Two years ago the City of Scottsdale debuted its new Western Spirit Museum of the West in a brand new purpose-built building in Old Town Scottsdale. Figuring it was about time we visited the place, we made it on today’s day trip. Owned by the city and run by a non-profit organization, the Museum self describes its vision as “celebrating the West and its importance by informing, educating, inspiring, and engaging museum guests. Western Spirit offers high-quality exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach addressing regional history, particularly as reflected by the arts and the dynamic cultural exchanges that have marked the transition of the Old West into the New West.”
The building itself is beautiful – very modern and eclectically designed. Inside you will find everything from movie posters from westerns over the ages to sculptures, paintings, prints, saddles, spurs, memorabilia, and collectibles. They have a beautiful outdoor sculpture garden and an auditorium where we watched a brief introductory film about the concept behind the museum. We were impressed enough on leaving to convert our admission costs into an annual membership. I’ll let pictures do the talking, using captions to add to the information.
Click on the Gallery to bring up a viewing window where you can scroll through larger versions of the pictures with captions.
Here’s a repeat of one of the photos in the Gallery showing perhaps the highlight of Western Spirit’s collection:
The book is a first edition of the chronicles of the expeditions of Lewis and Clark. The tomahawk is the actual one found next to the dead body of Captain Meriwether Lewis. As he traveled down the Natchez Trace on his way to Washington, he died of gunshot wounds and possibly a slit throat. His family always contended he was murdered, but his cohort Clark and his friend Thomas Jefferson accepted the more common explanation of a suicide. “The presentation style pipe tomahawk carried by Captain Lewis is deemed one of the most historically significant objects of American history. Lewis carried this tomahawk during his great exploration up the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and back from 1804-1806. The pipe tomahawk is no mere utilitarian tool designed for daily use. Rather, it was crafted to reflect the status of its owner and for use as a tool of diplomacy with Native Americans. Diplomatic relationships were often cemented by smoking tobacco, and as an Army officer schooled in encounters with Native Americans, Lewis would have been well aware of the war-peace symbolic dualism of the pipe tomahawk.”
At the beginning of the gallery, there are several shots of a sculpture by Dave McGary, and there are numerous more sculptures by him in the museum. Back when we lived in Boston, Elaine, who adores McGary’s work, bought a sculpture by him which holds pride of place in our great room here in Scottsdale. It is pictured below.
The sculptures are magnificent. Love the pictures of you and Elaine looking as if you are ready to ride the horses into the Arizona Sunset. Take care….Love Cindy