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Go West!

Western Folklife Center

Elko, Nevada

Cowboys, ranchers and other workers in the historic West spent a lot of time in the open frontier and developed a number of ways to express themselves and entertain their compatriots. At the Western Folklife Center, exhibits and events explore the artistic traditions that emerged from the American West.

“We’re really about the artistic expression and traditions of the West,” said Darcy Minter, the center’s external communications director. “We do a lot with cowboy and ranching cultures, but our mission is to document, preserve and present the diversity of cultures in the West. That really means anybody living in the West, not just cowboys and Indians.”

To that end, the center features numerous rotating exhibits throughout the year that highlight different art forms from around the region. Depending on when they visit, groups might see photography exhibitions, learn about Mexican ballads or see a series of videos in which residents of today’s West tell their stories. The center also has a busy programming calendar, and travel planners can arrange for their group visits to coordinate with a concert, a dance class or another event.

The Western Folklife Center is perhaps best known, though, for its annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, held each year at the end of January.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” Minter said. “We have about 50 acts, both poetry and music. We have films and discussions about important issues in the West. There are dances, dance classes and workshops of all kinds, like cooking and writing workshops. It’s a very diverse event with lots of different activities.”

Though the gathering can become crowded toward its final days each year, Minter said that groups can attend in the earlier days and arrange to have workshops and other encounters with some of the featured performers.

www.westernfolklife.org

Chisholm Trail Heritage Center

Duncan, Oklahoma

If it weren’t for the Chisholm Trail, the Texas economy might have crashed after the Civil War.

“A lot of Texas cowboys didn’t return home from the war, and there got to be way too many longhorns in Texas, so they weren’t worth anything,” said Stacy Cramer Moore, executive director of the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, Oklahoma. “But someone had the idea that if you could get the cattle to Abilene, Kansas, and load them on boxcars, you could send them out East, where they were worth $40 to $60 a head. Between 1867 and 1889, about 8 million head of cattle made the trip up the Chisholm Trail from Texas to Kansas. It’s the largest man-made migration in history, and it is credited with saving the Texas economy.”

At the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, visitors learn this history and hear numerous other fascinating stories from life on the trail. The trip from Texas to Kansas was about 1,000 miles and took about 100 days to complete. Unlike what we see in the movies, the average age of cowboys on the trail was about 14 years, with some workers as young as 8 or 9.

The heritage center uses a variety of exhibits and artifacts to tell these stories. But perhaps the most moving experience is in the center’s 4-D theater.

“You can feel the rumble of the stampede, just like you’re out in the Wild West,” Moore said. “That’s our guests’ favorite exhibit by far.”

Other highlights are a multimillion-dollar Western art collection and a large outdoor monument that depicts life on the Chisholm Trail.

www.onthechisholmtrail.com

Autry Museum of the American West

Los Angeles

Located in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park, the Autry Museum of the American West aims to present a comprehensive picture of Western history, art and culture.

“Our museum features world-class galleries with Native American art and artifacts, film memorabilia, historic firearms, paintings and more,” said Keisha Raines, communications manager at the Autry.

The museum’s core exhibition includes a wide range of historic firearms, Pueblo pottery, cowboy artifacts and many more items associated with the American West. Other galleries present contemporary Western art, as well as artifacts and memorabilia from Hollywood’s depiction of the Wild West in film.

“My particular favorite item is our saloon downstairs,” Raines said. “You get the feeling of actually being in a 19th-century saloon in the Old West.”

Travel planners may want to coordinate their trips to coincide with one of the many special events that take place at the museum. The Sizzling Summer Nights program takes place on Thursdays in July and August and features an all-ages dance party with live Latin bands and salsa teachers. The Indian Marketplace in November is also popular.

“We have more than 200 artists selling pottery, jewelry, paintings and other handcrafted items,” Raines said. We have amazing Indian fry bread during that time, and we usually show an Indian film in our theater.”

www.theautry.org

Brian Jewell

Brian Jewell is the executive editor of The Group Travel Leader. In more than a decade of travel journalism he has visited 48 states and 25 foreign countries.