Traveling from the Witte Museum to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, a significant exhibition titled Black Cowboys: An American Storyis paving the way for a more diverse understanding of Black lives in the West. More specifically, the exhibition follows the lives of Black cowboys, as well as Black women and children, “who labored on the ranches of Texas and participated in cattle drives before the Civil War through the turn of the 20th -century,” explains museum representatives.
Photograph of Hector Bazy. Courtesy Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution and Courtesy of the Witte Museum, credit Kurtis Kronk.
Marise McDermott, president and CEO of the Witte Museum, says, “The individual stories of Black cowboys, illustrating courage in the face of discrimination, skill, despite great odds and success through generations as ranchers and leaders in their field are powerful. The Witte Museum was privileged to work closely with an outstanding steering committee and advisors, including community leaders, scholars and Black cowboys and ranchers, to create this unparalleled exhibition, which reveals what life was like for Black cowboys during this time.”
The exhibition includes artifacts, documents and photographs of Black cowboys like George McJunkin or Cowboy & Horse, pictured here. “Museum visitors will discover how Black cowboys tamed and trained horses, tended livestock and rode on the trail with thousands of cattle across America,” shares National Cowboy museum reps. “Over time, the role of Black cowboys evolved as they used the skills they learned on the ranch and trail to own their own ranches, serve as lawmen, ride in rodeos, become singers and perform in movies.”
George McJunkin, photograph. © Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Courtesy of the Witte Museum, credit Kurtis Kronk.
An important feature in the exhibition is also a film centered around the life of Hector Bazy, a Black cowboy that was born enslaved on a Grimes County, Texas plantation. Bazy is portrayed by Eugene Lee, actor and playwright, taking inspiration from the cowboy’s autobiography written in 1910, “describing the exhilarating and dangerous work of cowboy life,” reads the exhibition press release.
Ron Davis, Witte curator of American history, and co-curator of the exhibition alongside Texas history curator Bruce Shackelford, continues to note that Black cowboys were integral to the growth of Texas cattle industry immediately after the Civil War. “In fact, one in four cowboys that went up the trails was a Black cowboy,” he says.
Experience a different perspective of life in the West by visiting the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum now through January 2, 2024. —
Black Cowboys: An American Story
Through January 2, 2024
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
1700 Northeast 63rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73111
(405) 478-2250, www.nationalcowboymuseum.org
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