#TBT: Here’s a little Oklahoma history tidbit for you: During the late 40s and early 50s, when they were making movies together like the John Ford classics Rio Grande and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Academy Award-winning actors Ben Johnson and John Wayne would enjoy some down time in Osage County. One of the pair’s favorite hangouts was the Chapman-Barnard Ranch, where Johnson’s father had been foreman, and where he had honed the skills that would make him both a world champion rodeo star and a leading man of Hollywood westerns.

This ranch later became the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, which today constitutes the largest protected allotment of tallgrass prairie on Earth. In addition to countless other plant and animal species which keep this unique ecosystem thriving, the preserve is home to one of America’s last free-roaming bison herds. Visit nearby Pawhuska to find a wealth of historic treasures at The Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum and The Osage County Historical Society Museum Pawhuska, both of which hold memorabilia, antiques, and other items documenting our western heritage.

You can find more on all there is to see and do in Osage County at https://visittheosage.com/

#osagecounty #history
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