Thursday, February 21, 2013

Wild West Women

Yesterday my sister Denise organized an outing for our sister group.  We met for lunch at Pasta Pastarini and then headed to the Oregon History Museum to see a show called "Tough by Nature - Portraits of Cowgirls and Ranch Women of the American West".  It was put together by Lynda Lanker (click on her name to find out more.) I hope you will enjoy seeing these images as much as I did.
Below is the logo for the show at the entrance to the exhibit.
The first painting is this huge glorious one of an Indian woman on a paint horse all bedecked in her beaded leather regalia on the edge of a canyon.  Sorry its crooked, but I had to stand off-sides to lessen the reflections.
I love this one of an older woman with her rifle. 
Another older woman with her horse. 
Gorgeous rider carrying her saddle and rope. 
A women dressed for work outside, inside for a bit with her dog.  
Western woman with her 2 sons. 
Proud young woman with her baby.   
I love this one, as Western farm women take care of feeding their animals and raising babies of all kinds. 
I love the glorious abandon of this woman.  Can you read what she wrote around the edges?  You can click on the photo to make it larger. 
Here's a tough young Western girl with her motorcycle! :-) 
The next exhibit was about the 50s - here is a wonderful vintage trailer all set for the road and a camping trip.   
The back opens up and there is a compact little kitchen.  Isn't this neat?
On to the next exhibit which is about early Oregon.  I simply loved this full-sized authentic covered wagon, it's displayed on top of a map of the Oregon Trail.  It has all the items that were carried in the wagon to set up a homestead when the families made it to Oregon.  
The inside shows some of the things brought along, there is a spinning wheel back in there.
There is also a few chickens taken along for food along the way.
Some would set up a tent at night to sleep in along the way.  Some would sleep inside their wagon, but there was little room inside for doing so, some would sleep under the wagon at night.
I loved seeing some strands of trade beads, I have some just like these!  Lewis & Clark brought these on their expedition of discovery to trade with the Indians for food and furs along the way.
One room had all sorts of sea-faring artifacts, and a recording that made you feel like you were at sea, with creaking wood beams of a ship, the sound of the ocean and sea gulls calling.  That was fun! 
They also had a nice section of local Indian artifacts, such as these wonderful woven baskets, cedar baskets, wooden carved bowl and a carved stone implement. 
A beaded and painted leather shirt or coat - whatever it is, it kept it's wearer warm and dry. 
I got a close up of the glorious basket in this case - I adore the animal images woven into this basket and the leather lining.
One display case had a full sized carved Indian canoe with other artifacts inside. 
They made hats to protect them from rain and cold.  I would love to have one of these! 
And beaded moccasins. 
I loved this painting, it was so skillfully done that the light looks wonderful.  This is a vintage painting of Mt. Hood.   
I hope you enjoyed our trip to the Historical Society!!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

21 comments:

  1. What a fascinating post, thanks Teresa. I love all those paintings and the vintage trailer is wonderful. I want one! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did enjoy exploring with you, Teresa! Thanks so much for taking me along through your beautiful post. The canoe reminds me of the one that is displayed at the Lewis and Clarke state park near Astoria. I never tire of admiring basket weaving and beads, or wonderful paintings and sketches like you shared. The spinning wheel in the covered wagon makes me want to re-read Little House on the Prairie :-) Looking forward to visiting with you soon!
    xx,
    Gracie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Incredible post Teresa! I would love to see this because of my family's history. Thank you so much for sharing :-)
    Blessings, Aimee

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my goodness! I adore pioneer stories and learning about their lives as they traveled and settled. I can't even begin to tell you the books I've devoured on the subject. I wish I had been a little birdie on your shoulder and could see these exhibits too.

    We looked at those "teardrop" campers a couple of years ago. My car could have pulled it, but it didn't look practical for what we wanted to do. They have really great storage in the back and are gaining in popularity again.

    For your question on my blog, yes that's a blower on the woodstove. They threw it in for free since we purchased a gas stove a couple of years ago and are repeat customers. They made us a very good deal on the woodstove. Of course you don't have to use the blower if you don't want to. I can't wait for a fire, maybe tomorrow night. We didn't think tonight would be good with company coming over. We were told to expect a lot of fumes the first time we light it. :-)

    Thank you for all of these gorgeous pictures!

    Blessings,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hola Teresa fantástico!!! que maravilla y que bien representan estas mujeres asombrosas la fuerza que una mujer puede generar y que impronta que ellas llevaban realmente una bellisima exposición, gracias por compartir estas maravillas,besitos.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I read this post in slow-motion because everything you showed and wrote was so fascinating! I would have loved to see all of these exhibits. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a fun and fabulous display of the wild west. It's like something we've seen in Denver. Great collection and sound like a wonderful day.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love all your pics Teresa. You live in a very interesting part of your country.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Teresa, you and your sisters and friends do the most interesting things! I would have loved this museum! I love history, and am fascinated by seeing things like this. Have you read the book Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo? If not...then do! You will love it!!
    XO Kris

    ReplyDelete
  10. Such fun! Thank you for sharing :-) xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a wonderful museum! I love all the portraits of those strong, beautiful woman. Just amazing! Have a lovely weekend!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Loved this trip to the museum, thank you! I especially enjoyed seeing the covered wagon...I love to read pioneer stories. Wonderful paintings too!
    Wishing you a happy weekend.
    Helen x

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a fun visit, thanks for taking us along Teresa.
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for a wonderful trip Teresa I so enjoyed it. Everything was so wonderful - paintings, artifacts , I really liked the boot like moccasins! Love the wagon - always been fascinated by stories of the Oregon trail and the pioneers. Thanks for sharing. Love Anne x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great pictures. I love history if it's women related. Have a nice weekend. Regula

    ReplyDelete
  16. How incredible! I can see why you felt you wanted to share them! Thanks so much for taking us along with you...I really enjoyed myself and also learnt a little! Joan

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you so much for sharing these images ... what a wonderful exhibition! And how marvellous to see older women properly represented :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Interesting to get to know West better! Yahoo :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. What an interesting exhibit. I am especially taken with the trailer/camper and the Indian moccasins. Wonderful stuff.

    ReplyDelete

I absolutely love comments and thank you so much for taking time to leave me a note. :-)