From Blackhawk Museum Facebook page
The Spirit of the Old West Exhibition:
Blackhawk Museum
3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle
beginning Saturday, February 21st, 2015The Spirit of the Old West exhibition tells the story of the western frontier from the perspective of both the Native Americans and the settlers before, during and after the expansion west. The exhibition features authentic artifacts from the period, a large diorama depicting key historic moments, scenes of wildlife from the frontier and other elements that bring the past to life.
This exhibition was collected and curated by Jerry Fick who was born in 1947 in Redding, Pennsylvania. The son of farmers, Jerry grew up poor, but developed an early fascination with Indians and began collecting Indian artifacts after finding a spear point near the well on his family’s homestead. His parents and his grandmother (a full blooded Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indian) fostered his interests in Indians and helped him find and acquire items of interest.
In 1989 Jerry decided to move his collection to Cody, Wyoming. Here he built Tecumseh’s Frontier Trading Post which housed his artifacts and served as a workshop and store front for his family’s gift shop. Tens of thousands of visitors got to view Jerry’s museum and were fascinated by the topographical table of miniatures he had built to tell the story of the settlement of the western Plains of the United States.