Keith Lusher   11.21.25
A tiny city on the Excessive Plains is drawing nationwide consideration thanks to at least one man’s willpower to maintain frontier firearms historical past alive. In Nazareth, Texas, inhabitants roughly 300, the Up in Arms Museum has quietly turn into some of the uncommon frontier firearms collections within the nation. The personal museum sits simply off North 4th Road, inside a Victorian mattress and breakfast referred to as the Yellow Rose Inn, and showcases weapons as soon as owned by a few of the most iconic figures in American historical past.
The museum is the creation of Dale Acker, a lifelong Panhandle resident who says the challenge began with a single buy. Years in the past, he got here throughout a rifle with a outstanding backstory. That led to a different discover, then one other, and ultimately an obsession with accumulating firearms that got here with verifiable historic narratives. Acker mentioned he reached a degree the place the interest felt incomplete until he may share it with others.
He and his spouse had already constructed the mattress and breakfast she all the time wished, however a museum was by no means a part of the plan. When he talked about the concept, locals thought the couple had misplaced their minds. That modified the second guests noticed what he had gathered. At present, individuals arrive from throughout the area to stroll by means of the rooms and listen to the tales Acker has researched and documented.
The gathering now contains greater than 100 items, and lots of carry nationwide significance. One of many centerpieces is a rifle as soon as owned by Davy Crockett throughout his years in Tennessee. The museum additionally shows revolvers linked to Wyatt Earp, objects tied to Buffalo Invoice Cody, and even a pistol linked to Common Santa Anna. Different artifacts embody knives, holsters, handwritten paperwork, and memorabilia tracing the period of frontiersmen, outlaws, and lawmen
Acker handles every tour personally and says guests typically react with disbelief after they notice they’re holding objects tied to legends they discovered about at school. He believes these objects survive provided that individuals select to protect them, and he warns that numerous historic objects are misplaced when households promote them off or toss them away.
His purpose is to make the museum an anchor for the small farming neighborhood. Nazareth sits an hour from Amarillo, surrounded by cotton fields and ranchland, however Acker hopes the challenge offers vacationers another excuse to discover the Panhandle. Many pair their go to with journeys to Palo Duro Canyon or the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon.
The Up in Arms Museum operates by appointment, and excursions can be found by calling or emailing Acker immediately. He says curiosity has grown since native media protection and a latest touring exhibit that highlighted a few of the most notable items. For him, the reward comes from sharing the tales behind the weapons reasonably than merely proudly owning them.
Acker places it merely. If individuals don’t maintain their historical past, then ultimately it disappears. His small-town museum goals to verify it doesn’t.
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