BENTONVILLE : Arrowhead fan outgrows house, opens museum
Posted on Friday, July 11, 2008
BENTONVILLE — David Bogle’s passion for American Indian artifacts started about six years ago when he bought some arrowheads to display along the stairwell in his home.
Since then, his collection has outgrown his home and a second house across the street that he turned into a museum at 501 Main St. in Bentonville. Two months after he opened there he said he knew it was too small.
On Thursday he opened his latest addition, the Museum of Native American Artifacts, in Bentonville at the former Sterling House at Central Avenue and Southwest O Street.
“When he started outgrowing the house, we thought he was going a bit nuts,” said Erin Bogle, David Bogle’s daughter. She serves as the museum’s general manager and said she learned to better respect the museum’s pieces and understand the craftsmanship while cataloging the collection.
The museum includes some 6, 000 artifacts from Arkansas and other parts of the country and is displayed in chronological order dating back 14, 000 years.
Items have been donated or placed on loan by private collectors and include about 50 pieces from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville museum, which closed in 2003.
The new museum features arrowheads from several historical periods, detailed pottery, clothing, gold medallions from the Mayans and several head pots, including a rare Quapaw effigy known as the “screaming” head pot found in White County.
A towering replica of a mastodon skull greets visitors just beyond the museum’s lobby, and murals depicting American Indian life are painted on the walls throughout, including outside the building’s entrance. There, visitors were snapping photos in front of a depiction of American Indians on horseback.
“For people coming in, it’s a chance to teach,” David Bogle said. “They will learn about the difficulty, trials and hardships of ancient men.”
The trip introduced 8-yearold Gavin Gochnour to arrowheads. He’s considering collecting them, he said. After all, many are made of stone, and he already gathered 300 to 400 rocks, including two smooth ones and a coarse one from the museum’s grounds.
The Austin, Texas, native was in town visiting his grandparents Betty and Richard Starr. Richard Starr said he thought Gavin and his 6-year-old sister, Kristen, would be interested in the museum and the American Indian dancers featured at the grand opening event.
There’s not a lot of opportunity to see dances like that, he said.
At one point dancers Welana Fields and Maggie Gray welcomed children onto the grass in front of the museum to participate.
Gavin, looking a little scared, slowly approached the group and tried to move his navy-blue plastic Crocs shoes in time with the leaders’ moccasins.
The museum is privately supported but accepts donations. It is free and open from 10 a. m. to 3 p. m. Tuesday through Saturday. David Bogle said he’s not planning to expand anytime soon. But that’s not to say he hasn’t thought about it already. The building’s southernmost wing would be the best place to build on, he said. The more he learns and researches artifacts, the faster his enthusiasm snowballs, he said. “It will be never-ending,” he said.
To contact this reporter: aotoole@arkansasonline. com
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