Visit the Saunders Memorial Museum to See One of the Best Handgun Collections. On Madison Street in Berryville, Arkansas, visitors will find a unique museum called the C. Burton Saunders Memorial Museum. Saunders was an interesting man, a world traveler who was also a renowned sharpshooter and a big game hunter. In addition, he enjoyed spending time with some of the most rich and powerful people who lived at the turn of the century. He also collected a number of different items, from firearms to rare artifacts.
At his memorial museum, visitors will find a number of different items, including antique furniture and house wares, as well as tools and one of the most impressive collections of firearms in the world. Some of the weapons belonged to Saunders himself, but there are also quite a few from notables of the Wild West, such as Jesse James, Annie Oakley, Wild Bill, and Pancho Villa.
Part of the collection even includes items that Saunders gathered from the Holy Land. Some of those items include Gethsemane flowers and water from the Jordan River.
You will also be able to see clothing worn by Sitting Bull at the Battle of Little Big Horn, where he outwitted Custer. Pancho Villa’s spurs are even on display.
Most people who come to the museum are there to see all of the wonderful firearms though. It is one of the best collections in the whole state of Arkansas, including more than 400 handguns. At the Saunders Memorial Museum, you will be able to see not only the popular guns of the era, but also many of the rare pieces. Quite a few were even used by heroes and villains of yesteryear.
Some of the popular examples of handguns belonged to people such as Jesse James, who were notorious for terrorizing the Old West. You will certainly want to spend time looking at all of the different handguns in the collection and reading about how they were used, as well as who used them.
Everyone who is in the area should make it a point to stop by the museum and see one of the most impressive handgun collections in the whole of the United States. You get to see a number of other historical pieces as well, and it is certainly worth the visit. Admission to the museum is quite affordable.
113-115 East Madison
Berryville, AR 72616
870-423-2563
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This is without doubt one of the finest treasures of Arkansas.
The staff is very helpful and well informed.. They are courteous and patience to the inth degree.
This was the best stop on our vacation without a doubt.
I appreciate the State of Arkansas and the City of Berryville, AR, and the volunteers for their contribution to our American hertiage.
Lee Moore
Arlingtion, TX 76006
It is my understanding that the Saunders Museum has possession of the Colt .41
cal. double-action ” Thunderer” revolver once owned by William Bonney ( AKA Billy the Kid.).
Having the same gun would the museum be willing to release the serial # of Billy’s gun.
Thank You, Mike Morrissey
I am researching my great grandfather’s life. His name is Calvin Warner Polk. He was a U.S. Marshall and was with the posse that captured Billy the Kid. My understanding is that at one time he had Billy’s gun, but our family doesn’t know where it is now. Do you have the guns of Billy the Kid or Calvin Warner Polk? If so, how did you obtain them?
I enjoyed every bit of that museum. Buck Saunders really had an obsession with western folklore including pistols and all kinds of firearms. I know about the youngest and oldest sheriff of Carroll County named Tom Morris. They had his gun on display at the museum. I found out that Wild Bill Hickock told a young journalist he killed 50 Confederate Soldiers during the Civil War. It was great researching about Belle Star who married Jim Reed in 1866 and they had one son named Edward who was lated killed trying to rob a stage.