When far-flung family and friends make the effort to visit my adopted home state of Iowa, Madison County is where I take them for a taste of small-town rural Iowa at its bucolic best. But during many trips to the Madison County seat of Winterset, I haven't dwelled on the town's claim to fame as the birthplace of John Wayne, the Hollywood actor famous for portraying rugged cowboys and brave soldiers.
Instead of visiting the humble, four-room white house where Wayne was born, I typically make a beeline for "the bridges' " (aka "The Bridges of Madison County," made famous by the 1992 novel and the 1995 movie filmed on location by Clint Eastwood). I also show visitors around Winterset's classic town square and we usually stop for lunch at my favorite small-town cafe.
That was then. Things have changed since the 2015 opening of Winterset's John Wayne Birthplace & Museum, which soon became a popular backdrop for presidential candidates campaigning across Iowa. In early 2016, Donald Trump appeared at the museum beside Wayne's daughter Aissa, who endorsed Trump's candidacy, praising him as "strong like John Wayne."
Sufficiently curious, I drove on a cold December day about 40 minutes south of Des Moines to the buckskin-colored $2.5 million museum. The museum is kitty-corner from the birthplace that has long been open to the public, but was restored with period furnishings as part of the museum project.