Enjoy the Red River Journey walking trail and the Meinders Foundation Heritage Gardens.
In May of 1838, the Heroine was navigating the Red River on its way to deliver much-needed supplies to the soldiers at Fort Towson when it hit a snag and quickly sank. The passengers survived, but the supplies and the ship were lost. In 1999, the Oklahoma Historical Society was notified that the remnants of a ship had been exposed.
The majority of the superstructure of the Heroine had long since disintegrated, but the surviving components were used to build this unique exhibit.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!: The Birth of Modern Musical Theatre and a New Image for the State celebrates the Broadway production’s debut. Oklahoma! was the first musical written by the legendary team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! began a new era in American musical theatre, as well as the most successful songwriting partnership that Broadway has ever seen.
The ONEOK, Inc. Gallery represents 38 federally recognized American Indian tribes currently associated with Oklahoma. The star chart showcased in the center of the gallery is derived from the Skidi band of the Pawnee Nation. This image, which originated from a sacred bundle at the Chicago Field Museum, was used by the Pawnee for everything from predicting when to hunt and when to perform certain ceremonies to telling the origin story of the Pawnee people.
Discover more about the artifacts and exhibits in our audio tour, which is available in English, Spanish, French, and German. Use the tour at the Oklahoma History Center to guide you through exhibits, or listen from home.
Complimentary wheelchairs, audio tours, and audio tour scripts are available. An elevator to the second floor of the Steamboat Heroine exhibit is available. Please ask at the Information Desk.
Help us protect the artifacts by not touching. Lighting in galleries is low to aid in the preservation of the artifacts. Outside food is not allowed in the museum and no food or drink is allowed in the galleries.
Photography, sketching, and videotaping of the exhibits are permitted for personal use only. Flash photography, tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, and all other supportive devices are not permitted.
Please silence your cell phones.