Founded in 1955 in Oklahoma City, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum grew from a hall of fame honoring cowboys into a major institution devoted to the art, history, and cultures of the American West. Its vast collections include more than 28,000 Western and Native American artworks and artifacts, notable strengths in rodeo photography, barbed wire, saddlery, firearms, and major Western artists, and extensive research archives. Through galleries on cowboy life, rodeo, Native traditions, recreated town life, annual art exhibitions, and halls of fame and awards, it preserves, studies, and celebrates the many stories and legacies of the West.