J. M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing))

In 1929, in a hotel lobby in Claremore, Oklahoma, a transplanted Arkansas sawmill owner named J.M. Davis decided to put his collection of 99 firearms on display. Since then, Claremore's J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum has become an internationally known tourist attraction. Thousands of visitors per year marvel at exhibits featuring statuary, knives, swords, saddles, Native American artifacts, political buttons, World War I posters, and many other items--all in addition to the most extensive private collection of guns on display in the world. Through words and pictures, this book tells the behind-the-scenes story of the museum and John Monroe Davis--the man, his times, and his amazing acquisitions.