Visitors to the Autry Museum of the American West have until Sunday to view the exhibit “Empire and Liberty: The Civil War and the West,” which will close Jan. 3.

The John Frémont expedition flag, designed and created by Jessie Benton Frémont circa 1841–1842, is one of the artifacts on display in the Civil War exhibit at The Autry. (photo courtesy of the Autry Museum for the American West)

The exhibit is the first major museum exhibition to illuminate the causes and legacies of the American Civil War from the vantage point of Westward expansion. Visitors are invited to explore the conflicts and connections of a growing nation revealed in more than 200 significant artifacts, including Texas slave sale documents, Andrés Pico’s war drum, the battle flag carried by soldiers of the California Hundred, a Buffalo Soldier’s revolver and Cherokee General Stand Watie’s bowie knife.

The exhibition shows how the Civil War was more than a clash between the North and South, it was part of a history of debate over how America would expand, and who, within that expanding nation, might claim freedom.

The Autry is located at 4700 Western Heritage Way, in Griffith Park. Adult admission is $10. For information, call (323)667-2000, or visit www.TheAutry.org.