Greatest Photographs of the American West

Explore 125 Years of National Geographic Photos of the American West at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western ArtNational Geographic Greatest Photographs of the American West, a collection of iconic Western images, gathered by National Geographic over a span of some 125 years, will open at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis and nine other museums across the country on Saturday, October 27. The opening is noteworthy both for bringing together for the first time this remarkable collection of photographs and for being the largest such simultaneous photography exhibition ever for the United States. The exhibition will be on display at the Eiteljorg Museum through February 10, 2013.

The exhibit features the best images of the West published by National Geographic over its 125-year history, and includes works by nearly 80 different photographers. It also reveals some surprises from the National Geographic Image Collection. Many of the images will be instantly recognizable for their subjects; others less so. Arrayed together, they tell a story about imagination, spectacle, adventure and surpassing beauty, together with startling views into the daily struggles of people and animals in a vast and often intimidating territory.

Participating museums in the National Geographic Greatest Photographs of the American West, include:

Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, Georgia

Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis, Indiana

Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

National Geographic Museum, Washington, D.C.

National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Rockwell Museum of Western Art, Corning, New York

C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana

Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas

Comment:  I wonder if the photo below is the only one featuring Indians.

Odd that the show isn't appearing anywhere farther west than Wyoming. It's excluding most of the West. I guess these museums are members of a Western consortium, and the locations are limited to them, but still.

For more on the National Geographic, see Lakota Stories on National Geographic Website and Navajo Cops Hypes the Supernatural.

Below:  "American Indian Beauty Pageant winner Acosia Red Elk waits for a parade at the tipi village, a part of the Pendleton Round-Up rodeo since its 1910 inception." (William Albert Allard/National Geographic)