With our cycling goals accomplished, we spent today at two very interesting sites, the First Americans Museum (“FAM”) and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. FAM shares the history, unique cultures, diversity, contributions and resilience of the 39 distinctive First American Nations now in Oklahoma. Only a few tribal nations were indigenous to what is now the State of Oklahoma. All others were removed from homelands across the contiguous United States to Indian Territory. In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state in the union. The State of Oklahoma’s name comes from two Choctaw words, Okla (people) and Humma (red). Translated it means “Red People.” (See our slideshow to learn more.)
The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum is America’s premier institution of Western history, art and culture. More than 10 million visitors from around the world have come to the museum to gain a better understanding of the West. We thoroughly enjoyed the collection of classic and contemporary art, the artifacts, and the interactive history galleries focusing on the American cowboy, rodeos, Native American culture, firearms, frontier military, and western performers. We remembered movies and TV shows from our childhood as we looked at displays about Gunsmoke, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gene Autry, Will Rogers and John Wayne.
We strolled through an old western town where Sue visited the one-room school house, and Bill spent time in the saloon and jail. (See our slideshow from today’s visit.)
Our last place to visit in Oklahoma City was Stockyards City, home to the Oklahoma National Stockyards, the largest stocker/feeder cattle market in the world. We enjoyed a delicious steak dinner at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Oklahoma City.
50-in-50 Challenge 