Groups find cultural treasures and slices of the rip-roaring West in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico

COWBOYS INDIANS

In big cities and wide-open spaces, pockets of Western

heritage abound. Awaiting tour groups are top-notch

museums, lively historic districts, Native American

communities and special events like rodeos and powwows.

At many attractions, glimpses of yesteryear will bring

back a flood of memories for baby boomers who grew up

watching Western movies and TV shows or playing cowboys

and Indians with their toy six-shooters and tomahawks.

Travelers of all ages enjoy learning about lifestyles in the

West today and traditions that have survived.

The following states offer a gold mine of itinerary ideas:

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Visions of the West:

A young cowpoke

at the National

Cowboy & Western

Heritage Museum in

Oklahoma City and

a storefront in Old

Town Albuquerque.

OKLAHOMAOnce known as Indian Territory,

Oklahoma is still home to more Amer-ican Indian tribes than any other state.Thirty-nine tribal headquarters andmembers of at least 67 tribes make theirhome within the state’s borders. Okla-homa license plates bear the words “Na-tive America,” and you’ll see many plateswith “Cherokee Nation,” “MuscogeeNation” and other tribal designations.

The state also has strong cowboyroots. Ranches dot the landscape, rodeostake place every month of the year,Western wear and tack stores are nu-merous, and you’ll find one horse forevery 12 people, more per capita thanany other state.

Oklahoma City, the state capital andbiggest metro area, abounds with re-minders of the state’s wild ’n’ wooly pastwith attractions like the National Cow-boy & Western Heritage Museum.Anyone with a passion for America’scowboys-and-Indians past can spendhours roaming the galleries. Fromranching and rodeos to Native Ameri-can cultures, it’s a sterling showcase ofWestern life. The nostalgia-loadedWestern Performers Gallery spotlightsmovie and TV favorites like JohnWayne, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.Props, posters, comic books, tradingcards and lunch boxes recall the good olddays. Actor Sam Elliott narrates SilverScreen Cowboys, a film about Westernstars who rode the range rightingwrongs, usually with the help of theirpistols or fists. The museum alsoabounds with world-class Western artand sculpture. Save time for the museumgift shop, a treasure chest of Westernlore, from artwork and jewelry to booksand DVDs of old movies.

The Oklahoma History Center, an-other must-see museum, also immortal-izes Western stars with movie clips. Onegallery spotlights all 39 Indian tribes ofOklahoma, which means “land of thered man.” In 2014 the city will unveil theAmerican Indian Cultural Center and

Museum. The Red Earth Festival, oneof the largest powwows in America,takes place the first weekend in June inOklahoma City. Representatives frommore than 100 tribes gather to celebratetheir heritage with competitions, dance,music and food.

For more Western encounters inOklahoma City, groups should see a cat-tle auction at the Oklahoma NationalStockyards, a historic commercial dis-trict with Western wear stores, shows atthe Rodeo Opry and the landmark Cat-tleman’s Steakhouse. OKC pays tributeto the cowboy’s trusted companion, hishorse, at six major horse shows at theState Fairgrounds Arena

In Northeastern Oklahoma, groupswill find many Cherokee attractionsand can take advantage of day-longtours offered by the Cherokee NationCultural Tourism Department. (Afterthe Navajos, the Cherokees are thelargest group of American Indians.) At the Ancient Village, one of the out-door museums at the Cherokee Her-itage Center in Park Hill, you can seedemonstrations of various crafts, fromcooking and gardening to arrowheadand basket making. Sights in down-town Tahlequah include the CherokeeNational Capitol and Cherokee Na-tional Supreme Court Building.

Cherokee Tourism offers an itiner-ary devoted to the late humorist WillRogers, America’s most famous Chero-kee (and a cowboy as well). The tourvisits the Will Rogers Memorial Mu-seum in Claremore and Will RogersBirthplace Ranch near Oologah.

Tulsa is home to the Gilcrease Mu-seum, which boasts one of the world’smost comprehensive collections of Na-tive American and Western art. Paintingsof bronco busters, covered wagons, cattledrives and Indian life, along with theGrand Canyon and Rocky Mountains,all romanticize the early West. Amongthe renowned artists: Remington, Rus-sell, Moran, Caitlin and Bierstadt.

Remingtons, Russells and NativeAmerican artifacts are on display atWoolaroc Ranch, Museum and WildlifePreserve in Bartlesville and Duncan’sChisholm Trail Heritage Center,where a theater presentation and inter-active exhibits tell the story of the leg-endary route used to move herds ofcattle from Texas to the Kansas railroadsin the late 19th century. Andarko pre-serves its Indian heritage at the IndianCity USA, National Indian Hall ofFame for Famous American Indiansand Southern Plains Indian Museum.At the Chickasaw Cultural Center,near Sulphur, groups can immerse them-

LeisureGroupTravel.com February 2011 13

The Will Rogers Memorial Museum draws groups to Claremore, Oklahoma.

selves in the culture of the ChickasawNation through state-of-the-art displays,an authentic Chickasaw village, large-format theater and Chickasaw foods.

Cowboy and Indian heritage also unfolds at the Five Civilized TribesMuseum in Muskogee, Old TownMuseum complex in Elk City andPawnee Bill Ranch in Pawnee. West-ern movie actors are immortalized atthe Gene Autry Oklahoma Museumin Gene Autry and Tom Mix Museumin Dewey.

TEXASCountless attractions across our sec-

ond largest state reinforce its cowboyimage. From cattle roundups to buckin’broncos, it’s all there.

In the Texas Panhandle, the Amar-illo area personifies the Wild West. Takea scenic jeep tour to the floor of PaloDuro Canyon State Park, distin-guished by the colorful strata of rock.At the base of 600-foot cliffs, the park’sPioneer Amphitheater serves as themagnificent setting of the musicaldrama TEXAS, a summertime pageantfeaturing horses, sound effects, fireworksand more than 60 performers. Have achuckwagon breakfast or supper atnearby Elkins Ranch.

Amarillo, a major cattle-feeding andshipping center, is home to Tuesday’sAmarillo Livestock Auction, one of

the nation’s largest such auctions; theAmerican Quarter Horse Hall ofFame and Museum; Kwahadi Mu-seum of the American Indian; and theexcellent Panhandle-Plains HistoricalMuseum on the campus of West TexasA & M University.

The little town of Bandera, in TexasHill Country less than an hour fromSan Antonio, bills itself as the “CowboyCapital of World.” Groups can choosefrom dude ranches in various sizes andprice ranges. Besides horseback ridingand campfires, ranch guests also have fun tubing, canoeing and kayakingdown the cypress-lined Medina River.

Fort Worth brands itself with the slo-gan “Where the West Begins.” Unlikeany other big city in the United States,

Fort Worth captures the spirit of theAmerican West with a rich variety ofattractions and events. No district is asdistinctly authentic as the 15-blockStockyards National Historic District,where you can see an actual cattle drivetwice daily. Longhorn cattle, guided bycowhands in period dress, make theirway down Exchange Avenue, a fittingtribute to Fort Worth’s heritage as amajor stop along the Chisholm Trail.

Tourist magnets in the historic district include the Texas Cowboy Hallof Fame, located in the Stockyards’ original mule barns, plus plenty of sa-loons, restaurants and Western wear

shops. One hotspot is Billy Bob’s Texas,the world’s largest honky-tonk. Cele-brating its 30th anniversary in 2011,Billy Bob’s hosts top country acts every Friday and Saturday night, alongwith live bull riding in its indoor arena. The Stockyards ChampionshipRodeo takes place nearly every week-end at the Cowtown Coliseum, wherethe world’s first indoor rodeo was heldin 1918. The Texas Rodeo CowboyHall of Fame recently moved into theColiseum after 35 years in the smalltown of Belton.

The city’s most famous rodeo is theFort Worth Exposition and LivestockShow, which attracts nearly a millionvisitors every January and February tothe Will Rogers Memorial Center, a

landmark in the Fort Worth CulturalDistrict. Founded in 1896, it is the old-est stock show in America and boaststhe world’s longest non-mechanical pa-rade, with hundreds of horses and ridersheralding the start of this mega-event.Also in the Cultural District are theNational Cowgirl Museum and Hallof Fame and Amon Carter Museum ofAmerican Art, renowned for works byWestern artists Frederic Remington andCharles Russell. Special exhibitions andevents will mark the museum’s 50th an-niversary this year. There are 39 moreRemingtons and Russells at the free SidRichardson Museum in downtown’s

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on location: west �

Take stock of Texas at Fort Worth’s National Cowgirl Museum, the musical drama TEXAS and the Stockyards District.

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Experience Two American Icons!“Will Rogers” and “The Mother Road”

Claremore! Oklahoma’s Cast of Legends

Will Rogers, Oklahoma’s Favorite Son,welcomes you to his hometown:

Claremore, Oklahoma!Just 20 miles northeast of Tulsa!

Let us customize your tour!Historic Route 66 Tours

Native American Tours in the Cherokee NationCowboy & Oil Baron Hub & Spoke Tours

Holiday Tours • Mystery ToursFactory - Industrial Tours

Sundance Square entertainment district, a model of urban revi-talization. Once known as Hell’s Half Kitchen, the historic quar-ter, named for the notorious Sundance Kid, drew cowboys to itssaloons, gambling halls and brothels.

In the Piney Woods of East Texas, 26 miles west of Nacog-doches, travelers can learn about ancient Native American civi-lization at Caddo Mounds State Historic Site. More than 1,200years ago, a group of Caddo Indians known as the Hasinai built avillage and ceremonial center for the great Mound Builder culture.Visitors can see exhibits and follow an interpretive trail through re-constructed sites of Caddo dwellings and ceremonial areas, in-cluding two temple mounds, a burial mound and a village area.

Nacogdoches, named for a Caddo tribe, is the oldest town inTexas, dating from 1687. The historic downtown abounds withspecialty and antique shops, and the city offers a number of mu-seums and historic homes. Millard’s Crossing Historic Village isa reconstruction of a 19th century East Texas village, with log andframed houses, a school, chapel and country store.

The Tigua Indian Cultural Center, on the Tigua IndianReservation and Pueblo near El Paso, spotlights the little-knownTigua (TEE-wah) people, who have lived for more than three cen-

turies in this corner of Texas near the Mexicanborder. Visitors to the center, located adjacent tothe 1682 Ysleta Mission, can witness tribal danc-ing on weekends, watch artists at work, and smelland taste fresh bread made in traditional ovens,or hornos. Three miles east of Ysleta is the So-corro Mission, built in 1681 by the Piro Indians.

NEW MEXICOIndian cultures are woven into everyday life

in New Mexico, which is home to 22 distincttribes, each with a separate, sovereign govern-ment. Pueblo tours, museums and ceremonialdances provide plenty of insight. Casinos luremany groups to the reservations.

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque is the official interpretive centerfor the state’s 19 Pueblo tribes, offering a mu-seum, exhibition galleries, a gift shop and thePueblo Harvest Cafe & Bakery. Indian dancesare held every weekend.

Acoma Pueblo, perched atop a 370-footsandstone mesa 65 miles west of Albuquerque, isthe oldest continuously inhabited community inNorth America. Fewer than 50 tribal memberslive year-round in the earthen homes of “SkyCity,” where Native guides offer tours. An addi-

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16 February 2011 LeisureGroupTravel.com

tional 3,000 people live in nearby vil-lages. At the Sky City Cultural Centerand Haak´u Museum, groups can seepotters crafting Acoma’s distinctive thin-walled pottery and sample Acoma andNew Mexican fare at the Yaak´a (corn)Restaurant. The tribe maintains themassive San Estevan del Rey Mission,completed in 1640. Gaming enthusiastsflock to the Sky City Casino & Hotel.

Zuni Pueblo, 35 miles south ofGallup, is famous for inlaid jewelry withmosaic patterns, needlepoint and stonecarving. Jicarilla Apache Indian Na-tion, in the mountains and mesas ofNorthern New Mexico, is known for itsbaskets. In fact, Jicarilla means “littlebasket.” Groups enjoy the Jicarilla Artsand Crafts Shop and Museum, and thetribe operates two casinos.

The Navajo Nation sprawls acrossthe Four Corners area, in the northwestcorner of New Mexico north of Gallup.The largest U.S. tribe numbers 298,000members, 70,000 of them in New Mex-ico. Navajo rugs and other crafts areavailable throughout the nation. FromJune to September, the Navajos put onnightly Indian dances at the GallupCultural Center, which occupies a re-stored Santa Fe Railroad depot. Thecenter offers films about American In-dian culture, audio-narrated exhibits,displays of sand paintings and otherarts, and a bronze statue honoringWorld War II Navajo code talkers. TheGallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremo-nial in August, centered at Red RockPark, draws thousands with a rodeo,dances, and arts and crafts.

One of New Mexico’s special places isTaos, a laid-back art colony on a plateauat the southern end of the Rockies, locallyknown as the Sangre Crisco Mountains.No visitor to Taos should miss Taos

Pueblo, a home for the Tiwa people formore than 1,000 years. Located north oftown, the apartment-like adobedwellings—the upper levels accessible byladder—have changed little over the cen-turies. Of New Mexico’s 19 pueblo com-munities along the Rio Grande (thereonce were 76), this is the oldest and mostphotogenic. Besides the multi-storystructures, the village has ground-leveladobe houses as well. Corn dances andother events are open to the public.

Shopkeepers in the ancient buildingssell jewelry, pottery, moccasins, drumsand other souvenirs. Also for sale arecookies, mini pies and hot fry breadmade in outdoor hornos, or igloo-shapedadobe ovens. Other sights include an1850 Catholic church and the ruins ofone burned by the U.S. Cavalry.

Anyone with an interest in horsesand cowboys will find plenty to like atRuidoso’s Hubbard Museum of theAmerican West, an affiliate of theSmithsonian Institution. Ruidoso hosts

the Lincoln County Cowboy Sympo-sium every October. In the historicWestern town of Lincoln, 32 milesnortheast of Ruidoso, museum exhibitsat Lincoln State Monument spotlightBilly the Kid, the 1878 Lincoln CountyWar, cowboys, Apaches and BuffaloSoldiers. Also highly regarded is theNew Mexico Farm and Ranch Mu-seum in Las Cruces.

Anyone looking to explore the truecultural fabric of the American West—or in pursuit of romantic stereotypes—will find plenty of places to fuel theirhome-on-the-range dreams in Okla-homa, Texas and New Mexico. LGT

ONLINE EXCLUSIVEGo online and read about the

Oklahoma museum and ranch

dedicated to Will Rogers, a 20th century

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