1. The Old West lives in Stockyards City. Begun in 1910, shortly after statehood, the Oklahoma National Stockyards remains the world’s largest stocker and feeder cattle market. You’ll also enjoy the Western outfitters, shops and restaurants.
2. Cattlemen’s Steakhouse is known for its unique history (open since 1910!) and terrific food. You won’t find a better steak or a tastier slice of pie.
3. Every weekend, the family-friendly Rodeo Opry provides live talent from locals to the likes of Reba McEntire, Wanda Jackson and Wade Hayes.
4. Red Earth Museum houses more than 1,400 items of American Indian fine art, pottery, basketry, textiles and beadwork. Be sure to check out the Deupree Cradleboard Collection.
5. At the south end of Bricktown stands the heroic Oklahoma Land Run Monument. You can almost hear the excitement as the Boomers race to claim their land. When completed in 2015, this work of art will be one of the world’s largest freestanding bronzes.
6. Nestled in the historic Heritage Hills neighborhood, the Overholser Mansion features original furnishings, hand-painted canvas walls, stained glass windows and lavish fixtures. Henry Overholser, who arrived in Oklahoma City in 1889, built the 11,000-plus-square-foot home.
7. The Harn Homestead & 1889ers Museum offers a territorial farm, a one-room schoolhouse, a Victorian home and the waste-not, want-not ethic of a territorial farm family. An April visit will get you a chance to race for your own 160 acres on the back lawn.
8. Oklahoma Territory opened for settlement at high noon on April 22, 1889. Learn the land run history and the facts about Oklahoma’s outlaws, lawmen and famous folks at the Oklahoma History Center. Plan accordingly and you just might find yourself greeted with a hug and a “howdy” by a real cowboy.
9. A visit to Prosperity Junction, inside the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, will see you walking down the streets of an Old West town. Not to be missed is the museum’s chuckwagon gathering (held every May) for a true taste of the Old West.
10. You might want to stay out of the street when the gunslingers start shootin’ in Frontier City, home to a gunfighter stunt show, a saloon revue that plays hit music from the 1890s and a medicine man show.
Robbin D. Davis is the director of Visitor Services at the Oklahoma History Center.
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