“All the cattle are standin’ like statues”*
by chuckofish
Everyone has a bucket list I guess. I know I do. But while many people may dream of traveling to the Amalfi Coast or other far flung locales, I would like to go to Oklahoma. Yes, I know…but Oklahoma is a state rich in history! It is, after all, the “I.T.”–the Indian Territory.
It is also the home of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which I have always wanted to visit. I especially want to visit since finding out that my ancestor, John Wesley Prowers, is one of the “Great Westerners” in their Hall of Fame.
There he is listed right after John Wesley Powell (the famous one-armed geologist) and before Ronald Reagan. He was inducted in 1963.
Pretty cool, eh?
How can you not love a museum that has honored this guy?
John Wayne being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1965
On the way to Oklahoma City, I would stop in Tulsa, which is the home of the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, which houses the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of art and artifacts of the American West.
Tulsa is also the home of the Philbrook Museum of Art, located in part in the 1920s villa of oilman Waite Phillips (of Philmont fame).
So one of these days we’ll get our kicks on Route 66 and head to Oklahoma.
It’s on the List.
*Oscar Hammerstein, “Oh What a Beautiful Morning”
dual personalities 
Nate and his mother explored Tulsa & OKC when he was down there for archival research. It looks great! The crazy thing is plenty of people would probably turn down teaching jobs in OK, but I would take one in a second!! XO
Awesome that JWP is in the Cowboy Hall of Fame!
“Just think, if you get bored in Oklahoma City you can go to TULSA!” (name that movie).
Remington’s “The Stampede” is another favorite painting of mine (two days in a row!). I didn’t know it was in a museum in Oklahoma. I’d like to see it one day too. 🙂
Cary Grant said it to Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth!
I guess I am just the Ralph Bellamy type…
The OM lived in Tulsa, OK from 1956 – 1959. I have on earthly idea where in Tulsa and no way to find out. My younger brother was born in Tulsa.
That is super cool that our great, great uncle, John W. Prowers, is in the cowboy hall of fame. Oklahoma is definitely a worthy road-trip!
I often ask people “would you take a tenure-track job in Oklahoma or Nebraska?” My own answer used to be “No!”, but I’ve changed it to “I’ll give anything a try for a year or two.” But maybe my answer should be “Yes!”