Chris's Genealogy Journey: May 24th The National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, Fort Worth

Tad Lucas

When I retired from PGAdesign after 40 years I avoided a big party where old friends would say embarrassingly nice things to me. Instead I agreed to a very nice lunch with my business partners and wonderful staff. Unexpected, but very much appreciated, were several suitable and thoughtful gifts. One that I’ve used a lot is a book titled, “Off the Beaten Path” published by Reader’s Digest. I’ve read all the chapters on states I plan to drive through and a couple that I might. On page 320 I read about the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, and decided that was on my must see list.

When I left Roger and Galinda’s home I first stopped at AAA to get more paper maps to help with my orientation in the Fort Worth/Dallas metropolitan area. Once augmented with maps and a TripTik Travel Planner, I headed for the Cowgirl Museum. Arriving a few minutes before they opened I found a nice spot in the shade to park – a real prize for the southwest – for $7/all day.

Bronze cowgirl sculpture at the Cowgirl Museum,
Fort Worth, Texas

I walked around the exterior taking photos of the wonderful building details and vicariously enjoying the energy bursting from a large group of school kids waiting next door to visit the Science and History Museum. I wondered if once inside the building might burst from all that enthusiasm.

The Cowgirl Museum is very new – maybe 2 years old, so the exhibits are varied and sophisticated. My favorites were 4 or 5 holographic moving images of Annie Oakley talking and explaining things about her life. There were monitors and headphones available and a selection of recorded videos of modern day cowgirls talking about different aspects of their lives. You could ride a bucking bronco, have it video recorded and sent to your email or select a backdrop and have your photo taken in a historic cowgirl setting. Between these high-tech exhibits there were more traditional items like the clothes Cowgirls wore and how they evolved over time. Many of the exhibits were from the days of early television when Annie Oakley and Roy and Dale Evans were on TV in the 1950s. At that time the Cowgirl costumes were pretty elaborate.

Science & History museum next to the Cowgirl Museum

Annie Oakley was a star in the Wild West Show that was immensely popular not just in the US but throughout the world. One of the exhibits showed all the countries the Wild West Show visited each year for several years – it was amazing. Unfortunately, they did not permit photos of any of the exhibits so you’ll just have to take my word for it or, I recommend visiting yourself.