Big game hunters and western history buffs strike gold at San Antonio’s historic Buckhorn Museum, a delightful curiosity straight out of Ripley’s  "Believe It or Not."Featuring a lunch restaurant, picturesque bar, retail store, and a nickleodeon game arcade, the Buckhorn, established in 1881, has evolved to its fourth and current location in the heart of downtown Antonio on Houston Street.

What makes this museum so special is its collection of creatively mounted animal, bird, and marine life, exemplified by an imaginative reconstruction of a partial wooly mammoth, poised at the entry door! Throughout its halls, one has to look closely to identify what is truth, an aberration of nature, or some darn fine tinkering with body parts. (A testament to the taxidermist’s art, the dwarf steer and two-headed sheep were real. I’ll stay mum about the rest.) Back in ’81, owner Albert Friedrich invited all patrons "to bring in their deer antlers and trade them for a shot of whiskey or beer," thus the world’s most unusual collection of horns and antlers, and eventually animals,  began.

Beautifully laid out in a historic red brick building of 38,000 square feet, (including a convention area,) the museum boasts an impeccably maintained world-class collection of 1200 trophies representing 800 species. From throughout Texas, North America, South America and Africa, as well as Alaska, Asia and Europe, the game enthusiast and amateur hunter will appreciate the bounty preserved here, as well as references about the weapons used. What’s most unusual is that none of the freestanding, fully mounted species are protected by glass. You can look your quarry in the eye and see what the hunter saw. The Canadian wolf in particular, lips curled back, is more than intimidating.

On the main floor in the Texas Hall, a fine collection of pre-1930 saddles, a turn- of- the-century vignette about cowboy life, the world’s largest mounted Longhorn, and prized horn chairs designed by Wenzel Friedrich from the original saloon, dazzle the viewer. Move over Trigger-- the gallery is also the home of William S. Hart’s stuffed horse, Calico! Lyric paintings by resident artist Robert Harrison contrast artifact with the beauty of the Texas landscape. To the other extreme, a unique collection of paintings created entirely out of rattlesnake-rattles made by Freidrich’s wife are worth the price of admission alone. Credit is due to local historian and Colt firearms expert, Kurt House, who helps curate a series of fine rotating exhibits. Well-researched and beautifully presented, the current "Frontier West," is a fine example.

Manager David George admits that the museum encourages loitering. In fact, one can buy a drink in the bar and enjoy it while perusing the whole collection. George likes to brag that "the more you drink, the more you see."

Voted the city’s Best Attraction back in 2002, the Buckhorn obviously puts the wild life back in downtown San Antone!

by Corinne Joy Brown

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