Rest of the West Gallery

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Map
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Artworks
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Artifacts

A wide variety of colorful western art dominates the walls of this upstairs gallery. Featured are Western landscapes and cities from New Mexico to California, the Rocky Mountains, and the Great Plains. They depict the landscapes, people, and the action and adventure of the cowboy. Artwork by Andy Warhol, Frederic Remington, and Charles Russell vividly portray the West.

The best and rarest guns, pistols, and rifles ever made are also on display: Colts, Winchesters, Remingtons, Marlins, and Smith & Wessons, used by settlers, cowboys, outlaws, lawmen, and ranchers. Items in this display include rare guns with low serial numbers, prototypes, and antiques. Equally important is a display of spurs and bridles, representing various styles from different historical periods. Some of the spurs were handcrafted, while some were mass produced in shops and even prisons.


 

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Colt Model 1871-72 “Baby” Open Top Pocket Revolver Prototype, Serial #2

This extremely rare gun is a prototype of a smaller version of the Open Top Pocket revolver.  The serial number on the firearm is 2.  Described in R. L. Wilson’s book, The Book of Colt Firearms, it is one of only two prototypes ever made.  It represents the most advanced development of Colt’s pocket cartridge revolvers.  Although this prototype was not manufactured as a line of guns, it was an important step in developing later Colt models. 

The Four Aces, William Herbert Dunton (1878 – 1936). Oil on canvas. c. 1915

William Herbert “Buck” Dunton was born in Maine and studied at the Cowles Art School in Boston and the Art Students League in New York. He worked for a time as an illustrator in New York, producing artwork for popular magazines of the era. By 1915, Dunton relocated to Taos, New Mexico, where he opened a studio and was a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists. Dunton became a leading American illustrator and painter, most notably for his lively, often dramatic, Western scenes. This grisaille (shades of gray) Western painting depicts a confrontation between Texas Rangers and two cowboys outside of the Four Aces Saloon.