Muskogee, Oklahoma’s early years as a frontier outpost were violent, dangerous and unpredictable. Welcome to Muskogee, the rip-roaring and most...
The Wildest Town in Indian Territory
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native american
Native History Celebrated Large
Only months old, the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City is dedicated to truth-telling. It was once called Indian Territory, a dumping ground as...
The Indian Civil War
For the Cherokee, the conflict pitted brother against brother. The Civil War not only split the United States, but it also tore apart various Indian...
Taking a Stand
Cherokee leader Watie signed an unpopular treaty. Stand Watie was a controversial Cherokee leader. He and several members of his family signed a...
Bringing out the Big Guns
The first time the army used howitzers against Indians In 1862, a Union army force was making its way across Arizona Territory. They had entered...
Braves and Badges
Early American Indian Police played a strong role in the settlement of the West. Before recorded history, American Indians practiced some form of...
Yucca Roots for Shampoo
What did Indians use for soap, if anything? Or, was it not part of their culture? Usually the natives used plants to provide soap. For example, many...
Bouncing Back After a Year of Online Displays, Curators Eagerly Await Visitors
Bouncing Back After a Year of Online Displays, Curators Eagerly Await Visitors. After more than a year of COVID-19 restrictions, Western art museums...
Edward S. Curtis and the Hollywood Headhunters
The famed photographer's leap into silent films was anything but successful. While Edward S. Curtis’s photographs, and especially his 20...
Have Camera, Will Travel
The Fearless Mirror Makers of the Arizona Territory Arizona and the Southwest were virtually unknown in the middle of the 19th century. A few...
The Last Frontier
Edward Curtis's Final Adventure What we know: He was 59. He had a bad hip after a whale upended his boat while he was making a film. He would travel...
Entering the Badlands
In 1905, Edward S. Curtis completed his fieldwork with the Sioux tribe in the Badlands of South Dakota. This photograph, Entering the Bad Lands,...