Visiting Frontier Texas: One of the Best Museums in Abilene Texas.

No doubt the Frontier Texas is one of the best museums in Abilene Texas. In fact, one of the best history museums in Texas!

You probably never heard about Frontier Texas, even for those of you who live in the Dallas Fort Worth area. Or, you first heard about Frontier Texas when you searched for things to do in Abilene for your first visit to the city. Just like us.

We were so mesmerized by this museum that I have to share with you our experience when visiting the Frontier Texas museum. A world class museum in the city with a population around 125,000 people.

But, before I take you to visit the Abilene Frontier Texas Museum, let us take a look at the Abilene location in Texas.

Where is Abilene Texas?

Abilene is located to the west of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, near the geographic center of Texas. Interstate Highway 20 runs through the city, connecting east and west of Texas. U.S. Highway 83, 84, and 277 connects the north and south of the state.

Here are the distance from major cities in Texas to Abilene:

– Fort Worth 150 miles | 2h 11m | via I-20E

– Lubbock 163 miles | 2h 26m | via I-20W & US-84W

– Dallas 181 miles | 2h 41m | via I-20E & I-30E

– Austin 216 miles | 3h 28m | via US-84E & 183

– San Antonio 245 miles | 3h 47m | via US-84E & US-87S 

– Houston 354 miles | 5h 34m | via TX-36S

Additionally, Abilene is the gateway to West Texas. When you plan a road trip to Big Bend National Park from Fort Worth or Dallas, you will most likely drive through Abilene. So, make a plan to spend at least a night in the city. There are other museums in Abilene Texas besides The Frontier that you might want to check.

Frontier Texas: The Best Museum in Abilene Texas

Frontier Texas is a history museum, a gift shop, and the official Visitor Center for Abilene and the Texas Forts Trail Region. I would say it is one of the best museums in Abilene Texas. 

Located in historic downtown Abilene, this western heritage center brings the Old West to life with its state-of-the-art technology. It is not a big museum, but it will make you jaw-dropping. My husband and I were like, “Wow! Really? In Abilene?” as we walked through the exhibits. It’s really hard to believe. 

Our trip to Abilene was sponsored by the Abilene CVB, and I had to pick up a package from the Visitor Center. So, we decided to visit the Frontier Texas Museum as well before we checked into the hotel.

Immediately I recognized the flying bison in the museum yard when we turned to the parking lot. (I went to the Abilene CVB website several times to learn about places we visited in the city.) No cars around and we wondered if they closed early that day. 

Entrance to the museum is on the other side of the building, and in front of it there stood a giant bison sculpture. Our dog Snoopy was coming with us, so we took him there for a brief walk and pictures with the bison. 

Then I went inside to make sure it’s not closed. They were not only open, but they also allowed dogs into the museum. What a jackpot! I didn’t expect this because it’s a museum and a new building.

When we entered the building, I found travel brochures and restrooms on the left, and the museum area to the right of the building. In the middle was a cozy sitting area where visitors can take a rest and post pictures from the museum to social media. Yes, free WiFi access is available in the museum. Gift shop is around the front desk.

The attendant asked if it’s our first visit, and she explained to us about the museum and where to start and end our visit. She also gave us a brochure to assist us through the exhibits, and 3 cards with QR Codes that we could scan at the end of the museum tour. It would tell us about the life of three different frontier people in the Abilene area. She also reminded us that most dogs didn’t feel comfortable sitting in the theater at the back. Also, there‘s a hologram exhibit at every section that we need to activate to watch it.

Now, let me take you through Frontier Texas, one of the best museums in Abilene Texas.

Frontier Texas – Blood & Treasure Theater

The door opened automatically when we walked to the Welcome Theater area. Before we entered the theater, we saw pictures of the Spirit Guides on both sides of the wall. They are nine individuals who represent different segments of the frontier populations. 

In the theater we watched a Blood and Treasure movie, a twelve minute introduction to Frontier Texas! It is presented by Buck Taylor, a former star of the Gunsmoke television series and numerous western movies. You will recognize his face right away. He explains what visitors will see in various segments of the museum. He also introduces visitors to the Spirit Guides I mentioned above, who return to the world to help visitors understand what life was like in the frontier time. 

Snoopy wasn’t too comfortable in his first theater room experience. Probably because of the loud sound. We had to pet him all the time.

Frontier Texas – A Wild Land

Once the movie ends, the door opens automatically to the first exhibit: A Wild Land. Here you will learn about life back to almost 15,000 years ago before the Texas Frontier was settled. From the Ice Age to ancient people to when the Comanche called this area their home in the 1700.

This was the age where humans traveled the region on foot. Where climate alternated between ice ages, and torrid heat and drought cycles. A harsh land where each day was about life or death struggle. 

No humans made this region their permanent home until the Comanche came riding horses, introduced to the New World by Spanish explorers.

Lots of real size buffalos and wolves in the display. You can tell they are high quality works.

Frontier Texas – Comanche Empire

Then you will walk to the Comanche Empire exhibit, where you will find information about how they dominated the Southern Plains from the 1700s-1800s. They hunted, traded, and made war across the Southwest region. 

Actually the tribe called themselves Numunah, which simply means “Our People.” It’s the Spanish who called this region Comancheria; the Comanche Empire.

Women in the Comanche tribe had little status. They did daily chores, including transporting and erecting the heavy buffalo hide tipis.

Frontier Texas – Buffalo Hide Trade

From here you will move to Buffalo Hide Trade, the years when people discovered that buffalo hides were suitable for the leather industry. The frontier’s first economic boom where Texas buffalo killed out in less than a decade. 

I found this segment saddening. Before the Plains Indians acquired horses, there were between 30-60 millions of bison in North America. Then soon after the Civil War, eastern capitalists ordered as many buffalo hides and hunters responded. Between 20 million and 31 million bison were killed in Texas and Kansas, after none left up north. In 1889, there were only 541 bison left in North America! Today the number is up to 150,000 to 200,000.  

After this exhibit is the Military On The Frontier segment.

Frontier Texas – Military On The Frontier

At this exhibit, you will learn how the military effort as a peacekeeper turned to warfare.

The first military fort was established after the Mexican-American War to prevent the Comanche raiding into Mexico. At the same time, more Anglos pushed westward, and the conflicts between the Indians and settlers grew. 

More forts were built to help control the Indians. An Indian attack near Graham in 1871 changed the government policy towards Indians. That’s when the military effort changed.

Frontier Texas – Cowboys and Longhorns

Next stop, we learn about cattle drives from Texas to Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio where the cattles to be slaughtered for the local markets. During the Civil War, the cattles were driven to railheads in Kansas to be shipped to the East.

There’s a big poster on the left wall that describes the position of cowboys on the cattle drive. It’s an interesting information. By the way, cowboys were paid well for this hard and dangerous trip.

Frontier Texas – Experience Theater

My favorite part in the museum where I felt like I lived in the Frontier Texas. I found myself in the middle of an Indian attack, a stampede, a thunderstorm out on the prairie, a shoot out in the Beehive Saloon, and more.

This is the place where our dog Snoopy stayed outside with my husband. The sound system is so great that the thunder sounds felt really close to us. Water splashing during thunderstorms and it was dusty during the stampede. A great experience!

Frontier Texas – Frontier Settlements

Ever wonder how life was in the frontier towns like in the western movie? In this Frontier Settlements segment you will learn a lot about it. Probably you will change your mind about transporting yourself there.

We learned that the ramshackle settlements attracted everyone looking to make a buck. From legitimate businesspeople, gamblers, camp followers, to prostitutes and other rough people. These towns were unorganized and dangerous. When the economy faded, these towns disappeared.

Frontier Texas – Guns of the West

The last segment in the museum. You will find The Fort Phantom Hill Firearms Collection showcase collection from the early muzzle loading weapons to the rapid-fire Winchesters and Colts.      

This collection was gathered from private collectors and public gun shows to showcase guns used in the Texas Frontier.

Remember the cards with QR Codes of Frontier characters we got from the front desk? You can scan the card here before leaving the museum area. I got the famous frontier lady Mary Ann Dyer a.k.a. Mary Ann “Molly” Goodnight. Together with her husband Charles Goodnight and their business partner John Adair, they rescued and raised orphaned baby buffaloes, and helped establish the Goodnight buffalo herd, which became well known throughout the world.

When you go to Caprock Canyons State Park in the Panhandle, you will see lots of the Goodnight buffalo herd. You might even see them grazing on grass when you unzip the tent or open your RV doors in the morning.

Final thoughts on Frontier Texas: one of the best museums in Abilene Texas.

My family and I were and are still surprised with what we got to see in Frontier Texas until today. Abilene is not a big city like Houston or Dallas. So, to find a world class history museum in Abilene Texas is just unbelievable.

Do we want to go back when we find ourselves in Abilene in the future? Absolutely! I want to walk through the exhibits again, watch the holograms of the Spirit Guides, and experience the rain, the thunder, and the dust in the theater.  

Have you been to Frontier Texas before? What do you think about the museum? Let me know your opinion about the Frontier Texas, one of the best museums in Abilene Texas, by leaving a comment below.

Frontier Texas Hours

Monday – Saturday, 8am – 6pm with the last showing at 4.30pm.

Sunday, 1pm-5pm with the last showing at 3.30pm.

Frontier Texas Cost

Adults  $10

Seniors (60+) and Military  $7

Students and Teachers  $6

Children (ages 3-12)  $5

Ages 2 and under  FREE

Frontier Texas Location

625 North First Street, Abilene, TX 79601.

Phone: (325) 437-2800.

My family and I were hosted by Abilene CVB, but all opinions are genuinely ours.