Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho off to Wyoming We Go

 We said good-bye to Montana for this year. The clear air from the recent rains was short lived though as we headed to south.

If you look real hard into the distance you can see the mountains, which the smoke has pretty well hidden. The drive into Wyoming was windy but uneventful.

Hitting Cody Wyoming was a different story. Getting through town was a construction bad dream... not a nightmare though. Carol and I have come to a conclusion that we are on R&R... rain and road construction. No disappointed settling in, the rain blew in a couple of hours after the trailer was set up.

The top photo is our site, with a concrete deck on the left. The middle photo is us and our neighbor... looks like how new homes are built today. The bottom photo is our other neighbors deck, about three feet from our window. This park is one of the older parks that was not designed for larger RVs. As they expanded, newer sites were added with more space. Should we return in the future we will seek out the larger spaces.

First stop the next day after our day of rest, was to the hardware store for a door holder for the front door on the trailer. After the hardware store we headed for a tour, by trolley, of Cody.

The trolley tour is an hour long ride around Cody and the surrounding area. The tour starts at the Irma Hotel,  passes an original cabin from the wild west days (in it's original location), a couple of Victorian homes lived in by several mayors, Buffalo Bill dam, and other historic structures.

Buffalo Bill built the hotel with the vision of tourism, and named the hotel after his daughter Irma.

Buffalo Bill was given this bar as a gift from Queen Elizabeth after his Wild West show toured England in the early 1900's. If you were to look at photographs of the town, the hotel is situated in the middle of nothing. Buffalo Bill was a risk taker spending $80,000.00 ($16,000,000.00 in todays market) of his own money to build this hotel.

After the trolley tour we went to lunch, then drove back to the dam for further investigation. You can read more about the dam at: bbdvc.com. The dam was completed in 1910 after several years of delays caused by the weather, seasonal flooding, and incompetence. Three contractors were awarded contracts to build this dam, all three lost their shirts (went broke) by the time the project was completed. All said and done, the dam cost was double what was projected. In it's time it was the tallest dam in the world, and became the model for building Hoover Dam. Surprisingly few lives were lost, I believe only seven died, there were many that were either seriously injured or disfigured though. Before visitors get to the Visitor Center and Dam there is a history lesson at the parking lot. In 1985 the dam went through a modification, increasing it's overall height an additional 25 feet, topping out at 328 feet. There are artifacts on display at the parking lot as well.

This 42 inch diameter wood and concrete plug ball was used to plug the power works conduits at the base of the dam, upstream side; they  were part of the original project.

This 48 inch hydraulic valve, located at the base of the dam supplied water to the power works plant.

This is the upstream cableway winch that would have been located in the hoist building 75 feet upstream from the dam. This winch was used to lower the plug balls so maintenance and repairs could be completed to downstream equipment. After 1985 the plugs were lowered via a winch barge that was towed in. 

The dam was first named Shoshone dam, for the project, later it was renamed Buffalo Bill Dam in recognition of his efforts to get water for irrigation to the farmer's fields.

It is a about a 1/4 mile walk from parking to Visitor Center. Visitors can walk to the Visitor Center, or take a courtesy golf cart. We walked to the center as the wind was picking up and trying to blow us over a couple of times on the way.

The top photo is at the entrance to the Visitor Center. As most tourist sights there a bit of history... and a gift shop. They have a mini... and I mean mini theatre presenting the story of the trials and victories in building this dam. The second photo is looking to the lake built by the dam. A small town was lost under the waters of the lake, but a couple of buildings were saved and moved to preserve the town history. 

Now let's get a bird's eye view of the dam.

Some years earlier the power plant was moved several miles farther downstream from the dam. The visit is short, maybe a couple of hours, but fun. 

It was time to head home, and boy did the weather change.

The wind kicked up to 25mph, with gusted over 40mph. It got so windy it caused white caps on the lake.

The wind got so strong we decided to take the golf cart to our car. The driver had a milk crate bin on the front seat that was no match for the wind. Gusts tried to blow cleaning products out of the bin, and the bin out of the cart... oh well, we made it to the truck. Leaving the dam we drove around to the other side of the lake, which was big as expected.

Here we are at the "other side" of the lake. This lake is so large that a small town was lost, under 200 feet of water, and I was told great for fishing.

Driving back to our home we passed the home of Buffalo Bill when he lived here. His home was moved from its original site in town. The home is privately owned now, so there are no tours. 

The wind stayed in its heightened state most of the afternoon, but before we got home we stopped at the Irma Hotel for dinner. Dinner wasn't a big deal, we had ribeye steaks for dinner. The excitement came when we ordered our drinks. Carol ordered a "Black Jack" and I had a "Buffalo Bill". Now Carol's drink was made with Jack Daniels, coffee liqueur, dash of cola, and garnished with bourbon cherries. Those cherries were soaked in bourbon, boy they packed a bunch, so much so we're trying to duplicate them at home. My drink was a favorite of Buffalo Bill, made with a bourbon rye blend and apple juice. Now we went home.

With the trolley tour ticket we also paid for tickets to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West (centerofthewest.org). The place is so large that the ticket is good for two days, back to back.

The museum is broken into five wings on the first floor.  Each wing is a separate museum: Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and the Cody Firearms Museum.

Our trip through the museums consisted of the Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, and Cody Firearm Museum. We spent a long time in the guns, and there were some amazing gun, so I am just going to post photos. Most of the gun collection belongs to the Winchester Company.

This is Looking Down One Aisle at Guns

German Machine Gun

Austrian Machine Gun

Gatlin Gun

Single Shot Breechloading Shot Gun (Middle)

Dardick Series 1500 Pistol

St. Claire "Apache" Pistol

Brass Knuckle Duster Pistol

Palm Pistol

This is a Very Small Pistol

Pencil Gun

Four Barrel Flintlock "Duck's Foot" Belt Pistol

Radial Cylinder Palm Pistol

       Four-Shot Radial Chamber Flintlock Pistol

With the desire for weapons came the need for someone, and some place to produce them. In the midst of all the guns is an exhibit of machinery for producing weapons.

Milled Rifle Barrels

The gun exhibit has approximately 4,200 guns on display, with nearly 3,000 not on display. The guns not on display are downstairs in the research library area.

The next spoke of museums was the western art museum. This section was full of art from local artists, as well as artists that made Yellowstone famous. Back track for a minute here. Yellowstone was the first national park because of the efforts of an artist named Moran, a photographer named Jackson, and a gentleman named Hayden. Mr. Hayden took all his notes, Moran's paintings, and Jackson's photographs and presented them before Congress. Besides being fascinated in how Yellowstone came to be, it is interesting to see how artists interpreted the west.

In one side exhibit there is a the original plaster cast for a statue of Teddy Roosevelt, entitled "Rough Rider". The plaster cast was found at another museum in North Dakota, in their storage area.

Entitled "Shadow"

Entitled " My Trip to Yellowstone" 

I was intrigued with the shadow from this sculpture. The sculpture itself is a beautiful piece, but the shadow is ominous.

Remington was a big name painter of the wild west as we know it. Besides some of his paintings they mocked up of what his home/studio looked like. I didn't think to get a photo or two of his work, but I did photograph his home/studio.

We stepped from there to lunch at the little restaurant on site. After eating we stepped outside to look at the childhood home of Buffalo Bill. His birthplace was in Le Claire Iowa, so the house was dismantled and moved to Cody.

Back inside we went to the Plains Indian Museum. I am always amazed with their culture and beautiful craftsmanship. Their society understands the importance of passing on the history of their ancestors to the next generation through stories and crafts, and education to others.

The way of the Plains Indian was simple, respect the land and respect others. As the White man moved west, he forced the Indian to live a lifestyle alien to them. This was caused several problem, one of the biggest was death of many Indians due exposure to diseases brought from Europe. Some of the tribes adjusted, others rebelled. Part of conforming was moving from living in teepees to white man's houses.

An Example of Adaptation a New Way of Life

As time went on White man continued to force their way of life on the Native American Indian by forcing them on to reservations on lands unfamiliar to them. Once forced to new lands, they were not allowed to farm and hunt as they were accustomed to, they were required to rely on the government. 

I climbed off my soap box. The whole Plains Indian Museum was inspiring. Time to take a break. Carol and I decided to do the other museums later.

Carol and I made it to the other museums in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. The Buffalo Bill Museum was as it sounds, pretty much about Buffalo Bill's life and career. Buffalo Bill and his wife had a rocky marriage, which ended in divorce. The death at an early age of two of their children, and Bill's show schedule were two of the major causes for the marriage collapsing. But before they divorced they ensured that their remaining children were brought up with a cultural background. When Buffalo Bill was home he spent as much time with his family, and part of that time was enjoying music. This love for music was past on to their daughter Irma, who learned to play the violin... not fiddle as the west liked to call it.

Before his days of the "Wild West Show" he was a Pony Express rider at age 15. He holds the record for the longest Pony Express ride, 328 miles in 21 hours. He was a scout for the Army. In April of 1872 the 3rd Army was ambushed by Sioux, and because of his bravery in the face of the enemy, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was a very successful venture for Bill, earning him millions of dollars.

Bill's show traveled throughout the United States and around the world. His show was set up the same wherever they went. The show was so big that it took four ships to get the show to Europe. You have to remember that everything went, meaning buffalo, horses, all other animals, Indians, and cowboys required to put on the show. Advertisement was a big part of ensuring that the show was a sell out. There were canvas banners made up for each city. Below is the 28 foot canvas poster advertising the London England show.

It is hard to see, but on the right side of the poster is the Queen of England, the bottom left touts seating of 20,000 spectators. 

You need to understand that back in the early 1900's the Queen of England was essentially a recluse, however she did attend the show. With the previous hostilities between the United States and England, Buffalo Bill received the greatest honor from Queen Elizabeth when she bowed in respect for Buffalo Bill. The following year after the show Queen sent the bar in the Irma Hotel to Buffalo Bill.

By 1913 Buffalo Bill filed bankruptcy, the show was over. Part of his financial problems stemmed from trusting someone else to manage his money, and investing in schemes that more often than not lost money. 

Bill took a positive attitude about about losing the show, it meant he could now spend more time at his TE ranch, which in the past he only saw in the fall and winter months. This was one of several ranches he owned, located about 30 miles southwest of Cody. He loved Wyoming very much, and wanted to be buried in Wyoming outside of Cody, and had it put in his will.

When Buffalo Bill died in 1917 he was in Denver. Denver chose not to honor his wishes, some say it had to do with his ex-wife wanting to get even with Bill. Let's make the short story longer. Cody folks tried to steal his body and return it to Cody. Denver got wind of the plan and poured 20 tons of concrete on his grave. Back track a bit... he died in winter and it was too cold to bury him. His body was kept at a mortuary until the ground thawed. Meantime a man looking like Bill dies, his body is swapped with Bill's. So... under 20 tons of concrete is the body of an unknown man? Is Bill's body resting in Wyoming like he requested? Did he get even with his ex-wife in the end? The truth is that no one is sure if Buffalo Bill is buried in Denver or Cody.

We passed from the Buffalo Bill Museum and into the Draper Natural History Museum. This portion is interactive, has video information stops, and a passport that can be stamped at various stations throughout the exhibits.

If you look to the bottom center you will notice bear prints; much like us their front paws are designed different than their hind paws, as our hands are designed different than our feet.

The museum exhibits are set up by altitudes in which the animals live in. I have always been impressed with the way mountain sheep and goats can wander up and down mountain sides on those tiny ledges without killing themselves. 

The top photo is a closer look at this exhibit, the elk is magnificently carved from wood, the cat has seen a taxidermy.

To go through these two museums can take half a day, maybe a whole day if the visitor reads every piece of information. 

Well, off to lunch.

Here we are. Old Trial Town is a town put together simulating what a western town could have looked like in the late 1800's.

The Rivers Saloon was a favorite watering hole for Butch Cassidy and his gang.

To help promote a town feeling, they added a graveyard. The residents were relocated from prior resting places. One of the more famous is John "Jeremiah Liver Eating" Johnston.

Most people would better remember him as Jeremiah Johnston, portrayed by Robert Redford in 1972. When Jeremiah's body was relocated, Robert Redford was one of the pallbearers.

At another section of the property is a memorial to "Mountain Men" of the region, and beyond that is a private grave site of Buffalo Bill's grandson.

Some of the buildings are filled with artifacts representing the early west, some are on loan from personal collections, and others were dug up, stories forgotten. The old barn is filled with carriages and sleighs, and an old bar, all in found condition. The barn appeared to be used for special events.

The town was a fun way to meander part of the day away.

We drove all the way back to the other side of Cody, maybe 4 miles, and stopped in at the Elks lodge.

This lodge is a block over from main street. The building is three stories, including the basement. The upper floor is their meeting room, middle floor is the social area, and the basement is the kitchen and event room. We walked into the bar area and saw this beautiful mural... the sombrero is an add on. The bar itself is two sided. The other side equates to a sports bar, lotta TVs and tables. 

One thing we are learning since our escape from California is the freedom to smoke inside a building. It is taking some getting use to. The smokers we ran into were polite when smoking, and the ventilation system was pretty good in the lodge.

We stayed for a while, then to dinner, and home. It's time to get ready for Casper WY.