Myriad Botanical Gardens and National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The day was already warm, bordering on hot, when we got started on the local sights.  Thinking we would be more comfortable in the garden, we hit that first.  The Myriad Botanical Gardens have an interesting history, which you can read for yourself at that link.  Long story short, they were originally designed by architect I.M. Pei, in a revitalization of downtown OKC effort, and modeled after Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark.  We started in the Crystal Bridge Conservatory, with the Zombie Palm. The Zombie Palm is usually found in dry hilly areas of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  (sooooo, why is it located on the Wet Mountain side of the Conservatory?) According to the literature, the leaves are often used to weave hats and make brooms, while the wicked spines are rumored to have been used in Voodoo dolls.  That freaked me out, so we moved on down the path.  Quickly.

This waterfall would be the reasoning behind naming it Wet Mountain.  It really was pretty, and served to cool the air and offered us welcome respite from the oppressive heat outside.

 As we continued around the indoor Conservatory, we were exposed to other beautiful tropical foliage plants, and even a Double Yellow-headed Amazon Parrot.  I forgot to take his picture, so I'll show you one from Wikipedia.  The one in the garden was behind bars, anyway, and no one wants to see a jailbird, especially a naked one!  Hahaha, I crack my own self up!

(picture credit)

Outdoors, there were a couple of medium sized ponds, one with koi, and a little babbling brook connecting them and winding its way among the hills, trees and flower beds.  There was even a mama duck feeding her little babies.  She'd run up the embankment, to where someone had (perhaps deliberately?) dropped a piece of bread on the sidewalk.  She'd grab a mouthful, and bring it down to the stream, where the babies were.  They couldn't quite get up on the rocks, so mama appeared to regurgitate it down at their level.  We watched for quite some time; we are easily entertained.

Finally, our 2 hour parking meter (it's pretty prevalent downtown, and you have to enter your license plate number, so it's not like you can just add money when your time is up) was about up, so we figured it was time to move on to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.  We were really torn about visiting this place, as the reviews ranged from 1 to 5 stars.  Most said it was really more just an art gallery than a museum, but those that liked it, REALLY REALLY liked it.  Dick likes looking at paintings a lot more than I do; I personally prefer photographs, mementos, artifacts and anecdotes and back-stories about the people and times.  We decided if it was too boring or my back was bothering me too much, we would just leave and call it a $15 lesson learned.  Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, the place was really cool.  (actually, it was also very COLD inside, but isn't it always?)  We were greeted in the parking lot by this statue, entitled Honeymoon....something.... but we really couldn't see why. And why was the Indian holding a parasol, of all things?

Then we walked around the other side of the sculpture and found his squaw snuggled up against his back, her delicate features shielded from the scorching sun's rays.  Sweet.  And such detail!

We stepped inside and immediately found ourselves at the head of the line to purchase our tickets.  Apparently, the price had gone up since the brochures were printed, and it was going to be a $19 lesson if we chose to leave early.....  But then, after purchasing our tickets, with a $3 discount each, for being old, thank you very much, we headed into the atrium to learn about this sad sad figure.  As you can read, this represents the popular portrayal of Indian warriors, defeated and dejected, bound for oblivion.  The Indians, however, knew they faced a rocky and steep trail ahead, but they believed they could continue, despite efforts to confine them to reservations ravaged by disease and starvation.  It was truly heartbreaking to read the story, but uplifting to know that change is in the air and today, Native Americans stand proud.

The next statue reflects the West in all its glory and legend.  It is that of Buffalo Bill astride his horse, Brigham.  On to the promise of open land and gold, he beckons all to the West.

Inside, there were galleries upon galleries of hanging pictures, done in oils and watercolors, some very old, some done only in the past year or two.  There were some sculptures done in metal, some in wood, some in stone.  Yada, yada, yada.  There was one sculpture of 3 little owls that caught my eye, but the price tag encouraged me to move along quickly, so there would be no chance of me knocking it down.  It was WELL above my pay grade, that's for sure!

Once we got past all the art galleries, we moved into galleries of artifacts and dioramas depicting life and the struggles of pioneer days.  I found this poster explaining the hardships and conditions of the life in the frontier army to be relevant, even by today's standards. 

These displays showed some of the early uniforms and a buffalo coat worn by the soldiers of the Frontier Army.  Below that are two pioneer women's outfits, making me feel almost undressed, in my tank top, shorts and flip flops.

Here is a Trailer Headdress from Northern Plains, Cree, Circa 1940.  It is made from red wool cloth, ribbon, eagle feathers, plume feathers, glass beads, rawhide and felt.  It was impressive, and well over 6 feet tall!

Here are some other examples of amazing headgear, made from whatever materials were available:

This is a woman's wedding outfit, worn by an Osage woman in the Southern Plains, circa 1900.  1900!!!  Not all that long ago, in the grand scheme of things.  

Just for giggles and grins, I found this lovely shot....it's NOT Dick and me, and it's not EXACTLY like my wedding dress, but it's darned close!  And only 89 years later!  LOL, looking back now, I'm not sure which one is worse!  The Indian one is definitely more elaborate and ornate, for sure.  But look at that headdress!  As we neared it, Dick said it looked like feather dusters to him.  But then, look at those sleeves on the more current bride - they look like lamb chops!  (yes, yes, I know they're called mutton sleeves...just go with me here, m-kay?)

What a difference, eh??? 

Below you'll see just an ordinary, every day dress.  It's made from somebody's hide, you know, the cow's outside.  Yeah, that's a corny joke, but it worked here...  But all the colors you see, green, blue, red, black, some white, those are seed beads. Teeny, tiny, eenie weenie seed beads.  Strung and stitched by hand.  BY HAND, I say, by hand.  Thankfully, not MY hands!  I'm still working on that 4 x 4 flamingo I started back in April...  

There were evolutions of saddlery, tributes to John Wayne and Howdy Doody, as well as a whole room dedicated to former rodeo stars and legends.  The only one I really remember was Lane Frost, who died at the tender age of 25, of injuries sustained while riding the bull Takin' Care of Business, in July of 1989.  I believe he was the first (and only) one to ride the bull successfully, scoring 91 points.  He dismounted the bull, who then struck the cowboy in the back with one of his horns, breaking several ribs and knocking the man down.  Lane stood up, waving for assistance, and started walking to the chutes.  He stumbled and fell to the ground once more, causing the broken ribs to puncture his heart and lungs.  He was taken to the hospital immediately, but he was pronounced dead upon arrival.  His injuries and subsequent death led his friend and partner, Cody Lambert, to create the protective vest that is now mandatory for all bull riders on the circuit.  Garth Brooks and George Strait have both penned songs in tribute to Lane, and the movie, 8 Seconds, starring Luke Perry, was based on his life.

Stay tuned for our next adventure... Stockyards City, Bricktown and other quirky stops along Rt 66.