Washington, DC, is home to some of the nation's finest art depicting the American West |
The Potomac Corral is a local organization for people interested in the history and culture of the American West. The Corral is one of a number of autonomous chapters, of similar makeup and intent, in the loosely knit society known as Westerners International (WI), a non-profit Foundation (www.westerners-international.org). The WI "home ranch" is located at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
It has been noted that the Westerners fit into the organizational spectrum "somewhere between a scholarly historical society and a Lions Club, with attributes of both," and this is probably apt. For here the scholar, the buff, and the merely curious meet on neutral ground and in mutual respect. The American West is the common denominator, and the fascination of the master subject reaches into all walks of life. Members of the Potomac Corral include history buffs and readers and viewers of Western themes, former residents of the West who long to continue their regional connections, and professional historians, archivists, and librarians.
The aims of the Potomac Corral are advanced through presentations at dinner or luncheon meetings and through the publication of our periodical Corral Dust. Member dues and the sale of house publications underwrite expenses. Elected officers, whose titles alone convey the sweep of the long horizon, the creak of saddle leather and the aroma of gun smoke and stable, conduct the affairs of the Potomac Corral. The Sheriff as the presiding office has Deputy Sheriffs to back him up. The Roundup Foreman serves as secretary and the Tallyman as treasurer. The Bookeroo Foreman is in charge of Corral publications. There's a Chuck Wrangler who handles meeting arrangements, and a Faro Dealer that conducts the Book Raffle, which has become a traditional feature of every meeting.
Anyone who loves the lore and history of the American West is invited to participate in the activities of the Potomac Corral. Announcements of meetings are posted on this website and distributed to members. Meetings are open to the public, but require reservations and the payment of meal costs as described in meeting announcements.
The Chicago Corral, founded in 1944, was the first of upwards of 138 chapters of Westerners established throughout the United States and in such distant places as Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic (www.westerners.cz), Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and Sweden. The Potomac Corral was established on December 16, 1954, tenth in the line of succession. Not all of the chapters adopted "corral" as their designation; Denver, Kansas City, and Omaha, for example, preferred the term "posse." Enthusiasts of the West in England introduced a touch of British elegance by naming their bodies The English Westerners Society (London, 1954, www.english-westerners-society.org.uk) and the British Westerners Association (Birmingham, 1983) .
Soon after the Chicago Corral was organized, the famous buffalo skull drawing by Charles M. Russell, the well-known Western artist, was adopted as the trademark and logo of Westerners (see www.westerners-international.org/Joe.htm). In 1961, Westerners played a significant role in helping to organize the Western History Association. Two former Sheriffs of the Potomac Corral, Robert M. Utley and John Porter Bloom, have also served as president of that scholarly organization.
For most of its history, the Potomac Corral met for monthly program dinners from September through May in the Versailles-like surroundings of the Cosmos Club on Washington's Embassy Row. Today our meetings are less regular and more informal. Meetings are scheduled on an ad-hoc basis as interesting presenters make themselves available. In recent years, meetings have included both luncheon and dinner programs at a variety of restaurants and museums in the District, as well as in suburban Virginia and Maryland.
Recent presenters to the Potomac Corral have included Bradley Patterson, White House advisor on Native American affairs in the Nixon and Ford administrations; Peter Iverson, professor of history at Arizona State University and president of the Western History Association; Jo Tice Bloom, retired professor of history at New Mexico State University and president of Westerners International; and Herman Viola, curator emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History and author of numerous books on the American West, including Little Bighorn Remembered.
The Jeff C. Dykes Memorial Award of the Potomac Corral of Westerners was established in 1990 to recognize notable contributions to Western affairs and to honor the memory of Jefferson Chenoweth Dykes, a prominent and widely recognized figure in the broad compass identified as the American West and a founding member of the Potomac Corral. The Dykes Award is presented annually by the Corral to a person or persons determined by a committee appointed by the Sheriff to have made significant contributions to the understanding and promotion of Western affairs. Past recipients have included Father Francis Paul Prucha of Marquette University, John C. Ewers of the Smithsonian Institution, William Gardner Bell of the U.S. Army Center of Military History, and R. David Edmunds, professor of history at the University of Texas and president of the Western History Association.
Guidelines for the Jeff C. Dykes Memorial Award are available for download in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
In addition to our periodical Corral Dust, now published on an annual basis, members of the Potomac Corral have written and sponsored a number of publications over the years. Between 1967 and the early 1990’s, the Corral published 17 volumes in its Great Western Series. These bound essays, on varied subjects, were written by and for the members of the Corral and, in many instances were presented originally at meetings of the Corral. The Series began with former resident member Senator Ralph Yarborough’s (Democrat from Texas, 1957-1971) essay on J. Frank Dobie and ended with founding member John Ewers’ memorial tribute to his wife Marge. These essays constitute an original and valuable contribution to the literature of the American West. To learn more about these publications, visit our PUBLICATIONS page.
Potomac Corral member Michael Lawson has written a Restrospective on the Potomac Corral that is available for download in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
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