The Official Website of Gene Autry, America's Favorite Singing Cowboy

The Autry Museum of the American West


Discover the art, history, and cultures of the American West! Located in Los Angeles' beautiful Griffith Park, the Autry features world-class galleries filled with Native American art and artifacts, film memorabilia, historic firearms, paintings, and more. Throughout the year, the Autry also presents a wide range of public events and programs—including lectures, film, theater, festivals, family activities, and music—and performs scholarship, research, and educational outreach.

The Autry's collection of more than 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts includes the Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, one of the largest and most significant collections of Native American materials in the United States.


Mission Statement

The Autry brings together the stories of all peoples of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inspire our shared future.

History of the Autry Museum

The Autry Museum in Griffith Park, originally the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage, was co-founded by Jackie and Gene Autry and Joanne and Monte Hale. With the opening of the Museum in 1988, Gene Autry realized his dream "to build a museum which would exhibit and interpret the heritage of the West and show how it influenced America and the world." Mr. Autry was a legendary recording and movie star whose illustrious career spanned some 60 years in the entertainment industry. He was an astute businessman, Chairman of the Board of a broadcasting empire, and owner of a Major League Baseball team.



Historic Southwest Museum Mt. Washington Campus

The Historic Southwest Museum Mt. Washington Campus is the original location of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the oldest museum in Los Angeles, and was founded by Charles Fletcher Lummis. Mr. Lummis was the first city editor for the Los Angeles Times. He was also a photographer, amateur anthropologist, and prolific historian of the southwestern United States.

In 2015 the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the historic site a National Treasure, launching a process to identify a long-term sustainable future for this L.A. landmark.

The Historic Southwest Museum Mt. Washington campus was closed in 2022. The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) performed a regular inspection of the Southwest Museum campus, and due to a number of safety concerns found by the inspectors, the Autry Museum announced that the Southwest Museum campus is closed to the public. Read more



Gene Autry, Oklahoma Museum

Although not affiliated with the Autry Museum, the Gene Autry Oklahoma Museum is a fan favorite.

The Gene Autry Oklahoma Museum holds an outstanding collection of memorabilia of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Rex Allen, Tex Ritter, Jimmy Wakely, Eddie Dean, and many others who appeared in the much-loved musical Western movies of the 1930s and '40s.