It all started in 1922, when a rich young Tulsa oil man bought his first oil painting.

It has become the Gilcrease Museum, named for that oil man, Thomas Gilcrease.

It is one of the top 20 art collections in the United States, and a walk through its halls and galleries brings a visitor to understand why it's called the Museum of the Americas.

The collection is is quite broad and deep, and, it's actually ranked in the top 20, collections in the United States.

We have over 14,000 works of art.

We have 100,000 pieces in our archives collection and over 300,000 pieces in our anthropology collection.

So it's quite an extensive collection.

Thomas Gilcrease grew up in Indian Territory just south of Tulsa.

His membership in the Creek Nation entitled him to 160 acres.

His 160 acres would become one of Oklahoma's major oil fields in the 1920s.

Business took him all over the world, and during a stay in Paris, he learned about art and fell in love with European art museums.

Returning to the States in the 1930s, he began collecting both art and the artifacts of the Western Hemisphere.

Initially, the collection was housed in Gilchrease Business office in San Antonio, but when he moved back home he brought the collection with him.

In 1949 he built the museum and a house.

He collected art for the rest of his life, and in 1958 deeded the museum and its collection to the city of Tulsa.

He died in the in the early 60s, and we have a lot of people in Tulsa who have, encountered Mr.

Gilchrease in the galleries.

And, you know, he was very happy to share his collection.

And in Oklahoma is really blessed by this wonderful treasure trove of archival material and anthropological materials, as well as paintings and sculptures.

The Gilcrease Western Art collection is the world's largest works of nationally known artists are on display in the American West Gallery, including many Frederic Remington paintings and sculptures.

Remington is known for capturing the romantic period of the West, coming Through the Rye as one of his most recognized works.

The attention to detail is characteristic of Remington bronzes.

Albert Bierstadt is known for his brilliant use of color and for creating moods with the subtle use of light.

His oil paintings tell the story of the American West, focusing particularly on pioneers moving westward.

Many of Charles Russell's 2000 works hang in the galleries of the Gilcrease.

His paintings realistically portray both the American cowboy and the American Indian of the late 1800s.

The Native Collection at the Gilcrease is the largest of its kind.

The paintings, sculptures, and pottery made by native people offer visitors a glimpse of a bygone culture.

The museum also boasts the largest Native American headdress collection ever assembled.

Gilcrease purchased many pieces directly from the artists who created them.

Intrigued with Joseph Sharp's painted story of the Pueblo and Southwest Indians, Gilcrease bought 400 sharp originals, many of which are still on public display today.

Thomas Gilcrease original home remains on the museum grounds and has been fully restored.

Manicured gardens are available to visitors, and thousands of Tulsans have been married here over the years.

The museum is really situated beautifully.

We have over 460 acres in our property, and we have 23 acres that are developed into theme gardens, and people can walk and enjoy them.

And we have a lot of sculptures on the grounds, all kinds of things for all ages.

Inside, there's plenty for everyone to see and do.

Children get a hands on educational experience.

They're invited to handle a number of artifacts in the museum's Discovery Center.

The anthropology collection offers students and researchers a chance to study 300,000 artifacts of the pre-Columbian Anglo American, Hispanic, and Native American cultures.

When you're in the museum, if you don't see the signs that say, please do not touch you, you know that you're not supposed to touch anything.

That's the primary function of the museum is the care of the objects, whether they're paintings or artifacts.

But in the Kravis Center, what we've done is provided some objects that can be touched by the public.

So that increases the experience.

You can feel Native American beadwork on moccasins.

The archives contain 100,000 books, manuscripts and maps dating all the way back to 1494.

Many important letters shed light on the early political landscape.

The collection includes one of the few copies of the Declaration of Independence signed by Benjamin Franklin.

Gilcrease visitors can now own a part of American history.

Museum store offers prints on demand.

Museum goers can take home a replica of a favorite work.

If you find something you like in the collection, we can get an image of it.

If we don't have an image and then this company will will print it up for you, either on paper or on canvas, and ship it directly to you so you can actually take a piece of Gilcrease home with you.

The past holds the keys to the future, and the legacy of Thomas Gilcrease has made the study of the past easier for all of us.

Assembling one of the most extensive collections of our history in one location, the Museum of the Americas.