We took a rest from our car trip in Oklahoma City, then played tourist at the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
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- At 12 stories, the Colcord Hotel was the first “skyscraper” ever constructed in Oklahoma City. Now a luxury boutique hotel, it is owned by Devon Energy, also the owner of the 51 story behemoth behind it. Fracking is lucrative.
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- Did you ever wonder WHY Oklahoma has a panhandle? It’s only 34 miles wide, and less than 1% of Oklahomans live there. Originally claimed by Texas, this piece of land had to be forfeited because Texas entered the Union as a slave state, and slavery was prohibited north of the latitude directed by the Missouri Compromise. It changed hands several times, finally becoming part of official Oklahoma in 1907.
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- Gene Autry’s boots and guitar. They came in handy when “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” got “Back in the Saddle Again”.
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- Cattle branding irons. The J Cross E brand is cool. The Quien Sabe Mexican brand is aesthetically pleasing in terms of its contours and lines, although it does seem a little too close to the infamous logo of a certain genocidal regime.
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- A big part of cowboy and farm life is the barbed wire fence. This exhibit is interactive, since you can touch the barbs yourself if you dare.
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- The Honest Abe statue is in recognition of his status as a “western president” who encouraged Americans to move west and settle the frontier lands.
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- Giddy up, cowgirl!
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- John Wayne’s hat and eye patch from True Grit, for which he won an Oscar. The 2010 version of the movie is SO much better, though.
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