Rockwell Museum Part 2

In addition to the art work at the museum, there were some artifacts from The Old West as well. You know, of course, that my boys were all about the guns. Rifles, revolvers, pistols...they really enjoyed them all. You must know that I8 asked Dan if he could carve him a gun from The American Boy's Handy Book. That book is a post all its own! He even thought he saw a Peace Medal that Thomas Jefferson gave to Lewis and Clark to hand out to the Indians on their Expedition. I8 is really becoming an expert on all things west!

Blurry rifles- sorry, but I8 would not stand for them to be left out of this post! We had a great conversation about rifles...how they work and the parts. He even explained them to me based on descriptions of Pa's guns in the Little House series. And people think those books are just for girls...

Revolvers- and the boys loved that there were drawers they could pull out to see more. Whoever cleans fingerprints there might have some extra work this week. Ahem.

Didn't we all have a cap gun like this once? The engraving designs on the barrels were really quite nice. These, of course, are all guns from long ago that would have been used when cowboys roamed the west and earlier too.

There were displays of artifacts made and used by the Native Americans in the southwest. The American Girl Josefina would have used a pots just like these. R10 might enjoy seeing them.

You can't study westward expansion and not talk about The Pony Express! I8 read a book on that too (he's been reading non-stop) and really loved the stories of the riders and their harrowing adventures delivering the mail on time.

There were a few places where there were items the children could handle. Normally, there is a whole room full of dress up, but it was under construction.

We almost missed this guy jumping out of the wall! The front of the exterior of the building has a buffalo bursting out of the brick wall- very clever.

This enormous painting was on the third floor and I8 explained to me all about how the Indians hunted buffalo. Then we had fun sitting on those art museum benches acting out shooting an arrow from a bow. Good all around boy things for an art museum visit!

I8 has had a thoroughly grand time studying this time in American History. This week we are making a coon skin cap and making plans for a chuck wagon meal. This field trip was a fantastic opportunity.

As Hannibel from the A-Team would say, "I love it when a plan comes together."