National Cowboy &
Western Heritage Museum
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
March 22, 2015
Once again I did some traveling for work. This time I had to spend the weekend in Oklahoma City. Saturday was spent in the office, but I managed to get Sunday free. The local railroad museum was closed, so I followed up on a suggestion from my buddy Rich to check out the National Cowboy Museum. It did not disappoint!
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In the middle of the museum, the generic frontier town of "Prosperity" has been faithfully re-created. The setting is early morning, just before daybreak. When I got there, I was the only person around... essentially, I had the town to myself.
The town, complete with sound effects, is strikingly real. Didn't take much imagination to feel like I was really there and hearing my boots on the wood sidewalks sure helped the illusion!
Inside the recreated Union Pacific Depot
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Freight Room in the Depot
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Waiting room
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Outside the Depot sits a UP Stock Car
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Looking down the main street from the Depot
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Prosperity Depot
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UP Stock Car
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Rumor has it that Rich Murray works here when he creates the quarterly newsletter for Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec!
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Stables
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I half expected to see Raylan Givens walk out...
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... or perhaps, Wyatt Earp.
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Marshalls Office
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Jail
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The General Store was WELL stocked
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Local Church
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Bank
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School House
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Lots of neat details here
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My mother has a sewing machine EXACTLY like this
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Inside the church
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View from the Pulpit
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Hymnal
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Main Street looking back towards the Depot A soundtrack of a train arriving came on that sounded suspiciously like it was recorded on the Durango & Silverton
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The greatest US President in my lifetime... at least so far...
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US Calvary
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Hunting Buffalo
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Could almost be my closet... =)
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Cowboy camp on the frontier
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Native Americans used these to carry infants. This was especially poignant as I was sorely missing my 11 month old son, Noah.
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Map of Native American Lands/Territories
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All-in-all, it's an extremely impressive collection and these photos don't do it justice. I highly recommend taking a look for yourself. |