Draper Natural History Museum: 2020
This year has thrown everyone a curve ball. Learn how the Draper Natural History Museum rose to the unexpected challenge of 2020 as we look ...
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Museum Minute: Jade the Bald Eagle
The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor, we are featuring the 11 raptors in the program. Jade is ...
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Museum Minute: The Sharp Cabin
The Whitney Western Art Museum has a studio collection of Joseph Henry Sharp. He is best known as a Tao Society artist, but he also ...
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Good news and bad news, Russell or Heikka? – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2018 Good news and bad news, Russell or Heikka? By Peter Hassrick, PhD The Buffalo Bill Center of the ...
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Everything You Need to Know About W.H.D. Koerner
You have questions about W.H.D. Koerner … we have the answers. Here’s everything you need to know about Koerner in a nutshell....
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Lies and Legends of Montana Bill, Part 2 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall/Winter 2018 Lies and Legends of Montana Bill, Part 2 Click here to read part 1… By Tom F. Cunningham ...
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Museum Minute: Winchester Model 70
The Winchester Model 70 has long been called the rifleman’s rifle. The gun is also an iconic American Bolt-Action that was designed in the 1930s. ...
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12 Days of Christmas and Its Birds
It’s likely you are familiar with the carol, “Twelve Days of Christmas.” Moreover, you have probably sung it. But, have you ever noted how many ...
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Museum Minute: Lakota American Motif Dress
Kate Fools Crow was Lakota and the wife of the renowned spiritual leader Frank Fools Crow. Kate made a dress sometime in the 1970s that had ...
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Lies and Legends of Montana Bill, Part 1 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2018 Lies and Legends of Montana Bill, Part 1 By Tom F. Cunningham Wild West Echoes in Glasgow Of ...
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Museum Minute: Amelia the Short Eared Owl
The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor, we are featuring the 11 raptors in the program. Amelia is ...
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Sacred Seeds: A Journey to the Past to Chart a New Future – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2020 Sacred Seeds: A Journey to the Past to Chart a New Future By Michaela Jones When a longtime ...
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Museum Minute: The Start of Abercrombie and Fitch
Most people know Abercrombie and Fitch as a clothing store. But Ashley Hlebinsky, the curator emeritus of the Cody Firearms Museums, said it started out ...
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Rough Riding with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall/Winter 2014 Rough Riding with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West By Tom F. Cunningham As organized in 1891, Buffalo Bill’s Wild ...
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Diverse Cultures of the Northern Plains Indian Peoples
The Northern Plains Indian peoples have diverse cultures from tribe to tribe. This engaging and interactive curriculum resource will take you and your students on ...
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Everything You Need To Know About Frederic Remington
You have questions about Frederic Remington … we have the answers. Here’s everything you need to know about Remington in a nutshell....
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Ithaca Gun Company records find a new home with the Cody Firearms Records Office
Walter Snyder, Ithaca historian, has generously donated the surviving records from the original Ithaca Gun Company to the Center to be used by the Cody ...
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Turkeys, Thanksgiving, and Our National Bird
10 Interesting Facts About Turkeys 1) Did you know turkeys have a name sake? Turkey vultures received their common name because their naked head resembles ...
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Museum Minute: “The Story Teller”
The Plains Indian Museum not only collects older artwork but also contemporary artwork. The museum has a piece of pottery by Rose Pecos SunRhodes. “[It’s] ...
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The Life and Work of Will James – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2019 The Life and Work of Will James By Nicole Todd The life of Will James is one of ...
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Museum Minute: Vincent Mercaldo
Vincent Mercaldo was a painter and artist. But many people, including his family, didn’t realize that he collected and manipulated photographs as well. “What makes ...
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Adversity and Renewal | Plains Indian Culture
Diverse Cultures of the Northern Plains Indian Peoples: Adversity and Renewal Themes of adversity and renewal have been of great importance to Plains Indian peoples ...
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Honor and Celebration | Plains Indian Culture
Diverse Cultures of the Northern Plains Indian Peoples: Honor and Celebration Ceremonies have been important to Plains Indian life in the past and continue to ...
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Buffalo and the People | Plains Indian Culture
Diverse Cultures of the Northern Plains Indian Peoples: Buffalo and the People The buffalo, or American bison, were and still are of great importance to ...
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Land of Many Gifts | Plains Indian Culture
Diverse Cultures of the Northern Plains Indian Peoples: Land of Many Gifts Follow the seasons to learn about the village life of Plains Indian peoples ...
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Encounter a Great American Icon Again… For the Very First Time – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2012 Encounter a Great American Icon Again… For the Very First Time – Man of the West, Man of ...
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Man of the West, Man of the World, Man of Will – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall 2011 Man of the West, Man of the World, Man of Will By Dr. John C. Rumm Dr. John ...
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Museum Minute: Portraying Yellowstone Migration In Art
The Whitney Western Art Museum commissioned a painting for the Invisible Boundaries Exhibition. The exhibition explored Yellowstone National Park’s animal migrations. James Prosek ended up ...
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Museum Minute: Documenting Current Trends in Firearms
The latest Cody Firearms acquisition is a set of 3D printed firearms. Danny Michael, the associate curator of the museum, said one of them made ...
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The American West in Bronze: 1850–1925 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall/Winter 2013 The American West in Bronze1850–1925 By Peter H. Hassrick On December 17, 2013, the Metropolitan Museum of Art ...
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Everything You Need To Know About N.C. Wyeth
You have questions about N.C. Wyeth … we have the answers. Here’s everything you need to know about Wyeth in a nutshell....
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Thank you to all who entered the contest to name our new American Kestrel
Our Draper Museum Raptor Experience has a new member of the flock! Our newest raptor is a young, female American kestrel. She hatched earlier this ...
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Museum Minute: Lone Dog Winter Count
Winter counts are recordings of the Lakota tribal history. The Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West has one winter count ...
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Captain Jack, the Poet Scout: Tales of the West in Rhyme – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2019 Captain Jack, the Poet ScoutTales of the West in Rhyme John Wallace Crawford (1847–1917) was a prolific writer ...
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The Equestrian West: Photographs by William Shepley
Past Exhibition (closed April 11, 2021) John Bunker Sands Photography Gallery Beginning in the 1980s, William Shepley followed his passion for the equestrian culture of ...
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Plains Indian Cultures: Yesterday and Today
Objectives Students will learn about Plains Indian cultures, comparing the past and the present. Students will compare Plains Indian objects from the past to contemporary art ...
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Spiders, Webs, and Birds
Many small birds utilize spider’s webs as they go about their daily lives. Although webs can bring benefits, they also present hazards. In this blog, ...
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Museum Minute: Collections Can Be Daunting
The McCracken Research Library at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West receives many gifts, donations, and loans from patrons. The staff has to go ...
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Understanding the Yellowstone Fires of 1988, Part 2 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2016 Understanding the Yellowstone Fires of 1988, Part 2How the Fires Affected American Culture and How Culture Affected the ...
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Understanding the Yellowstone Fires of 1988, Part 1 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2016 Understanding the Yellowstone Fires of 1988, Part 1How the Fires Affected American Culture and How Culture Affected the ...
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Sacred Sites, Places, & Landscapes: All You Need To Know
Sacred landscapes are the foundation of cultural resilience. Stories of sacred environments are weaved into the cosmologies, world views, and cultural practices of Indigenous peoples. ...
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Nate Salsbury’s Black America, Part 2 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2019 Nate Salsbury’s Black America: Its Origins and ProgramsPart 2 Click here to read part 1 By Sandra K. ...
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Our American Kestrels: Everything You Need To Know
Our Birds’ Stories Like all the residents of the Draper Museum Raptor Experience, our American Kestrels are in our care because they can no longer ...
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Everything You Need to Know About Alexander Phimister Proctor
You have questions about Alexander Phimister Proctor … we have the answers. Here’s everything you need to know about Proctor in a nutshell....
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Nate Salsbury’s Black America, Part 1 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall/Winter 2018 Nate Salsbury’s Black America: Its Origins and Programs Part 1 By Sandra K. Sagala In spring 1895, Nate ...
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A unique gift for yourself or a friend? 2020 silent auction moves online
Each year, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Patrons Ball fundraising gala includes a silent auction of beautiful artwork and jewelry, decorative arts, unique ...
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Vultures: Fallacies and Truths
Charles Darwin was certainly not impressed with Turkey Vultures when he first saw them. He noted, “These disgusting birds, with their bald, scarlet heads, formed ...
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Step by Step with Ken Siggins, Cody Western Artisan – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall 2008 Step by Step with Ken Siggins, Cody Western Artisan Ed. Note: Since this article was written in 2008, ...
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Museum Minute: The American Kestrel
The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor, we are featuring the 11 raptors in the program. Salem is ...
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Cody Stampede Celebrates 100 Years – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2019 Cody Stampede Celebrates 100 Years Ed. Note: The authors co-curated the special exhibition Whoop It Up! Celebrating 100 ...
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Museum Minute: An Impressionist Depiction of Yellowstone National Park
Not many American impressionists depicted the West. Most painted the East coast and Europe. But Karen McWhorter, the Scarlett Curator of Western American Art for ...
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Everything You Need to Know About Albert Bierstadt
You have questions about Albert Bierstadt … we have the answers. Here’s everything you need to know about Albert Bierstadt in a nutshell....
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Museum Minute: Baseball and an M1 Carbine Stock
Did you think there’s any connection between baseball and firearm production? Turns out, Hillerich and Bradsby Co. and M1 Carbines have a little in common, ...
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Cody Firearms Museum: On Target, Then and Now – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2019 Cody Firearms Museum: On Target, Then and Now Center newsletters tell the CFM story Edited by Marguerite House ...
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Long-Awaited CFM Reload is within Our Sights
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2019 Long-Awaited CFM Reload is within Our Sights Editor’s Note: Wow! It’s hard to believe the Center of the ...
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How Dress Worn in the West Became Western – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineWinter 2011 How Dress Worn in the West Became Western By Laurel Wilson, PhD American western style is known by ...
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Women in Wyoming – Exactly Where They Need to Be – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineWinter 2019–20 Women in Wyoming: Exactly Where They Need to Be By Tessa Baker Growing up in Wyoming, Lindsay Linton ...
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Specimen Preparation: Everything You Need To Know
Note: Some of the photos included in this post show specimen preparation and might be graphic to some readers. What is a specimen? The term ...
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Everything You Need To Know About Charles M. Russell
You have questions about Charles M. Russell... we have the answers....
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Eagle Size, Taxonomy, and Exceptions
When people think of eagles, they generally think of a large bird. If asked, “what makes an eagle different from a hawk?” the answer understandably ...
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Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Decade of Ashley Hlebinsky
After nine-and-a-half years as part of the Center of the West family, Cody Firearms Museum Curator Ashley Hlebinsky is moving on to pursue new career opportunities, help other museums ...
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Seven Days in Glasgow with Buffalo Bill, 1904, Part 2 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2016 Seven Days in Glasgow with Buffalo Bill, 1904, Part 2 Click here to read Part 1 By Tom ...
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Museum Minute: Suli the Turkey Vulture
The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor of its anniversary, Museum Minute is featuring the 11 raptors in ...
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Seven Days in Glasgow with Buffalo Bill, 1904, Part 1 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall 2015 Seven Days in Glasgow with Buffalo Bill, 1904, Part 1 By Tom F. Cunningham A Scottish resident and ...
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Golden Eagles, Sagebrush Country, and the Spirit of the American West – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall 2011 Report from the Field: Golden Eagles, Sagebrush Country, and the Spirit of the American West By Dr. Charles ...
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Museum Minute: The 1910 Silencer
The Cody Firearms Museum has one of the only three 1910 silencers that survived. It’s on the Springfield Model 1903 Bolt Action Rifle. Silencers, also ...
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Out West with Buffalo Bill – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2012 Out West with Buffalo Bill: Rosa Bonheur and Oscar Wilde By Gregory Hinton There were poets like Whitman ...
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Proctor Museum Donates Collection – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall 2004 Proctor Museum Donates Collection Ed. Note: A look back to the acquisition of the Alexander Phimister Proctor Collection ...
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Museum Minute: Tall Fringed Bluebell
The Plains Indian Museum has a collection of pressed plants that were used for medicinal uses. The book includes the tall fringed blue bell. Hunter ...
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Thorofare through the Shutter – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2005 Thorofare through the Shutter By Marguerite House For those who live in the area surrounding Yellowstone National Park, ...
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Summer Workshops for Kids
What are your plans this summer? School is out and we are planning some fun new workshops for the summer! However, we had to modify ...
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Museum Minute: Sally James Farnham
Sally James Farnham was a sculptor from a prominent family in upstate New York. Farnham didn’t start sculpting until she was 32. “She began modeling ...
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Museum Minute: Hayabusa the Peregrine Falcon
The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor of its anniversary, Museum Minute is featuring the 11 raptors in ...
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From “Thorofare” to Destination: the South Fork of the Shoshone River, part 3 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2018 From “Thorofare” to Destination – the South Fork of the Shoshone River, part 3 Click here to read ...
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From “Thorofare” to Destination: the South Fork of the Shoshone River, part 2 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineFall/Winter 2017 From “Thorofare” to Destination – the South Fork of the Shoshone River, part 2 Click here to read ...
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Museum Minute: The Public Fight For The Army’s New Service Gun
In the late 1930s, the U.S. Army selected the M-1 Garand as its new service rifle. But it turns out that it was quite a ...
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From “Thorofare” to Destination: The South Fork of the Shoshone River, part 1 – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSummer 2017 From “Thorofare” to Destination – the South Fork of the Shoshone River, part 1 By Jeremy M. Johnston, ...
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Vaulting the Extraordinary…Storing the Center’s Collections – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineWinter 2008 Vaulting the Extraordinary…Storing the Center’s Collections Ed. note: Liz Holmes, Registrar and Director of Museum Services at the ...
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Museum Minute: Valley Ranch Boarding School
From 1922 to 1934, there was a college preparatory school for boys down the south fork in Cody. The Valley Ranch Boarding School was founded ...
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Conserving Outdoor Sculptures – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2008 Ensuring a Lasting Finish for the Future: Conserving Outdoor Sculptures By Mindy A. Besaw Thanks to a grant ...
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20 Greatest Western Films of All Time
The 20 Greatest Westerns Ever Made Our museum’s curators, historians, firearms experts, and film buffs voted on over 100 of the most popular western films. ...
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Museum Minute: Isham the Red-tailed Hawk
The Draper Museum Raptor Experience will be 10 years old in 2021. In honor of its anniversary, Museum Minutes are featuring the 11 raptors in ...
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Karl May, The Storyteller Old Shatterhand – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazineSpring 2011 Karl May: “I Am Hakawati.” The Storyteller, Who Was Old Shatterhand By André Kohler For Germans, Karl May ...
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