F,,€, d r{ -c--@; ra {rt1E.g -f A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE BUFFALO BrLL HTSTORTCAL CENTER r SUMMER 1999 2 READERS'FoRUM EDITOR'S NOTE: As a service to readers, we'll attempt to answer some oJ the most frequently asked 7 UNBROKEN SP1R17I' The Challenges and questions that we receive at the Bulfalo Bill Historical J Opportunities of Creating a Multi-disciplinary Center. you have a question you'd like to see Exhibition U addressed in these pages, please send it to the atten- F, EXPLORING A NEW FRONTIER: The Role ol tion of the Editor, Points West, BulJalo Bill Historical I Natural History Museums in the 21st Century Center, 720 Sheridan Avenue, Cody, WY 82414. wEST: A Symposium on I vtstoN oF THE NEw Why are the light levels so low in the museums? ' the Wild Horse Q. ttgnt is one of many elements that can damage { N THERE'S NEVER BEEN AN ACTOR LIKE A. I U BUFFALO BILL art, artifacts and archival materials. All types of light, whether natural or from a fixture, are harmiul to l4 sHoorour coMpElroRs KEEe coMING BACK museum objects. Light can cause fading, drying, heat damage, sagging and general degradation or POWWOW-The Evolving Traditions in Plains { L "aging." Some types of materials are more sus- I O Indian cultures ceptible to light damage. For example, organic 1 8 CHAUNCEY McMILLAN AND HIS BORDER COLLIES materials such as paper, textiles, basketry and wood are more light sensitive than metal, stone or ceramic. Certain pigments such as watercolors and INSIGHTS 20 pastels are also more easily alfected than oils or acrylics. Light levels are measured by footcandles KIDS,PAGE 2I and are appropriately controlled within the museum according to the object's medium and condition. 22 CALENDAR OF EVENTS An area may seem dark to the museum viewer, however. Control of light levels as well as humidity and other factors ultimately protects the objects so that they can be viewed for many years to come. POINi'S WESj" is published quarterly as a benefit of membership in the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. For membership inlormation contact: LETTERS SOUGHT FOR READERS' FORUM Jane Sanders Director of Membership Buffalo Bill Historical Center Got question? Would you like to comment on any 720 Sheridan Avenue, Cody,WY 82414 a or call (307) 587-4771, ext.4032. ol the articles in Points West? Write a letter to the Request permission to copy, reprint or distribute articles in any medium or format. Address Readers' Forum. editoiial cbrrespondence to the Editor, POINIS WESiI Buflalo Bill Historical Center, 720 Letters should be brief, approximately 150 words or Sheridan Avenue, Cody, WY 82414. less, and must be signed. Please include a legibly printed Scott Hagel Editor: address daytime telephone number. Designer: Jan Woods Krier name, return and Production Coordinator: Renee Tafoya Letters may be submitted by e-mail < wwwbbhc.or$ > Photography: Devendra Shrikhande, Chris Cink, Chris Cimmeson to Editor, Points West, Butfalo Bill Historical Center, The Buffalo Bill Hisrorical Cenrer is a private, non-profit educational institution dedicated 720 Sheridan Avenue, Cody, WY 82414. to preserving and interpreting the culturql history of the American West. Founded in l917, Letters selected for publication will be chosen at the thd Historical Cenrer is home to the Buflalo Bill Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art and McCracken Research Library. editor's discretion. Questions raised in letters may be answered in the pages ol Points West lor the beneiit of all readers. I Cover: Wild Horses have become an indelible leature ol America's physical- and cultural-landscape. (Photo by Gary Leppart.) The Challenges and Oppoitunities of Creating a M ulti- disciplinary E xhibitio n Bt' Charlcs /1. Prtslorr CLU(tlor of Natttrttl Ilistor,l' k"% $..'*. r|l.l f Wild horses endr-rre as svrnbols ol'lreedon'r irr the lanciscape ol the American West. yet inspire ambivalent leelings alnonq naturalists and pollriz,rtiott Irrtut-en opps5t11" c;ttttps ot't'r the issttc ol pt-otection (Photo by Cary Leppart ) road, ii indeed it could be called a road, was thread, and various species of bluegrass completed the Th. "saddle" I absolutely brutal. We had been in the ol picture. This was rough country. typical ol much oF rhe the old Suburban for more than eight hours, and this landscape in drier regions ol the Rocky Mountain West. last stretch of dry, gully-ridden. boulder-strewn land- The year was 199l. and I was about to embark on an scape was beginning to take a serious toll on certain adventure that would dramatically influence my perspec- parts of my anatomy. The scenery. however, was spec, tive on interpreting narural hisrory in a museum serting. tacular. Stark, deep-red rocks and soil contrasted I was accompanied on this iateful trip by a friend dramatically with the rich evergreen hues ol pinon pine and professional colleague who was intimately tamiliar and .1uniper. Blooming priclily pear, claret cup. and with this sparsely populated region ol northwesrern other cactus species lent splashes of bright color. and Colorado. I had recently begun a stint as chairman of the widely spaced patches oI rabbitbrush, needle-and- Department of Zoology at the Denver Museum ol 3 Natural History, and was anxious to explore the But, along with populations of many native nether regions of Colorado. We were on a section of wildlile species, the number ol wild horses declined land managed by the U.S. Bureau ol Land significantly through the nineteenth and early twentieth Management in the Piceance Basin, in Rio Blanco centuries They were persecuted as competitors with County. Among other attractions, we were hoping to domestic livestock, captured for use as domestic live- catch a glimpse ol some ol the wild horses known to stock, and even rounded up and slaughtered to inhabit the region. I was not prepared for our sudden, become pet food. But by the middle of the twentieth slartling successl As we rounded a sharp curve century, wild horses had touched a nerve in the traversing the pygmy woodland, the landscape lay American psyche. Passionate activists, led by Velma uncluttered belore us in a broad, rocky depression. Johnston (a.k.a. Wild Horse Annie) and others, lobbied On the edge of a blull bordering the depression stood for laws to protect wild horses. In 1971, the Wild Free- a large chocolate-and'white paint horse, with its long, Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed. lt recog- white mane dancing in the breeze. The scene was nized and protected wild horses as ". living symbols almost surreal, and I had to blink a couple of times to of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West." assure myseli that this was no mirage. As we Of course, legislation did not eliminate contro- watched, two other horses versy. Stockgrowers contin- came into view brieily, belore ued to express concern about all three turned away from the impact ol wild horses on the bluff's edge, and disap- a public range shared by peared from view. domestic livestock, and NoW I should admit up wanted wild horse popula- front that I never gave much tions controlled. In contrast. thought to wild horses belore some wild horse advocates that day. I knew that several wanted to see the wild herds centuries after ancestors of increase virtually without the modern wild horse check under human protec- became extinct in North tion. I was vaguely aware that Like other animals in the wild, stallrons struggle lor America, domestic horses dominance. The winner will pass his genetic traits on to federal agencies, particularly descendants. strengthening the herd (Photo by Gary Leppart). were introduced to this the U. S. Bureau of Land continent by early Spanish Management, were faced explorers. These animals represented a stock that had with significant challenges in managing wild horse undergone intensive selective breeding in Europe and populations. As a wildlile biologist, I tacitly placed Asia for generations. Many of the horses escaped wild horses in the same category as European human control, and survived and reproduced in the starlings and feral hogs (razorbacks)-alien animals American landscape, forming closely-knit bands. that roam free in 20th century North America only Although the term "leral" is generally applied to because ol human introduction and neglect. My chief domestic livestock that becomes free-roaming, most concern was lor the fate of native wildlife that shared Americans simply refer to these animals as "wild." the range with wild horse herds. But I must conless Some wild horses roaming the West today are direct that the sight of those horses in the Piceance Basin descendants of the Spanish stock introduced to this struck an emotional chord. There was something that continent more than 300 years ago. They have been seemed fitting and, well . natural, about the horses joined by escaped or abandoned horses of various running unfettered in the western landscape. Maybe it breeds through the years. At one time, early in the was the long-repressed image ol Fury or other television 1800s, perhaps two million wild horses existed in programs and movies I was addicted to in my youth North America. that linked the wild horse with the spirit of the West. 4 At any rate, I was suddenly struck with ambivalence about the wild horse. On one hand, I was concerned about the potential impact of an introduced, feral animal into native ecosystems, and on the other, I had to admit that the pres- ence of the wild horse added a dramatic, even romantic, dimension to the land- scape.