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The Potomac Corral is a local organization for people interested in the American West. It is one of a number of similar chapters in the loosely-knit society known as Westerners International.
The Westerners was founded in 1944 in Chicago by about two dozen individuals who wanted to create an organization dedicated to the study, preservation, commemoration, and appreciation of the American West. Later that year, Denver founded a chapter. New York founded one in 1952, and London in 1954. Also in 1954, the Potomac Corral was founded in Washington, D.C. Since then, well over 100 chapters of Westerners International have been founded across North America, Europe, and Asia.
The Potomac Corral is like a cross between a learned society and a Lions Club. Here, scholars, policy-makers, enthusiasts, and the merely curious meet on neutral ground and in mutual respect. An appreciation for the American West is, of course, their common denominator and shared passion.
The Potomac Corral has been one of the most productive and active corrals. Washington, D.C., has attracted distinguished experts on Western subjects to work in various federal agencies, academic institutions, museums, libraries, archives, and other institutes and businesses. Of course, the city has been home to many former residents of the West, and others who simply appreciate the American West and all that is associated with it. Indeed, it is probably the case that Washington, D.C., is the best place to study the West, east of the Mississippi.
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Wednesday, May 21, 6:30 p.m. at the Boulevard Woodgrill in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington.
Please make a special effort to attend this meeting. It is the last meeting before our brief summer recess and we will discuss nominations for our annual Dykes Award. Perhaps most important, we have found a new venue that we think will be especially well-suited to our organization's needs. The Boulevard Woodgrill is a short drive from dowtown Washington, D.C., it's on bus route, it's one block away from the Clarendon metro stop (orange line), and there is plenty of free parking. The restaurant has great food and ambience, and we will hold our meeting in the restaurant's Fillmore Room, which is an attractive private dining room and bar.
Program: "Pens, Paintings, Panoramas and Pixels: Documenting the Great Waterways of the American West," by Francis Flavin. Click here for more details.... |
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The Journal of the West issues a Call for Papers for its forthcoming issues. Corral members interested in submitting articles or reviewing books for the journals should read the attached message. |
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Roundup, the journal of Western Writers of America, has published an article discussing the top Western movies of all time. Read about it in Roundup.... |
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The Traditional Cowboy Arts Association has released its winter 2008 newsletter. The TCAA was founded in 1998 by a group of practicing gear makers with the intention of preserving the skills of their trades and setting uncompromising standards of craftsmanship. Members contribute their time to educate craftspeople, collectors and the public, as well as serve as specialized advisors to museums and collectors. |
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Country Music Television annual Music Awards: This year, the CMT Music Awards promise to be better than ever with more video categories, more live performances and more of your favorite country stars. Mark your calendars for the only fan-voted awards show in country music. Broadcast live from Nashville, Tennessee, on April 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
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The Western Writers of America announces the winners of its 2008 Spur Award contest. Among the winning authors are two former members of the Potomac Corral: Robert M. Utley and Joseph B. Herring. Utley's Lone Star Lawmen: The Second Century of the Texas Rangers won first place in the "best Western nonfiction contemporary" category, and Herring's “Selling the ‘Noble Savage’ Myth: George Catlin and the Iowa Indians in Europe, 1843-1845,” pubished in the winter 2006/2007 issue of Kansas History, won first prize for "best Western short nonfiction." Congratulations, Bob and Joe!
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The Spring 2008 newsletter of the Western History Association is now available on-line. The next annual meeting of the WHA will be in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 22-25, 2008. Please feel welcome to attend the event, even if you are not a member of the WHA.
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Exhibition at the Library of Congress: Exploring the Early Americas features selections from the more than 3,000 rare maps, documents, paintings, prints, and artifacts that make up the Jay I. Kislak Collection at the Library of Congress. It provides insight into indigenous cultures, the drama of the encounters between Native Americans and European explorers and settlers, and the pivotal changes caused by the meeting of the American and European worlds. The exhibition is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Library of Congress's
Northwest Gallery Second Floor, Thomas Jefferson Building. Click here for visitors information. |
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President George W. Bush bestows Medal of Honor on Sioux Indian Woodrow Wilson Keeble, hero of Korean War. President Bush apologized Monday, March 3, 2008, that the country waited decades to honor Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble for his military valor in Korea. Keeble received the Medal of Honor more than 25 years after he died. He was the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the nation's highest military award. But it came almost six decades after he saved the lives of fellow soldiers. Keeble died in 1982. Read about or view the award ceremony on the White House web page.
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Television Documentary: PBS American Experience on Buffalo Bill. In 1886, Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show played to over one million people in New York City. It was one of the most elaborate shows on earth. There were cowboys and Indians, sharp shooters including the famed Annie Oakley, hundreds of horses, buffalo, elk and donkeys, with more than two hundred cast members, all moving about in a sweeping western landscape of mountains and plains. Soon after the show's stunning success in New York, it would go on to dazzle crowds in London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona, cementing the legend of the Wild West in the minds of people around the globe. Monday, February 25, 2008, at 9:00 p.m., on PBS. Check local listings for further information.
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Corral member Dr. Herman Viola is making a presentation to the local chapter of the Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Foundation. On February 27, 2008, at 7:30 p.m., Dr. Viola will lecture on traveling the Lolo Trail over the Bitterroot Mountains. Dr. Viola is a curator emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution and former director of the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives. His research specialties include the American Indian, and the exploration of the American West. He has authored numerous books, including Exploring the West, Ben Nighthorse Campbell: An American Warrior, Little Bighorn Remembered, and The North American Indian. For the past several years, Dr. Viola has led a tour of contemporary Americans on the most challenging portion of the Lewis and Clark Journey-across the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho. Recently, he was accompanied by a camera crew and produced a film of the trek. He will show In Their Footsteps, a film which he produced for Public Television and answer questions. This presentation will be at the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum, 11200 Fairfax Station Road, Fairfax Station, VA 22039.
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New Western Movie: No Country for Old Men is a modern-day Western that's high on suspense, thrill, and violence. It is produced by Academy Award-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, based on the acclaimed novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Cormac McCarthy. Read an interview with star Tommy Lee Jones in True West Magazine, and check local movie listings for times and theaters.
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The Smithsonian American Art Museum presents Obata's Yosemite,
February 22 through June 1, 2008. In 1927, Chiura Obata (1885–1975) visited Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada, where he made approximately 100 drawings in pencil, watercolor and sumi ink. Between 1928 and 1930, while Obata was in Tokyo, he transformed these California landscape watercolors and sketches into a limited-edition portfolio titled "World Landscape Series." Obata's Yosemite features 27 prints and watercolors and a series of 20 progressive proofs. This display is the first time the artist's prints have been publicly exhibited on the East Coast. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is located above the Gallery Place Metro station at 8th and F Streets N.W. and is open from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
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Department of the Interior Annual Indian Arts and Crafts Sale, January 14 - 25, 2008: Jewelry, pottery, Katsina dolls, basketry, fetishes, dolls, rugs, beadwork, works from Alaska , sculptures and more will be discounted from 10% to 50% off. Calendars, holiday cards and holiday ornaments all will be 50% off. And be sure to check out the "Bargain Corner" for even greater discounts. The Indian Craft Shop / U.S. Department of the Interior / 1849 C Street, NW / Washington, DC 20240 / (202) 208-4056.
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Going West! Quilts and Community, an exhibition featuring more than 50 quilts, is on display at the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC, now through Jan. 21, 2008. This exhibition reveals the essential role that quilts and the making of quilts played in the lives of women on the frontier. The Great Platte River Road was the principal route for America's western expansion as early as the 1830s. Pioneers headed for a new life in the Nebraska Territory packed their wagons with necessities that almost always included quilts.
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November is National American Indian Heritage Month. To commemorate American Indian Heritage, the Smithsonian Institution is offering a variety of programs. Please visit their American Indian Heritage Month page or their events calendar for more information.
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The Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery presents “Legacy: Spain and the United States in the Age of Independence, 1763-1848.” This exhibition is on display
September 27, 2007 through Febuary 10, 2008.
Through portraits and compelling authentic documents, this exhibition explores Spain’s key role in the Revolutionary War and the founding of the United States. The exhibition begins in 1763 when the Treaty of Paris was signed and continues through 1848 when California was ceded to the United States from Mexico.
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Department of the Interior Library Special DOI staff presentation: "Pens, Paintings, Panoramas and Pixels: Documenting the Waterways of the American West," by Francis Flavin, PhD. Time: Wednesday, September 26, 2007, at 12:30 p.m. Location: Department of the Interior Libary, 1849 C St, NW, Washington, DC, 20240. For more information about this program, or about future programs, please contact the DOI Library by phone at 202-208-5815 or via e-mail at library@nbc.gov.
This presentation will discuss several notable individuals who documented rivers in the American West in the 200 years since Lewis and Clark began their famous journey, the different media they used, and the significance of their works.
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The Western History Association will hold its annual meeting on October 3, to October 6, 2007, in the Renaissance Hotel in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Oklahoma will be celebrating the centennial of its statehood. Membership is not required in the WHA to attend the annual conference.
The program is available on-line, and Westerners International has organized several events, including:
- An Address by Chief Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation (Thursday, October 4, 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.)
- Westerners International Roundtable: Gushers, Dry Holes, and the Oil & Gas. . . Bidness (Friday, October 5, 10:30 a.m. - noon)
- Westerners International Business Meeting (Thursday, October 4, 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.)
- Westerners International Breakfast (Saturday, October 6, 7:30 a.m.)
- Westerners International also will provide tours to the “home office” housed in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum on Thursday evening, October 4.
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The National Archives celebrates Hispanic American Heritage Month
New Thinking on Lincoln's Legacy: Hispanic Perspectives
Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday is in 2009. Does his legacy have resonance within Hispanic communities? Estévan Rael-Gálvez, New Mexico State Historian; Ernesto Chávez, associate professor of history at the University of Texas at El Paso; and Jerry Thompson, Regents Professor, Social Science Department, Texas A&M International University, will unearth fresh historical perspectives on Lincoln, his era, and his legacy. Tuesday, September 18, at noon, at the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives main building in downtown Washington, DC.
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Emissaries of Peace: The 1762 Cherokee & British Delegations
Exhibit: June 27, 2007 through November 25, 2007
Emissaries of Peace: The 1762 Cherokee and British Delegations presents vivid images of Cherokee and British society in the eighteenth century, as seen through the eyes of the British lieutenant and diarist Henry Timberlake and of three Cherokee leaders who accompanied Timberlake to England to meet King George III.
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Hang'em High Clint Eastwood Summer Film Festival: The Georgetown Film Festival is sponsoring a series of Clint Eastwood films to be played in Crystal City on Mondays and Roslyn on Fridays from June through August. Check each venue's website for movie titles and dates. Don't be afraid to enter their Best Dressed Contest.
- Dates: Roslyn: Fridays, June 8 - August 31; Crystal City: Mondays, June 4 - August 20. Check above links for details.
- Times: dusk (approximately 8:00 - 8:30)
- Locations: Roslyn: Gateway Park, at the foot of Key Bridge; Crystal City: Courtyard at 18th/Bell, across from Marriott Crystal Forum/Marriott Gateway Hotel
- Price: Free
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The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)
will host the 2007 National Powwow, August 10-12, 2007 at the
Verizon Center in downtown Washington, DC. (Click here for an event poster in PDF format.)
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Book Talk (Wednesday, June 6, 2007, 7:00 pm)
The Warehouse Theater
Sherman Alexie-Flight, A Novel
Advanced Notice for Ticketed Event Sherman Alexie’s first novel since Indian Killer is a powerful, fast, and timely story of a troubled foster teenager—a boy who is not a “legal” Indian because he was never claimed by his father—transformed by his flights through time. Tickets $5, available only with purchase of the paperback from Olsson’s. Tickets and books will be available at the door, on a space-available basis. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, June 06, 2007 at 07:00 PM at the Warehouse Theater, 1021 7th St., NW, (202) 783–3933. | |
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Television Event (beginning May 27, 2007, 9:00 pm)
HBO network
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: The Epic Fall of the American Indian
HBO Films teams with executive producers Dick Wolf ("Law & Order") and Tom Thayer to present a feature adaptation of Dee Brown's 1971 nonfiction best-seller Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Told primarily through the eyes of three characters Charles Eastman, Sitting Bull, and Senator Henry Dawes - the film explores the United States' obsession with its manifest destiny, detailing the economic, political and social pressures that underpinned the opening of the American West in the latter part of the 19th Century, and the tragic and permanent impact this expansion had on American Indian culture (text adapted from HBO website).
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