One of the mainstays of the Woolaroc collection shares a link to Joplin — numerous sculptures and paintings by Joplin native and Western artist Joe Beeler.

Museum visitor Donovon Lansford, 14, of Galena, Kan., said he was fascinated to learn there was so much American Indian heritage preserved. “I had no idea they went to all this work to save all this stuff,” he said of the paintings, clothing, tools, guns, basketry and other items displayed in the Woolaroc gallery. And, he said, he was unaware so many tribes existed. “I thought there was only two or three” until he saw the Woolaroc displays, he said.

Six-year-old Bobby Glenn recently emerged from the museum with a toy rifle, a memento of his latest trip to the museum he said he has visited a “lotta, lotta” times. His grandfather, Robert Glenn, who lives near Bartlesville, said he has brought the boy on numerous visits because they enjoy the cowboy-and-Indian experience the museum offers.

And, the boy says a herd of rams that roams one of the paddocks is his favorite attraction at the compound.

The museum draws about 100,000 visitors a year to fulfill the legacy Phillips desired to leave.

“He felt a very strong responsibility that people who had the benefits of success should leave something that would help people learn from the past. It was more than writing something snappy on a business card,” Fraser said. “He wanted to preserve the past, to educate and to entertain.”

Fraser likes to think that Woolaroc is achieving those three goals.

“I try to convey that we’re changing, we’re improving every day with more things for people to see and to do, and yet we’re still just like 1925,” Fraser said.

Visitors to Bartlesville also can visit the city home of Phillips at 1107 Cherokee Ave. as well.

Destination: Woolaroc, home of Frank Phillips of Phillips 66

Directions: Woolaroc is located on Oklahoma Highway 123, 12 miles south of Bartlesville. It can be reached several ways from the Joplin area: via the Will Rogers Turnpike to Vinita and then west on Oklahoma Highway 60 to Highway 123; or via Kansas Highway 166 west to Caney, Kan., then south on Oklahoma Highway 75 to Highway 60 and southwest on Highway 123.

Hours: Woolaroc is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday until Labor Day, when it closes Tuesdays. The Web site is at www.woolaroc.org.

Address: 319 S. Dewey Ave., Bartlesville, Okla.

Features: Exotic animals populate the grounds. The museum houses American Indian artifacts, Old West paintings and cowboy art.