Armand's Rancho Del Cielo: The John Wayne Birthplace Museum

Above, the John Wayne statue at the main entrance courtyard. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Along with having John Wayne's birthplace, Winterset, Iowa also has a museum with many movie artifacts from Wayne's career. The Museum had its grand opening on May 22-25, 2015. I visited both this last Thursday.

While not as extensive as the John Wayne: An American Experience exhibit in Fort Worth, Texas, fans visiting the museum will come away not at all disappointed. There's lots of stuff to see.

There is a theater that shows a short film with Aissa Wayne on her dad's life and career. When she was a youngster, she appeared in several of Wayne's films including The Comancheros, The Alamo and McLintock!

There is a big gift shop in the museum. Picked up several DVDs to fill some gaps in my collection along with a poster from McLintock! (below).

One can walk directly from the museum to the birthplace house through a room containing a chuckwagon from The Cowboys.

There is also the "courting cart" from The Quiet Man along with a model of the Alamo. One of Wayne's customized station wagons is on display. (There's another one in Fort Worth at the John Wayne: An American Experience.) Many movie wardrobe items are also on display. A collection of coffee mugs Wayne gave to cast and crew members of his movies upon their completion are also on display. A cannon used in The Alamo is also on display.

The main entrance courtyard is dominated by a huge statue of John Wayne.

Here's a sampling of my visit: