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 […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Fall/Winter 2018 Mandan Burden Basket In summer 2018, Plains Indian Museum staff had the opportunity to engage in some unexpected fieldwork with unanticipated connections. While not our specialty, ethnobotany, the study of how human cultures use plants for food and medicinal purposes, is of great interest. Our collections […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Fall/Winter 2018 Design Drawing, Winchester Repeating Shotgun A quick glance through each of the Center’s five museums, and one is sure to agree that art is everywhere: masterworks in the Whitney Western Art Museum, colorful Wild West posters in the Buffalo Bill Museum, masterful taxidermy in the Draper […]
Originally featured in Points West magazine in Summer 2018 Photograph, Kit Carson Cody, ca. 1876 This photo gives no hint about the tragedy that would soon befall the Cody family. As for any parent, the greatest sadness of Buffalo Bill’s life was the loss of his only son, Kit Carson Cody. In his 1879 book, […]