History of the West lives on

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There are lots of ways to immerse yourself in the heroic story of the American West at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

With four museums and an art gallery, as well as guided excursions available beyond the center's walls, there are always absorbing and thought-provoking attractions for anyone interested in the history of the West and in Plains Indian culture.

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center was opened in 1979 and now draws 250,000 visitors a year to its Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art and McCracken Research Library. Soon there will be one more, the Draper Museum of Natural History, now under construction.

That's a lot of visitors for a town of 8,000 people, but as Cody is situated just 52 miles from the east gate of Yellowstone Park it is a well-situated tourist stop.

Just one of the reasons the center is so popular is found on its current exhibition calendar: the Arapaho and Shoshone of Wind River exhibit that runs until December 2001. That is the inaugural exhibition in the Plains Indian Museum Special Exhibition Gallery, which recently got a $4 million facelift.

"Right now the Plains Indian Museum is heads and above everything else," said the centre's public relations manager, Thom Huge.

"We stripped it out totally and reinstalled it. We do a much better job of interpretation now, a much better job of story telling."

Huge said it used to be just row after row of beaded moccasins in cases, with little labels that might say 'Lakota, 1895.'

"Now you have a much better feel for where these artifacts came from, why they were made, what significance they had, what it meant to people's lives. And not only in past history, but also in contemporary life."

The exhibition contains historical and contemporary museum objects, photographs, videos and art from the Arapaho and Shoshone Wind River reservation in central Wyoming. The reservation is the third largest in the United States, 1.7 million acres.

The museum's very large collection also includes the cultural histories, art and enduring traditions of the Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche, Blackfeet, Sioux, Gros Ventre and Pawnee peoples. Plus art done by Arapaho and Shoshone students at the Wyoming Indian high school in Ethete.

The Wind River exhibit opened last November to coincide with American Indian Heritage Month and it included numerous demonstrations such as hide-painting, beadworking and basket-making, along with traditional entertainment. This year's American Indian Heritage Celebration will be held Nov. 3.

But there is a lot happening before then.

If you are interested in the evolution of firearms, the Cody Firearms Museum has it all, starting with the "most comprehensive" collection of American firearms in the world, to re-creations of a colonial gun shop and small arms factory, to knowledgeable staff who can answer your historically related questions.

The Buffalo Bill Museum interprets the life and times, history and mythology surrounding Buffalo Bill, an icon of the American West. It also tells the broader story of frontier life, taking in everything from dude ranching to conservation.

If your interests lie in the areas of education and preservation of Aboriginal language and culture, a seminar will be held Sept. 28 to 30 with the theme Circles of Knowledge: Plains Indian Education. Topics may include childhood and rites of passage; traditional teaching of arts and cultural knowledge; oral history; educational roles of Elders; effects of missionaries, federal policies and boarding schools; tribal colleges and museums; and language and culture preservation programs.

There are numerous year-round educational programs to help visitors understand both the permanent displays and special exhibitions.

The newest addition to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center will be the Draper Museum of Natural history, which will focus on the relationship between people and nature in the Greater ellowstone ecosystem and surrounding area when it opens next year. It will feature "ideas-based exhibits, driven by timely issues and timeless concepts related to our mission, rather than by a desire to display specific objects," the center's literature states.

Additional information on all the center's offerings is on their Web site: www.bbhc.org. You can follow the links to find out what is going on in all areas.

Post-secondary education students should look into the possibility of doing internships and externships at the center. Numerous opportunities for learning are available in art, geology, Plains Indian ethnology, communications, photography and much more. Check the list of internships on the Web site.

Because it is not a place of dusty old artifacts, but a constantly developing and improving facility, exhibitions move in and out and hours of operation are flexible.

From April until the end of October, the center is open daily, although the hours fluctuate. From November until the end of March it is open six days a week and closed on Mondays.

For the most current information concerning dates and times of activities and attractions before you travel, contact public relations director Thom Huge by telephone: (307) 578-4014; by fax: (307) 578-4066; or by e-mail: thomh@bbhc.org. Ask about group tour rates.