Pistols: Dazzling Firearms April 9, 2010

They just do things differently in the West. In the late 1890s, for instance, the director of the Dodge City Cowboy Band used a Colt revolver as a baton, punctuating musical performances with a staccato burst of gunfire. This was no everyday gun--all dull, blued metal. On the contrary, it was a highly-embellished work of art. Guests to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art can see the pistol that provided percussion for the Dodge City Cowboy Band, and other famous firearms, in the exhibition 'Pistols: Dazzling Firearms.' The exhibit, created by the Autry National Center's Museum of the American West, explores the history of handgun decoration in America through exceptional pieces representing more than 160 years of work by master engravers. Visitors will see pistols once owned by George Custer, Annie Oakley, "Wild Bill" Hickok, Presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy, Gene Autry and Tom Mix. Some of the guns are richly inlaid with gold, silver, platinum and precious and semi-precious stones. Some have silver, gold, pearl or ivory grips. Others feature carefully wrought and engraved panels with historic scenes.