Current Issue

Colorado Vignette - Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave

Western Style, a new exhibit at the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, explores and celebrates a unique part of American culture. Beginning in the days of Buffalo Bill and promoted by his Wild West show, an interest in the West influenced clothing, jewelry, furniture, decorative items and fine arts as well as utilitarian objects such as saddles and tack. Within the exhibit many artifacts, including hats, boots, chairs, rugs, shirts, pots, spurs, guns, and even a sink, illustrate the impact of the American West upon past and present fashion. That impact created a style known by many names today but best characterized as Western Style.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West made the Western experience accessible, regardless of one's geographic location. It also fed a growing interest in "things Western." People all over America and Europe were fascinated by the Indian, cowboy and Hispanic cultures of the West. Cowboy hats, boots and other clothing began to appear in mail order catalogs,as did western saddles. Designs influenced by Indian motifs and symbols were adopted by the Arts and Crafts Movement in the early 20th century. As more and more Americans traveled to the West they were exposed to the Pueblo and Navajo cultures of the Southwest as well as dude ranching and other Western experiences. Plains Indians' tepees were imitated by everything from motels to children's tents. Hollywood movies fed the public's fascination with the West and, in turn, affected the development of Western Style. Today the interest in Western Style is as strong as ever, as demonstrated by the contemporary items in the exhibit.

Western Style will run through September 14, 2008. The Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave is located on Lookout Mountain overlooking Denver, Colorado. For more information call 303-526-0744, visit www.buffalobill.org, or write Buffalo Bill Museum, 987 ½ Lookout Mountain Road, Golden, Colorado 80401.

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