Ogallala Museums

             

Ogallala, Nebraska           High 68 Low 44

It rained almost all day yesterday so we decided to go visit the two museums in town. They are across the street from each other.

The first was the Petrified Wood and Art Gallery. It was started by identical twins, Harvey and Howard Kenfield. At 89 years old they still make items for the Gallery. We got to see many examples of petrified wood from various states and nations.

We got to see lots of examples of what looked like small wooden cabins that are actually made from petrified wood. The shingles and siding look like wood, but through a process, the brothers have split the petrified wood into small slivers of rock which are then glued together.

There is one gallery with mostly arrow heads made into art. One picture was an Indian chief made entirely from Arrow heads.

There are several bronze statues and lots of fossils.

This is a replica from another Museum.

One room had a collection of art that incorporated quilts into the landscape. As quilters, we were very interested to see them.

There was an old Doctors buggy on display.

After the Petrified Wood Gallery, we went to the Front Street Crystal Palace which is an old west looking saloon which is actually a restaurant that also houses a cowboy museum.

There are lots of displays showing the history of the town. For a while cattle were driven to the town which was the end of the railroad for a time. There was lots of prostitution and gun fights. One display told about the prostitutes and how they sometimes followed the cowboys from place to place.

One display was a frontier barber shop. I thought the sign with the prices was interesting.

Today we went to see Boot Hill and Lake McConaughy, but I will write about it tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting.