In Pistols: Dazzling Firearms, more than 50 exceptional American firearms illustrate how art, historical events, and popular culture have influenced the design and symbolism of decorative weaponry.

Each piece, specially selected for this exhibit based on its quality, condition, and elegance, serves to illuminate and celebrate the 19th and 20th centuries and the mythic West. Learn more about the stories behind Annie Oakley's Smith & Wesson, the wondrous beauty of the Autry-Tiffany Dragoon that was given to Gene on his 81st birthday, and many other special and legendary firearms.

Exquisitely Engraved, Deadly Accurate

James Butler Hickok, also known as “Wild Bill,” was a fearsome pistoleer, law enforcer, and the first famous gunman of the American West. Around his waist he wore a belt that held two ivory-handled Colt Navy revolvers, renowned for their accuracy. One of those guns, a .36 caliber 1851 Navy Colt percussion, is part of this exhibition. It is said to have been presented to Hickok in 1869. The pistol bears his name and date on the back strap.

Showy and Sure-Fire

In 1868, eight-year-old Phoebe Anne Moses, later to be known as Annie Oakley, picked up a rifle for the first time and shot a squirrel. Several years later, she began shooting game in the woods, selling it to a local shopkeeper to help pay the mortgage on her mother’s home. Lured to Cincinnati to compete in a shooting contest, Moses competed against well-known marksman Frank Butler, ultimately capturing victory, as well as Butler’s heart. The two married and joined Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show performing as shooters and garnering the attention and friendship of Sitting Bull. The Smith and Wessons in this exhibit were gifts to Annie Oakley from husband Frank Butler. Curiously, the guns carry the same decoration despite the fact that they are not a matching set.

A Gesture of Love, a Work of Art