The history of the AMERICAN WEST has involved the broadest spectrum of human activities. It is a complete assortment of racial, national identities, economic classes, ages, and lifestyles as evident at the time of the “Frontier” and in the western saga it generated. The West highlighted a human and stylistic capital, not just myths nor exclusivity of gender, a universally masculine world. Women have been fundamental and have tenaciously participated in every single aspect of life in the West.
Buffalo Bill Center of The West
A visit to the Buffalo Bill Center of The West museum in Cody highlights some unique stories of women who played a role in the West: in art and history. The museum is undoubtedly a remarkable museum complex strongly inspired by the American West: “We believe in a spirit, definable and intellectually real, called ‘The Spirit of the American West.’” It consists of 5 museums and a research library with Western art and artifacts: the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indians Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Draper Natural History Museum, and the Cody Firearms Museum. It is the most notable museum of the West in the United States and at the same time a Smithsonian Affiliate.
Whitney Art Museum
The Whitney Art Museum is the expression of the West in art. The first woman we mention is ROSA BONHEUR, a painter who admired Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show in Paris in 1889, so much so that she invited Colonel Cody to visit the Fontainebleau castle where she painted his portrait. For her, Buffalo Bill embodied the freedom and independence of the United States. The portrait – one of the most famous of Buffalo Bill – painted by a woman is located at the Whitney Western Art Museum where paintings, sculptures, and prints show women or were created by women, although fewer in number compared to those about men and made by men. Women rarely received training to become artists. Rosa Bonheur was an exception thanks to her French family of artists engaged in women’s rights.
Another female artist GERTRUDE VANDERBILT WHITNEY created the first artwork purchased for this museum: the monumental bronze statue depicting Buffalo Bill on horseback, placed outside the museum. Vanderbilt – belonging to one of the richest families in America – had financial resources to cultivate her artistic interests. Often considered a socialite of high society, her professional career as an artist was sometimes not taken seriously. So, when commissioned to commemorate Buffalo Bill, she took on the challenge by responding with this remarkable statue featuring a fiery equestrian portrait. Women sometimes appear as symbols. In the artistic narrative of the Frontier by William Tylee Ranney in the painting Advice on the Prairie, the woman mother emigrant with a child in her arms symbolizes the promise of the future for settlers.
The woman with an independent spirit is instead portrayed by N.C. Wyeth in The Lady Wins: the adventurous nature of the woman in the early 20th century leads her to assume roles in work, education, social movements, art, and literature, reflecting changes through the inclusivity of energetic female characters such as this skilled horsewoman. Women artists appear more numerous in contemporary times, bringing new perspectives.
DONNA HOWELL-SICKLES, a contemporary Texan artist, chooses as subject the cowgirl who becomes an ideal figure: active, accomplished, and also charming, as in the painting A Matter of Choice. The artist identifies with the self-sufficient and hardworking spirit of the cowgirl. In her portraits, she presents all the glory of the cowgirl.
Cody Firearms Museum
At the Cody Firearms Museum is exhibited the largest collection in the world of American firearms: over 10,000 specimens of Western weapons! Who hasn’t heard of the sharpshooter ANNIE OAKLEY? Phoebe Anne Moses gained experience hunting in her native Ohio and, in 1876, took the stage name Annie Oakley, participating with her husband in a shooting show at the age of 16. Eight years later, she joined her husband in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show where she remained a star for over 15 years.
Many of Annie’s weapons are exhibited in the museum, including the Marlin M1893 rifle. Her reputation inspired many imitators: a mural photo from the late 1800s shows her with a group of female sharpshooters. Women of the West – among whom the famous CALAMITY JANE – were very familiar with firearms: at the museum are rifles used by two pioneering women of Cody, the Winchester M1894 of IRMA CODY, daughter of Buffalo Bill to whom her father dedicated the Irma Hotel of Cody; then the Savage M1899 used by WYNONA THOMPSON, another woman who contributed to the cultural tradition of Cody.
Buffalo Bill Museum
At the Buffalo Bill Museum, women of the West are portrayed in the challenge with the Frontier. MARY LAYCOCK CODY – Buffalo Bill’s mother – for example, very educated, gave up her career and stability to move West and, like other women, became responsible for the family’s economic support after the death of her husband.
The dancer GIUSEPPINA MORLACCHI rejected the domestic role and traveled to the United States performing in many cities with the Morlacchi Ballet Troupe in a series of popular shows. At the height of fame and success, she was cast as the lead in the western performance Scouts of the Prairie, alongside Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack Omohundro.
In the jewelry section, the family has furniture, accessories, and clothes of women such as LOUISA FREDERICI CODY, wife of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, and his daughters and sisters-in-law. She stayed in a rocky relationship for 51 years until Cody’s death in 1917. If women influenced entertainment and fashion, politics and economy, they also had to face tragedy. Mrs. Cody’s mourning dress represents the personal hardship she endured.
Plains Indian Museum
At the PLAINS INDIAN MUSEUM, the collections of art and artifacts of the Native Americans of the Plains – among the largest in the United States – illustrate stories and traditions of the Indians of the West. The popular image presents the classic warrior with an eagle feather headdress riding a painted horse. But women are also recognized for their strength, skill, and contributions in creating and maintaining the native culture of the Plains. At least half of the objects exhibited in the museum were created by women. During buffalo hunting or special occasions, Crow women decorated their horses with saddles, bridles, martingales of beads, and even today continue this tradition in parades and other events.
Women made the Tepee from tanned bison hides until 1870, when the great herds had not yet been exterminated by white men. They used various tools to work for hours on leather treatment until soft to forge clothing and moccasins, as well as quivers and other containers. Skilled in working with bead embroidery and porcupine quills, they create clothing for their families to identify each tribe.
The color red is symbolic for multiple cultures and movements; often associated with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement which raises awareness about violence Indigenous women face. Red is thought of as the color of violence. But, conversely, for many native cultures, red is a color spirits can see, recognizing people who wear it on Earth.
An object from the past dating to 1890, a red dress of the Blackfeet Indian tribe of Montana, connects to the contemporary movement: in this way, the meaning is maintained. The museum collection is not only related to the past but conveys a meaning for the future.
©Thema Nuovi Mondi
