Gilcrease Museum

The Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, an art museum telling the stories of the American West, evolved through the efforts of Thomas Gilcrease, a man of Creek Indian heritage who built a fortune from 160 acres he received as a young man when the government was deeding public land to Native Americans. Tom's 160 acres turned out to be sitting in the middle of one of the richest oil fields in the United States.

He coupled his love of art with his desire to maintain the history and heritage of his native people and eventually had a huge collection of native artifacts and western art. About the end of the 1950's, his collection came to this building in Tulsa which has been its home ever since. The beautifully landscaped grounds welcome visitors.

I have been planning this trip into Tulsa even though it meant Chorro would have to spend the day in the motorhome alone. He has two things going for him in that regard, though. One is that he has a good large bladder and won't get uncomfortable not getting out for a few extra hours and the other is that he has a basic couch potato nature and loves to curl up on a soft spot and sleep, deeply, thoroughly, completely, whole-heartedly sleep.

There was much more to see here than I could see in a day, but I'll share with you some of what I saw and learned.

Photography without flash was allowed in most of the museum. Like most museums, lighting was subdued to protect the art and artifacts so my photos are a little off in color because of that.

There was a beautiful display of Indian head-dresses, each one different but each one constructed with eagle feathers. My favorite below is very striking. Most used red in some way. This one is short in the back, but some were long and flowing. I wished I could try one on to see if it was as light as I imagined.

This beaded mantle from the early twentieth century also impressed me. Think of each tiny bead individually applied. It must have been a labor of love on someone's part. And also, wow, how beautifully the flowers have been created.

The next few photos all show work by different Native artists. The first is entitled, "Fertility Symbols," and the artist is Waldo Meetzka. I love the preciseness and distinctness of these works.

This one is , "Pueblo Green Corn Dance," by Kabotie, a Hopi. I particularly like art that tells a story that lets me see life in some other time and place, as this one does. When I was younger, I know I thought of rituals as meaningless because they were not based in science. Over the years I have come to appreciate the value of paying honor to parts of life, especially the life-giving parts of life, with ritual or ceremony.

This is "Chiefs," by Tiger, a Creek Indian. I took a picture of the description so that I would know which chiefs were depicted, but alas,the photo was too dark to read. I like to think of the sense of pride the artist must have felt when drawing this.

Here's the very well known, "End of the Trail," Indian and pony, in bronze. Looking at this one brought tears to my eyes. I suppose a hallmark of good art is to evoke emotion in the viewer, and I could almost be looking at a live human being at the "end of the trail" when I look at this.

Moving beyond the Indian art, I saw a fascinating, large display of Central American ceremonial masks. They were colorful and intricately carved, quite old, and in a dimly lighted room so again, no pictures.

There were many rooms of beautiful Western art, so much that it was overwhelming. Here are a few that I thought were fun or of particular interest.

Charles M. Russell comments on the issue of big game hunting when hunting was about putting food on the table. Cowboy style, Indian style, and tough luck style.

I think of my brother-in-law-the-hunter, who is an expert at putting food on the table with a rifle. Over the years, he has kept my freezer full of good meat for the winter as well as that of my daughter and I don't know how many other people.

Thomas Moran's paintings helped inspire Congress to establish the National Park System. Here's the "Great Hot Springs," at Mammoth in Yellowstone. These hot springs are continually changing over the years and it is interesting to see what they were like in the early twentieth century.

Frederic Remington and George Catlin also documented the west in "Rabbit Hunt," and "Stone Man Medicine," respectively, below.

"Antelope Head," by Georgia O'Keeffe. What a talented woman she was. Some of my friends know that she once owned Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, a favorite place with an other-worldly mystique.

And this is called, "Sheep Cascade," by Ila McAfee.

I smiled when I saw it because I photographed a modern day sheep cascade myself just weeks ago in Wyoming.

I spent time viewing two special exhibits that are currently at the museum too. The first was a "101 Ranch" display, where I was not allowed to photograph inside the exhibit.

The 101 Ranch in northeastern Oklahoma produced its own Wild West type of show that toured the country. It's most noteworthy performer was Will Rogers, but from time to time many other well known artists spent time with the 101 Ranch, including John Wayne, who came to learn what a cowboy was. By 1920 the 101 Ranch was hosting Hollywood western films, and for many years later continued to provide the cowboys, Indians, and livestock that were seen in Westerns filmed in California as well.

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The other special exhibit that I especially enjoyed was an exhibit of the works of Ansel Adams, a photographer whose work I have admired for many years. Again, I was unable to take photos of that exhibit, but I did make note of a quotation of Ansel Adams that rang true to my heart.

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"My world has been a world too few people are lucky enough to live in -- one of peace and beauty."

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I am blessed to live much of the time in Ansel Adams' world.

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Today was a good day.