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National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

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aviron7
aviron7
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5 out of 5
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National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

  • February 11, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by zabelle from Portland, Connecticut
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

Now I have to admit that this museum caught me totally by surprise. It was not at all what I expected. AL and I discussed it before we went here and we expected it to be about Annie Oakley with maybe Calamity Jane and Belle Starr thrown in for good measure. We were partially right, there was an exhibit about Annie Oakley but this museum is not about the bad girls of the west. It is about Cowgirls past and present and what a cowgirl is will surprise you.

Be sure to bring your discount coupon with you, it is $2 off. They first thing we did was to watch the movie ‘Spirit of the Cowgirl”. It introduces us to the women who helped found the west. We meet Clara Brown a freed slave who walked west to Colorado and started a laundry for the miners. We hear about Georgia O”Keefe and her attempts to capture the west on canvas. This is where we first get a clue that this isn’t just about the past but also about current cowgirls and we meet the women who were inducted into the cowgirl hall of fame in 2006. A very diverse group to be sure.

A very interesting fact that I took away from all this was that women in the Wyoming Territory had the vote 50 years before the rest of the country thanks to one woman, Esther Hobart Morris. One the lower level you will be greeted by a statue of Sacagawea, not exactly what you would think if when you think of a cowgirl.

We walked upstairs and headed to the Cowgirls in Movies exhibit. The is a horse's head that greeted us and we sat in saddles while we watched a movie about cowgirls called “Reel Cowgirls”. It is really amusing with the horse talking in between takes. Katherine Ross narrates part of the movie and tells a bit about her role as Etta Place in the Movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We also see Barbara Stanwyck as Annie Oakley, Joan Crawford as a strong woman, Dale Evans and Maureen O’Hara as more girly versions of the cowgirl. We also learn that sometimes the horses got higher billing than the woman. This movie is eight minutes.

We headed over to the musical section and there are four mini jukeboxes with songs in them that you can listen to, Patsy Kline, Dale Evans, and even Reba and The Dixie Chicks.

The Cowgirl in the 50's was something we could relate to and they had Roy Rogers and Dale Evans lunch boxes and other memorabilia in a case. If you would like to be photographed and placed on a cowgirl poster, this is the place to do it. There are some really nice costumes that belonged to Dale Evans.

There is more but go and see for yourself. It is very entertaining. Allow an hour and a half.

From journal Fort Worth - Where the West Begins

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

  • January 15, 2007
  • Rated 4 of 5 by aviron7 from chattanooga, Tennessee
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

There are lots of cowBOY museums across Texas, but for you girls out there who want to learn about those brave women out there who made a name for themselves in roping, riding, and general coyboy-ish things, this is the place for you! Of course there's a tribute to the most famous cowgirl of them all, Annie Oakley (and a video playing some of her best shootin' tricks), but this place has so much more than that.

There's a room of movie cowgirls, starting in the '20s and going all through the decades. Some of the costumes were just incredible. Most all of them were covered in sequins and gems and sparkles and they had fringe just about anywhere they could sew it on. It was incredible to see how cowgirls and their style made it in Hollywood through the ages.

There's also a room of cowgirls in rodeos. There are so many awards shown won by women who rode broncos, roped calves, did incredible trick-riding, and more. There are also some stories about mothers who rode and the daughters and granddaughters that followed in their footsteps. There are casts and slings and every other broken bone paraphernalia from when the riders took nasty spills.

There's a room for the present-day women ranchers and there's also a video that takes you through the lives of some of these ranchers and what they go through daily and yearly in their chosen trade. It was beautiful to hear how committed and loving of their hard-working life they are.

I really recommend this to anyone who loves history or cowboy/girl life.

Plus there's a good gift shop for all kinds of cowboy stuff, not just postcards and pens. There is also a kid area (which I've attached a picture from) that's awesome.

From journal A Day or Two in Dallas/Ft. Worth

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