Woody Crumbo

Woodrow Wilson Crumbo was born on January 31, 1912, His father was Alexander Crumbo (1855–1932). After his mother died in 1920, At the age of 19, Crumbo earned a scholarship to the American Indian Institute in Wichita, Kansas, where he graduated as valedictorian. == Performing career ==

While studying art, Crumbo supported himself as a Native American dancer. He toured Indian reservations across the United States in the early 1930s disseminating and studying tribal dances. == Visual art career ==

|alt=Painting of tourists examining a Navajo weaving held up by a women with her daughter nearby His art career was affirmed when Susie Peters, his mentor from his days at the Chilocco Indian School sold a number of his paintings to the San Francisco Museum of Art. A few years later he curated a collection of Native American art at the Thomas Gilcrease Institute in Tulsa. In 1943, Crumbo was commissioned to paint The Rainbow Trail in the Notawa post office. From 1948 to 1960, Crumbo lived in Taos, New Mexico. He exhibited at numerous shows and became more widely known both nationally and internationally because he adapted some of his work to techniques of engraving and printing, making multiple originals. In 1973 he moved near Checotah, Oklahoma, where he continued to create and to promote Native American art. == Prospecting ==

In the 1950s, Crumbo bought a $3 mail-order mineral identification kit; he took up prospecting with fellow artist Max Evans. The two found deposits of ore worth millions, including a vein of beryllium that the New Mexico School of Mines identified at the time as "among the greatest beryllium finds in the nation." Crumbo became "a major stockholder in Taos Uranium and Exploration Corp. that was formed by a group of Texas investors to develop the claims" for beryllium and copper. == Museum career ==

With his first interest as art, Crumbo served as assistant director of the El Paso Museum of Art in Texas from 1960 to 1967 and briefly as director in 1968. == Native advocacy ==

He left to work independently at art and explore humanitarian efforts. He aided the Isleta Pueblo Indians of New Mexico to gain federal recognition and donated money to help the Citizen Potawatomi build a cultural heritage center in Shawnee. == Honors ==

Crumbo was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for his artistic practice in 1978. Governor George Nigh appointed him as an "ambassador of good will" for Oklahoma in 1982. == Death ==

Crumbo moved to Cimarron, New Mexico in 1988, and died there in 1989. His body was returned for burial in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. == References ==