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Show Class K. Magazine Article Intended for traveling men and women, age 20-70, in a western travel magazine such as "Westways." The West's Best Kept Secret Like a unique gem discovered in a shallow crag of some rocky cliff, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center hides perhaps the best collection of western art in the world. Rarely found by westerners because of its smalltown location 81 miles east of Yellowstone Park, the Center houses ten-million dollars worth of perfectly preserved artifacts, including original paintings and statues by artists such as Charles Russell and Frederic Remington. Lesser known for his art than his defeat of General George Custer at the Little Big Horn, Chief Sitting Bull's original drawings are also on display. A large 7 x 9 foot oil painting of "Custer's Last Stand" hangs in the north wing. Edgar Paxon, who created the scene in 1899 after interviewing the families whose husbands and fathers were killed 23 years earlier, stressed authentic detail, even to the point of showing Custer's blond hair less than shoulder length--Custer got a haircut the day before. Visitors interests are aroused in seeing a red and beige beaded Indian necklace interwoven with 18 polished trigger-finger bones, collected as souvenirs from Custer's dead soldiers. A pioneer woman traded the necklace for some food she gave an Indian, thinking it was an unusual trinket. Later she was mortified when another Indian became excited upon seeing it, and told her of its source. The Center, consisting of three major segments, is the outgrowth of an idea spawned in 1917 when William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) died practically penniless and in debt. Determined to create a memorial for the founder of (more) |