There’s plenty to be discovered within Tulsa city limits. If you haven't been to Philbrook, the Greenwood Cultural Center or the Woody Guthrie Center, please go tomorrow. But if you venture out beyond the boundaries of Tulsa County, you’ll find a wider, sometimes literally woolier history. Piecing these narratives together creates a more complete and honest account of our region than you’ll find sticking close to home. Here are four museums off the beaten path, in Green Country and beyond.
Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve
You can’t tell the story of Woolaroc without the very phenomenon that helped make it (and nature preserves like it) necessary: the oil boom. A former fortress of Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips 66, the place known today as Woolaroc came to be in his custody in 1925, the same year Phillips Petroleum Company became the largest producer of natural gas in the U.S.
The rounded entrance to the museum is bright turquoise, adorned with mosaics of dancing Native Americans. Inside, the vast collection contains works that span millennia, starting with some of the oldest artifacts of our region: intricate shell carvings from Spiro, a replica of a throwing stick based on fragments found in the Kenton Caves near Black Mesa, Head Pots from the southeast Missouria and northeast Arkansas, and hundreds more.
Shining bronze Remingtons contrast with stacks of muted earthen pottery from Southwestern tribes, though both are intricate in their own right and tell their own stories of the region. Other collection stand-outs include a replica of an oil-industry lease from the 1930s and an enormous collection of Colt Firearms (a favorite of Frank Phillips’ nephew Phil, who donated more to Woolaroc than anyone other than Uncle Frank himself).
Some people want a pony when they make it big. Others want exotic animals. Frank, I guess, wanted a 3,700-acre wildlife preserve boasting exotic species like 600-pound Sri Lankan miniature zebu, Japanese sika deer, Scottish highland cattle and Asian water buffalo.
“My father’s older brother Frank had this little ranch out in Bartlesville, Oklahoma,” recalled Frank’s nephew Elliot in a 2009 Voices of Oklahoma interview at age 91. “He had some exotic animals on it, and I was up there one time—and he had several camels—and I said, ‘I wish we had one of those.’ I didn’t [really mean it], I was just talking. And dang if he didn’t send one out to the ranch [in New Mexico]. So we put it in the game pasture. Dad (Waite) had a game pasture there at the ranch, down there by the headquarters with a big fence around it.”
The zebu lounging in the Woolaroc pastures are among the first of the near-dozen exotic animals to greet visitors upon arrival. They don’t literally greet you, of course—they’d likely gore you if you got out of your car. A car is indeed required to wind down the 2-mile asphalt road, as is appropriate for a ranch built from black gold.
Woolaroc’s bison arrived nearly 100 years ago in 1926 from South Dakota (and are of no relation to the herd 40 miles northeast in the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve). Even in the dead of winter, patches of green grass pepper Woolaroc’s landscape, perfect for their grazing. The bison and the other animal residents (which include pygmy goats, Sardinian donkeys, llamas, aoudads and ostriches) congregate in scenes that sometimes resemble the majestic paintings housed in the seven-room museum at the heart of the preserve.
Nowhere in the museum handouts or placards does it explain how or why Phillips collected this cultural smorgasbord. Regardless, it’s impressive, even awe-inspiring. The museum’s website notes that Phillips built Woolaroc as “a place for lavish parties and has hosted East Coast investors, Native American chiefs, and even bank robbers.” It's easy to imagine awestruck ranch guests leaving the opulent oasis with a core memory.
Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve
1925 Woolaroc Ranch Road, Barnsdall
918-336-0307
10 a.m.-5 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday; open on Tuesdays during the summer
$16 general admission
Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum
Across the prairie in Pawhuska, the Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum tells stories of grit and determination through a Western lens. Named after the only person to win both a rodeo world championship and an Academy Award (for his supporting role in 1971’s The Last Picture Show), the museum is an ode to legendary local ranchers and wranglers, the heroes of equine sports and, of course, Ben Johnson. The museum dubs him the “World's Greatest Cowboy” and dedicates an entire room to his acting career with framed photos, magazine covers, articles and movie posters.
The museum captures an appreciation for cowboy craftsmanship as well as cowboy fame. Illuminated cases display everything from stocky shirts and blue jeans to stirrups and tooled saddles. Regional treasures like boots from Fairfax’s Blucher Boot Co. and spurs from Oscar Crockett’s Crockett Bit & Spur Company—all etched with names and pictures—showcase how daily tools can have personality and flare.
Art that chronicles the settlement and capital success of Osage County is on display in everything from the intricate designs of those saddles—King Bowman’s most ornate, C.P. Shipley’s centenarian and outlaw queen Belle Starr’s, to name a few—to Pawhuska artist John D. Free’s metal sculptures, carving tools, and even small paintings that he created southpaw-style, as he found it difficult to use his right hand in his later years.
It’s no surprise the Drummond family’s entrepreneurial escapades are detailed there, too, from their success in the trading and ranching businesses to “Pioneer Woman” Ree Drummond’s foray into the homes of seemingly millions of moms in the 2010s. Of late, the name is nationally known due to the Pioneer Woman phenomenon—even the Barbie designed after her is at Ben Johnson—but locally (and for those who know anything about ranching), it’s been a fixture here about as long as white settlement has. The family is the largest landholder in Osage County, according to a 2022 Bloomberg exposé.
The explosive popularity of the Pioneer Woman and the modern capitalistic successes of the Drummond family stand in poignant contrast with the rough-and-tumble brag points of the rodeo and riding champions of the region. The fact that the former has more national recognition but the latter has more prominence in the museum speaks to what the Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum is all about: local legends. It’s a humble homage to those who made an impact in sport and society as well as those who built the region’s ranching reputation, which includes the names everyone knows alongside the ones you just haven’t learned yet.
Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum
201 E. Sixth St., Pawhuska
918-287-9922
10 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Saturday
$10 general admission
Cherokee National History Museum
Housed in Tahlequah’s restored Cherokee National Capitol Building, where the dual-language Cherokee Advocate was first printed and where the county’s first telephone was installed, the 7,000-square-foot Cherokee National History Museum chronicles the timelines and traditions of the most populous tribe in the U.S. today.
On the first floor, partitions highlight key figures in the Nation’s tapestry. “One Land, One Nation: Cherokee Unification After Removal” shares accounts of divisions among Cherokee people that began with western migration in the late 1700s, with emphasis on three distinct groups and their leaders: Old Settlers, the Treaty Party and the Ross Party. Nearby stands a replica of the Cherokee Nation Land Patent, which granted more than 14 million acres west of Arkansas Territory to the Cherokee Nation.
In the stairwell that leads up to the second floor, a collaborative project led by artist Bill Glass, Jr. tells the Cherokee creation story with a sculpture installation commissioned by the museum for its 2019 opening. Cast and carved canoes hang from the walls and ceiling among a backdrop of geometric and symmetrical graphic murals, elaborate paintings and detailed clay sculptures.
By modern standards and in comparison to European settlers, the Cherokee Nation’s gender equality was ahead of its time. Mannequins dressed like a Peace Chief (in white, as leader of the peacetime government), War Chief (in red, as leader of the wartime government) and Beloved Woman (women who were leaders and held positions on both the war and peace councils) embody the culture’s egalitarian principles. History lives in the details.
As the exhibits progress through history, the stories told through art and artifact are of everyday life—games, basket weaving, jewelry—until the lighting shifts. Rounding the corner past an installation dedicated to Sequoyah, the light darkens to orange, an ominous effect aided by its reflection against walls that look like wooden marble. This is the story of forced removal. Compared to the creation story, told with bright illumination, this somber space acknowledges the plight of the Cherokee people.
Of course, it doesn’t end there. The last installation illustrates more modern tenets of Cherokee life, celebrating the rebuilding of the nation after forced removal and the Civil War. Stories of culture, community, education and honor are told in the colorful displays of clothing, baskets and relics from renowned Cherokees like Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller.
Cherokee National History Museum’s website is robust and includes an interactive tour of the museum space, so those who can’t visit in person can still engage in the rich cultural history of the Cherokee people.
While the museum welcomes groups, I highly recommend attending solo or with folks who won’t rush through. Taking time at each exhibit reveals a sophisticated and lively nation’s history that challenges the simplistic curriculum taught in state public schools.
Cherokee National History Museum
101 S. Muskogee Ave., Tahlequah
877-779-6977
10 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday
Free admission
Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center
In the winter, the grounds of the Spiro Mounds are quiet. Aside from an occasional siren carried by a gust of southwesterly wind from nearby Spiro, birdsong from the brush and rattling leaves overhead are the only sounds in the 150-acre prehistoric preserve. It’s a reminder of how reliable earth can be. Mighty cities rise and fall, but the land will always be steadfast.
If you don’t know where to look, you might think the mounds are simply hills or even old piles of overgrown dirt, leftover from modern construction. But stories of civilization are packed beneath the topsoil. With its proximity to the Arkansas River, this place was a thriving city 1,000 years ago and has been occupied by humans for at least 33,000 years, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society, which owns and operates the site today.
From roughly 800 to 1450 AD, the mounds and their surrounding area were a hub for ceremony, trade and community life. The people of the Spiro Mounds are believed to have been Caddoan speakers, like the modern Wichita, Kichai, Caddo, Pawnee, and Arikara, though OHS notes that more than 60 tribes interacted there. Scholars debate about what led to the civilization’s decline, but theories include climate change and cultural evolution. Not long after, the arrival of European settlers and destructive diseases further afflicted the Indigenous population.
Though not a bird sanctuary, the calm expanse of Spiro Mounds neighbors the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge and extends the flyways that connect the river inland. Visiting the refuge is an added bonus to any visit, even in the middle of winter. Its vastness and winding trails welcome speed walkers and kids alike. During our visit, a handful of people peppered the pathway, but even with the ambient human activity, the land was tranquil.
More art and iconography has been discovered at the Spiro mounds than any other prehistoric site in the U.S., according to the archeological center. The story those artifacts tell is somewhat sparse because the site has been disturbed many times over the past two centuries, starting in the late 1800s when the land was used for farming. Later, commercial mining and looting contributed to its destruction. Many of the artifacts on display are replicas or recreations, like shell engravings, baskets and pipes. (If you want to view the originals, you’ll have to travel to Woolaroc.) Beautiful examples of art at the archeological center include an engraved water bottle, donated to the center in 2017, made by Caddo potter Chase Kahwinut Earles using traditional materials and techniques.
Outside and down the trail, sun-kissed placards protrude from the pasture near each earthen mound, identifying what’s been found in each site. Some of the 12 known mounds are old homes and two are ancient temples, but the largest—Craig Mound—is a reconstruction of the ancient burial mound where more than 1,000 Spiro leaders were buried. In 1935, two years after the site was ransacked by robbers who destroyed at least 300 burials and sold the property buried with them, an Oklahoma law passed to close all commercial digs. Starting the next year, more than 600 burials were excavated by University of Oklahoma teams.
Today it’s the only active archaeological site in Oklahoma open to the public. Starting May 12, archeologists will return for their summer excavation, and visitors can see them in action during operating hours. If that appeals to you, historian Anna Vincent, director of the Archaeological Center, recommends arriving before 2:00 p.m. Admission fees are waived while the center is undergoing updates.
Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center
18154 N. First St., Spiro
918-962-2062
9 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday
Free admission
Other off-the-beaten path museums to visit:
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry
416 E. Main St.
Locust Grove, OK 74352
Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park and Fiddle House Museum
21300 OK-28 A
Chelsea, OK 74016
Recently restored by Tulsa native Erin Turner and others, the structures in this park are the work of a retired woodworker and Army veteran born in 1880. At this spot in Rogers County, Turner writes on her website, “this park features [Galloway's] 12-sided Fiddle House studio, a large totem pole, four small totems, two ornate picnic tables with animal-form seats, a barbecue, and four sets of animal-form gateposts all constructed from concrete and brightly painted with any house paint he could lay his hands on. Beginning in 1937 and continuing until 1948, he built the large totem rising 90 feet tall from the back of an enormous turtle, in tribute to the American Indian. It is estimated that 28 tons of cement, six tons of steel, and 100 tons of sand and rock comprise the structure. The large pole features 200 carved images with four nine-foot Indian chiefs near the top of the structure.”
Oklahoma Frontier Drugstore Museum
214 W. Oklahoma Ave.
Guthrie, OK 73044
Located in Oklahoma’s first capital, this museum features collections of antique and esoteric remedies and pharmaceuticals, drugstore memorabilia (including a leech jar!), and an apothecary garden.
D. W. Correll Museum
19934 E. Pine St.
Catoosa, OK 74015
Rock hound? Vintage car enthusiast? This museum’s for you. Its main building contains a collection of rare rocks, gems, fossils and minerals. A second building houses antique automobiles, carriages and a locomobile (or steam engine) from 1898.
Shattuck Windmill Museum & Park
Junction of Highways 283 and 15
Shattuck, OK 73858
Travel back to the turn of the 20th century at this corner of northwest Oklahoma. The park features 51 vintage windmills, a reconstruction of a dugout (used for shelter when no lumber could be found), and a farmhouse from the era.
The Toy & Action Figure Museum
111 S. Chickasaw St.
Pauls Valley, OK 73075
A Pauls Valley destination since 2005, this is the world’s first museum devoted to the art and sculpting of action figures, packed wall-to-wall with tiny heroes and villains from Wonder Woman to Chewbacca.
