Press Release
November 19, 2025
Contact: Ron Brown
Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 918-762-2513
[email protected]
PawneeBillRanch.org
New Exhibit Highlighting Chief White Bull Now Open at Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum
PAWNEE, Okla. — A new exhibit at the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum highlights the partnership between Miniconjou Sioux Chief White Bull and University of Oklahoma professor Walter S. Campbell, who was better known by his pen name — Stanley Vestal. The exhibit, titled “Everything I Say Here is Straight and True,” showcases autobiographical drawings of Chief White Bull and how we can use art as a historical source.
Chief White Bull is the nephew of Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who was a symbol of Native American resistance. White Bull earned distinction as a skilled warrior known for his bravery in the 1860s and 1870s. In the Sioux coup system, warriors proved their bravery by touching the enemy in battle. White Bull had earned more than 30 coups by his mid-20s. Sometimes tribes would depict the coups on a tepee cover or buffalo robe. As paper became more widely available, warrior-artists started to use discarded ledgers as a medium to record the coups. White Bull turned to ledger art to record his memories. His drawings became a personal memoir and cultural record.
Vestal worked with White Bull in the 1930s to document his stories and reproduce his drawings for “Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull.”
“Everything I Say Here is Straight and True” was created by the University of Oklahoma Libraries Western History Collections and given to the museum. It will be on display at the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum through December 31.
For more information, please call the ranch at 918-762-2513. The Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum is located at 1141 Pawnee Bill Rd. in Pawnee. Visit PawneeBillRanch.org for hours of operation and admission prices.
The Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications, the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit okhistory.org.
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Editor’s Note: Photos of the Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum are available upon request.
