Here in "Treasures from Our West," written by our curatorial staff for our "Points West" magazine, we share some of the extraordinary objects that make the Buffalo Bill Center of the West the premier destination—online or in person—to experience the American West. Works of western art, cultural and artistic objects from the Plains Indians, natural science specimens, amazing firearms, beautiful photographs, and artifacts exploring the history and myth of the Wild West—let us show you some of these "Treasures from Our West."
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 passed away long enough ago that finding people that knew them is hard, but lots of people remember Mel Stonehouse. Orphaned at the age of two when his parents froze […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Summer 2019 Winchester Herald covers with baseball bat and mitt A Winchester bat? A Winchester mitt? With baseball season well underway, how curious to spot America’s national pastime sporting the name of a rifle? It’s true. “In 1919, attempting to recover from loans taken out to expand for […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Summer 2019 Winchester Calendar, 1894 In 1887, Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, introduced an advertising calendar to market its line of ammunition. Not to be outdone by its down-state rival, Winchester Repeating Arms Company in New Haven, Connecticut, also introduced the first Winchester calendar the same […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Summer 2019 Wild Bill Hickok’s Revolver James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok’s (1837–1874) pair of ivory-handled revolvers were as legendary as he was. Three years after Jack McCall shot Hickok in the back as he was playing cards in Deadwood, South Dakota, an 1879 story in the Cheyenne, Wyoming, […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Summer 2019 Native Feather Bustle There’s no shortage of bustles at the Center of the West’s Plains Indian Museum Powwow, the longest-running annual program of the Center. The feather bustle is a traditional part of a Native American man’s regalia he wears to dance at powwow. In this […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Spring 2019 Photograph: Making a garden in North Platte, Nebraska, 1909 For these folks, spring undoubtedly meant consulting the Old Farmer’s Almanac and poring over seed catalogues. Today, however, gardeners—both experienced and wannabes—have a multitude of resources, especially on the Internet. Launching a search returns sites like the […]