Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum

09/05/2026

✨🐛🖼️🎨📸 We are so thankful for artist’s who collaborate with us. Mark your calendars for December as Amber Andersen Art & Metalmorphosis by Joshua Cook will be co-exhibiting in the Roberson Exhibition Gallery in the museum.

And come celebrate the museum turning 60 and bid on this beautiful peace of artwork by Amber Andersen! A true homage to the native prickly pear cactus 🌵 that borders the museum. Thanks Amber!!

09/05/2026

BE SURE TO CALL THE MUSE TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT FOR NEXT SATURDAY!

Begin your morning with mindful movement in the peaceful setting of the Museum. This beginner-friendly flow blends gentle movement, easy standing poses, and calming stretches, creating the perfect balance of energy and relaxation. Expect to leave feeling open, centered, and ready to embrace your weekend.
Instructed by Venita McGuire with Nomadic Yogi.

Spots are limited so mark yourself going on the Facebook event or reserve your spot by calling the museum at 580-256-6136. $12 donation to the museum for the class. Must bring your own mat!

Date: Saturday, September 12, 2026
Time: 8:30–9:30 AM (arrive by 8:15 to settle in)
Location: Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum, Woodward, OK
Donation: $12 to the museum
Bring: Yoga mat
Ages: 14 and up only, please

Please arrive early to allow time to find your space and honor the quiet of the room and one another’s practice.

PHONES AND WATCHES MUST BE OFF OR SET TO SILENT.

Come as you are, breathe deeply, and let's have a wonderful Morning Yoga Flow at the Muse!

09/05/2026

Storm warning systems have long been part of daily life for folks here in Northwest Oklahoma. It’s the system designed to alert people in the immediate area to take shelter from an imminent threat, though a lot of people still walk outside first to look around.
The Woodward County Journal of September 5, 1957, ran double photos on page one of the new storm warning and fire siren. The tower was erected on the northeast corner of 9th and Oklahoma (the old Woodward Fire Dept location).

The caption beneath the photos told of three men being atop that tower to install the various components. The only part left out of the description was how much of an arc the tower was swinging to and fro with the weight up there. No thank you…

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How High Is High?

Woodward’s new storm warning and fire siren was tested for the first time Saturday, and is undergoing further tests this week, Fire Chief Bob Atchley reports to The Journal.

These pictures were taken as the 12 horn amplifiers were being installed on the 100-foot tower. In the left picture, Atchley and Melvin Gaston work near the top of the tower as John Lafleur (half way up) carries another horn. Wilbur Day is working on the ground below the tower.

And in the right picture, the camera gets a worm’s eye view of the new red and white tower.

A straight blast of the siren will be used to denote a fire and fluctuating (or warbling) sound will be used for a storm warning or other disaster.

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Visit the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum in Woodward and ask to see the social media guy’s collection of weird warnings. For instance, there’s the one with a drinking straw inserted in the cell of a car battery with a big red slash through it and the words, “Do not attempt to lower overfilled battery cells by sucking the acid through a straw.” Of course, that’s really no longer an issue since nearly all automobile batteries are now sealed to prevent just such a mishap. Oh, and then there’s the sign with a graphic of a hand grasping the business-end of a chainsaw, again with a big red slash and the words, “Do not attempt to stop moving chain with any part of the human body.” And, finally, our personal favorite, a care label on baby clothes that instructs the reader to turn the clothing inside out and be sure to remove child prior to washing.

Now he wants to turn all of those into an exhibit at the Muse entitled, “The World is Full of Stupid People.” The Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum Exhibit Deciders Committee (TPI&PMEDC, for short) is still deliberating on that one.

We are swinging-, worm’s eye-, and admission-free.

Please share these posts.

And, let’s be careful out there!

09/04/2026

Well, butter our biscuits and call us sixty! The Muse is turning the big 6-0 this year, and we’re throwing a shindig on September 24th that’ll be talked about until we’re seventy (or at least until the free drinks wear off). We’ve got a handful of sponsorship tables left, but they’re flying faster than gossip in a small town—so grab yours by September 11th before they’re history! Tables seat eight of your favorite humans (or seven and that one creepy uncle who insists on attending every family event), and yes, we even do half-tables for those with commitment issues. Pay later, but lock in those seats now—our caterer, Diarti Italian Restaurant, needs to know how many meatballs to roll! Oh, and desserts will be provided by Kelle Robinson's Sweet Surprises!

Individual tickets? You bet! On sale ‘til September 22nd, and you can even pay at the door if your wallet’s feeling shy right now. Entertainment? Oh, just Dave Engel, Robert Ford, Max Ridgeway, AND the one-and-only T.Z. Wright! Our keynote speaker is the brilliant Dr. Tom Lucas (try not to swoon). Free drinks with every ticket or table—because what’s a birthday without a little liquid cheer? PLUS a silent auction where you can bid on things you never knew you needed! Questions?

Ring the party hotline at 580-256-6136 and ask for “the fun department” (It’s just Farnsworth, in exile from the Royal Family, but he’s enthusiastic!) to reserve your table or get your name down for an individual ticket.

OH, and be sure to ask Ol' Farney about the Bistro Tables!

09/01/2026

Cue the theme from “Dragnet”…

Okay, so let’s say that you’re tooling along a stretch of Northwest Oklahoma highway in 1955, minding your own business, and enjoying the late summer weather. Suddenly an Oklahoma Highway Patrol unit appears behind you with red lights flashing and the siren blaring.

Panic sets in. Your pulse races. You’ve done nothing wrong. You’re just out tooling around…tooling around I’m tellin’ ya…if it's anything else, you were framed!

Still, you pull over because that’s what good citizens do when law enforcement rolls up on them. Right? Surely Mr. State Trooper has a good reason for pulling a good citizen over. He must, right?

The Trooper asks you for your driver’s license and records the information. He then leans into your window and says he wants to have a “man-to-man” talk with you (we aren't making this up...see below). You give Mr. State Trooper, an astonished look, but manage to utter in a squeaky voice not heard since puberty, “Okay.”
Hey, you didn’t have anything better to do, right?

But wait, what if you’re a female driver? Then what? Okay, we’re not going to get into that here…

The Woodward County Journal of September 1, 1955, ran a story on page 5 alerting drivers of a new “plan” by the OHP to reduce accidents during the upcoming Labor Day weekend, that seems a bit…ummm…dare we say, draconian?

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HIGHWAY PATROL WILL TALK MAN-TO-MAN WITH DRIVERS
Today will see the start of a unique approach to the problem of traffic safety in Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s 265 Highway Patrol troopers will begin their campaign to enlist the aid of state motorists by appealing to the drivers man-to-man.

According to the plan, each trooper will spend a part of his duty shift each day from September 1 through September 5 stopping motorists and asking for their help in reducing the number of accidents over the Labor Day weekend.

Patrol Chief Rollins says that the troopers will take the driver license number of each driver who is stopped, and a check will be made later to see how many are involved in accidents. The contacts will be made as quickly as possible to prevent undue delay of the motorist.

The personal appeal will be in addition to the patrol’s regular holiday routine. Both patrol planes will be in the air, all radar units will be in operation, crime bureau agents will work with local officers in policing resort areas and patrol cars will be placed on a staggered schedule of operation in order to cover the greatest possible territory.

Last year, traffic accidents took 14 lives and injured 183 persons on Oklahoma highways. That was worst toll of any holiday last year.

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Visit the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum in Woodward where nearly all the staff, almost every stinking one of us, is a law-abiding citizen and offer free coffee to any law enforcement working in the area (no strings attached).

We are schemes-, undue delays-, and admission-free. Stop into the Muse sometime soon and hear the true confession of the social media guy discuss setting new land speed records between Fargo/Woodward and the Historic Fort Supply Site without once getting a ticket. He’s a brazen one, that dude. Of course, at the end of his discourse about dodging law enforcement, he'll look skyward, cackle, and declare, “They’ll never take me alive!” He’s so dramatic that one. He’ll also encourage you to start referring to him as “Scarface” … sheesh.

Please share these posts, just not with any LEOs.

Oh, and let’s be careful out there!

09/01/2026

Come see us! ✨

A new month is a good excuse to discover something new. 📖

Step inside the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum and spend a little time exploring the stories, people, and history that helped shape northwest Oklahoma.

08/31/2026

Of all the Plains Pirates that operated in/around the O.T. back in the day, almost without a doubt our favorite was Tom King. Never heard the name? It was associated with a supposedly murderous, ruthless outlaw (aka, Plains Pirate) who rode with the worst of the worst in the Oklahoma and Indian Territories of the 1890s.

The thing is, it was the alias of a 4’8”, 130-pound woman named Flora Quick (pictured), sometimes known as Flora Mundis.

Lawmen everywhere feared her or at least her reputation.
In truth her only real crimes involved horse thievery…oh, and apparently there wasn’t a jail that could hold her. But, as her exploits were reported in newspapers across America, the legend grew into fascinating tales of her robbing trains and banks and murdering great numbers of people.

She was the daughter of a wealthy farmer over near Guthrie. He died when she was 15, leaving her an estate of some 2,300 acres and $13,000 cash (a heap of $$$ then). She married a man named Ora Mundis, who was reportedly only after her money. When the money ran out, so did he. Flora soon turned to prostitution, began dressing in men’s clothing, started stealing horses, and changed her name to Tom King.

She broke out of the Oklahoma City jail twice. Newspaper reports had her eloping with a deputy sheriff, another claimed she was pregnant and was released from custody because of her “delicate condition.”

She soon fled the Territory and made her way west to Arizona. She married a Chinese immigrant and changed her name to China Dot. She was later connected to a man named Bill Garland. In 1903, the two were high on o***m and began quarreling. Garland shot Flora four times before turning the gun on himself.

Thus ended the life and (mostly) legend of Flora Quick, Flora Mundis, Tom King, and China Dot.

Word has it that there is a movie script in the works about her life.
The Woodward News of August 31, 1894, ran a brief story about the Law in pursuit of Tom King… well, sort of.

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The deputy marshals did not capture Tom King after all. They claim to know her whereabouts but say the reward is not enough for them to take the risk.

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Visit the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum in Woodward, where only one of the staff ever use an alias. He has a side hustle as a professional lucha libre wrestler who has been plying his avocation in Slapout from Thursday to Sunday over the summer. His luchador name is El Thunder Estúpido. He's never really won a match, but he really digs wearing the sequined wrestling unitard and matching mask.

It's a weird bunch here at PIPM.

We are legend-, horse thief-, and admission-free. Stop by sometime and ask Estúpido for an autograph... just PLEASE don't reach for the mask!

Follow us on Facebook and share these posts. Make us muy famoso!

Oh, and let’s be careful out there!

08/29/2026

It’s 1902 and folks are still debating what to do with the old Camp Supply site. The government hired and kept a “custodian” there to look after the interests of the U.S. taxpayers. Newspaper reports of the time suggest that he spent most of his time running looters off the grounds.

Apparently, the editor of the Woodward Dispatch, O. R. Kellogg, in the August 29, 1902, edition, thought that keeping a custodian out there was a waste of time and money, particularly when the custodian is apparently trying to parlay his position into a political office. He managed, in one short paragraph, to take on the lack of a plan for the former fort, the Federal government, the custodian, and well…politicians in general. Editor Kellogg was feeling particularly venomous that day.

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As Camp Supply has been suggested as a suitable place for an insane asylum, a penitentiary or a place for weak-minded politicians, or something of that sort. We believe that the people of the whole Territory should have something to say about its disposal. This place has sheltered Sheridan, Custer, Lawton, Chaffee, Hatch, and other American soldiers, and the Government should not allow its custodian to make of it a piece of old political junk and peddle it out as a stepping-stone to get an office with. A Government’s custodian business is to sweep the halls, cut down the weeds, trim the trees and keep the fences in repair, and see that trespassers do no injury to the property. He should not be gaddling around after political soap bubbles and trying to get an office on its decayed past, and allowing the remainder to be burned down or carried off, a plant at a time.

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Visit the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum in Woodward, where the staff is always on the hunt for weak-minded politicians. To that end, we established the PIPM Institute for Truth in Politics (PIPMITIP), but so far the old saw that one loses the ability to tell the truth when one becomes a politician holds true (sideways pun intended).

This has led us to recommend possible candidates for various offices that are a different species entirely. To that end, PIPMITIP is hereby strongly endorsing the candidacy of Mooch the Museum's feral cat for the office of dog catcher of Cleveland, OH. Think about it, who better to advise on dog catching operations than a feral cat? Plus, it gets Ol' Mooch off the grounds of the Muse thereby easing the anxiety of the social media guy whenever he encounters Mooch. Problem solved!

We are custodian-, political soap-, and admission-free. Stop by the Muse sometime and ask the social media guy to solve your problem. He'll innovate a solution for you on the spot that may or may not involve Cleveland, Ohio and he works cheap.

Follow us on Facebook and please share these posts. Make us famous!

Also, please visit our website at www.nwok-pipm.org to stay current on Museum happenings.

08/28/2026

Okay, admittedly, this is another double-whammy post, of sorts. First part of the parts is, we’re telling you a bit about another of early Woodward’s “characters”. The second part of the parts is the underlying message here - don’t shoot the messenger, in this case the social media guy. He’s old, but not so old that he was around when the city passed the ordinance.

Town Marshal, later Chief of Police, John Scaggs (pictured) was constantly butting heads with the Town Council. The exact date that Marshal Scaggs was elected (key word here being “elected”) to the position of Town Marshal is a little unclear.

From the start he had problems with the Town Council, to the point at which they fired him. Scaggs refused to be fired. They tried to bribe him to leave his position. Again, he refused. Finally, the Council hired a new marshal without telling the current marshal. Scaggs wasn’t phased and MAY have physically moved the new marshal out the door. Scaggs’ stand was that he was an elected official and as such couldn’t be fired by the Town Council no matter how much they hated his guts.

The Council then tried to get sneaky by having Marshal Scaggs prosecuted for complicity in bootlegging by showing leniency to bootleggers caught with refreshing adult beverages inside the city limits (have to remember, Oklahoma statehood brought with it prohibition).

That effort didn’t work out so well when it came to light during the Marshal’s trial that the Mayor and members of the City Council of Woodward were also bootlegging beer out of Kansas to a city warehouse.

Finally, the city just gave up and decided they were stuck with Scaggs…warts and all. At some point, he must have made peace with the city fathers. The photo shown with this post is undated, but Scaggs is identified as the Chief of Police of the City of Woodward, a position for which he was most likely hired when the city transitioned to a police force.

The Woodward News-Bulletin of August 28, 1908, ran a published notice on its front page from Marshal Scaggs… again, don’t shoot the messenger here.

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NOTICE.

Notice is hereby given that the police will enforce the ordinance prohibiting spitting on the sidewalks of the city.

All owners of dogs are warned to procure the city license tag from the city clerk immediately, as dogs without them will be shot. This ordinance is now being carried out.

John Scaggs, Marshal.

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So, there you have it, Muse fans. Buried somewhere in the volumes of city ordinances, this may still lurk. Get those tags on your mutts and for goodness’ sake, stop spitting on the sidewalks!

Visit the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum in Woodward to play Ordinance-O-Rama where contestants compete for fabulous prizes by guessing if a particular city ordinance exists or not.

Here’s an example: Is an ordinance prohibiting the display of outdoor Christmas decorations past Valentine’s Day (Feb 14) real or not?

Be sure to visit and walk away with your fabulous prize if you get it right.

We are fabulous prize-, marshal-, and admission-free.

Please share these posts.

Oh, and let’s be careful out there.

08/27/2026

URGENT REMINDER, the deadline is coming quick (Friday, August 28) for dropping off entries for the 43rd Annual Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum Photography Contest. This year’s theme is “Everyday Architecture” – sounds easy enough, don’t you think? So, break out that camera that you have hidden in the back of the closet, put on your best Ansel Adams mindset, and get to it! And here’s the thing, even if you can’t find any everyday architecture to shoot, who cares? There lots of categories for which you can enter: Category 1: Scenic (anything with a man-made structure/item in the photo) • Category 2: Landscape (anything without a man-made structure/item in the photo) • Category 3: Portrait • Category 4: Still Life • Category 5: Floral • Category 6: Animal • Category 7: Insect • Category 8: Black & White (all B&W are judged together regardless of subject).

So you see, just about anything goes! Entry fee is $10 per entry or $25 for three entries. AND, there are cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in each category. There’s a separate cash prize for the Theme Award and, of course, Best in Show. Full rules (always with the rules, am I right?) and entry form are on the Muse’s website at www.nwok-pipm.org. You’re welcome to call the Muse directly and speak with a knowledgeable staffer if you have any questions.

All entries are due in the (remarkably clean) hands of aforementioned Muse staffers NO LATER THAN 5PM, AUGUST 28.

We look forward to seeing your work!