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."
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Spring 2019 Albert Bierstadt’s White Horse and Sunset Ah, steeds, steeds, what steeds! Has the whirlwind a home in your manes? Is there a sensitive ear, alert as a flame, in your every fiber? Hearing the familiar song from above, all in one accord you strain your bronze […]
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 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 Spring 2019 Herb Parsons’s Winchester Model 1871 To make movie magic, all it takes is a wizard. In the 1950 Universal International film Winchester ’73, all they needed was the “Wizard with a Winchester” known as Herb—Herb Parsons, that is. Parsons served as technical advisor on the set […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Fall/Winter 2018 Thomas Moran’s “Zoroaster Peak” The trajectory of Thomas Moran’s career would change dramatically in 1871. That year, the painter traveled to Wyoming Territory on a government-sponsored survey expedition led by Ferdinand V. Hayden. Moran was invited to visually record the geological wonders of the region. He […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Fall/Winter 2018 Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) Eggs Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming find perfect habitat for nests which they construct on ledges carved out of sandstone. Eggs incubated in the spring hatch in mid-April, and by early July, surviving nestlings fledge to leave […]