Woolaroc Ranch, Museum and Wildlife Preserve

The name of the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve is derived from three words - woods, lakes and rock. Although these words say so much about the natural environment, they don’t begin to describe everything Woolaroc has to offer.

This Bartlesville establishment serves as a working ranch, museum and wildlife preserve that welcomes countless visitors each year.  The 3,600-acre property was established in 1925 as a retreat for oilman and founder of Phillips Petroleum Company, Frank Phillips. Today, the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve is an educational and entertaining hub situated in the breathtaking Osage Hills of northeast Oklahoma.Visitors to the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve in Bartlesville are reminded of the natural environment, cultural heritage and history of early America at every turn. Begin with a tour of the Woolaroc Museum, which reveals the cultural heritage and lifestyles of some of the first Western residents. Artifacts from about 40 different tribes are displayed on the Bartlesville property, including authentic pieces that trace prehistoric civilizations. Visitors can view beaded buckskins and feather bonnets from the Plains tribes, as well as homemade items like baskets, pottery and blankets from the Navajo, Apache, Hopi and Pueblos located in Arizona and New Mexico.

The name of the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve is derived from three words - woods, lakes and rock. Although these words say so much about the natural environment, they don’t begin to describe everything Woolaroc has to offer.

This Bartlesville establishment serves as a working ranch, museum and wildlife preserve that welcomes countless visitors each year.  The 3,600-acre property was established in 1925 as a retreat for oilman and founder of Phillips Petroleum Company, Frank Phillips. Today, the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve is an educational and entertaining hub situated in the breathtaking Osage Hills of northeast Oklahoma.Visitors to the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve in Bartlesville are reminded of the natural environment, cultural heritage and history of early America at every turn. Begin with a tour of the Woolaroc Museum, which reveals the cultural heritage and lifestyles of some of the first Western residents. Artifacts from about 40 different tribes are displayed on the Bartlesville property, including authentic pieces that trace prehistoric civilizations. Visitors can view beaded buckskins and feather bonnets from the Plains tribes, as well as homemade items like baskets, pottery and blankets from the Navajo, Apache, Hopi and Pueblos located in Arizona and New Mexico.

Visitors to the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve can browse paintings from a broad range of artists spanning decades, including Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell and Bettina Steinke. Five of the original six Taos Society Artists are represented in the museum as well. Sculpture abounds in the museum and on the ranch grounds. Works by Remington and Russell can be found in the museum’s sculpture collection alongside a complete collection of sculptures by renowned Western artist Joe Beeler.Alongside Western and Native American art and artifacts stands an expansive collection of Colt firearms. These firearms reveal the history of the Colt brand. Pieces on display include the rare Paterson revolvers, prototype pieces used to develop new models in the Colt factory and Army and Navy pistols used in the Civil War. The collection of firearms at the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve features a selection of Winchester pieces donated by Russell Straight in 1981. Since Winchester was a commonly used firearm in the frontier days of America, this collection gives museum visitors a unique look at the company that built the weapons used to win the West.

Visitors also can take a peek inside the opulent lodge Frank Phillips once used to impress and entertain friends and business associates. The eight-bedroom lodge, overlooking Clyde Lake, displays hundreds of mounted heads and horns from wildlife that once roamed the ranch. Many of the same native and exotic species can still be found on the property today, roaming freely as they have since the 1920s. Native animal heads and horns are mounted throughout the lodge, but exotic species are seen, as well. A giraffe and several zebra, for example, can be seen mounted in the lodge’s Great Room.

Because Phillips wanted to retain the essence of the West before the turn of the century, he stocked the Bartlesville preserve with dozens of varieties of animals. The bison herd on the property today dates back to 1926 when 90 of the animals were imported from South Dakota. American Bison continue to roam the property alongside elk, longhorn cattle, Japanese Sika deer, North European fallor deer, water buffalo, llamas, pigmy goats and more.