2009 07 07 Cody, Wyoming

Old Trail Town













The Irma Hotel













The Buffalo Bill Historical Center















The 6 O'Clock Shoot-Out!













Dan Miller's Cowboy Music Review














The Town of Cody was founded by Colonel William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. As you drive through the city today you can certainly see these folks are proud of their hero. There are remarkable stories of the Pony Express, Buffalo hunts, Pioneer Families, Indian Wars and more. If you have an interest learning more about how the West was won - come to Cody! This place is exciting and peaceful, perfect for families with kids.

We started our day sorting out the best of Cody. Our first stop was walking through Old Trail Town. Constructed in the Spring of 1967, Wyoming native, Bob Edgar, realized that old historical buidlings were rapidly disappearing from the Wyoming Landscape. He began to gather the historic buildings and relics to be displayed on the west side of Cody, in an area Buffalo Bill and his associates had chosen for the first town site of "Cody City" in 1895. Many of the buildings were completely taken apart and reassembled in the new Old Trail Town. Buildings date from 1879 to 1901. There is over one hundred horse drawn vehicles, an extensive collection of memorabilia from the Wyoming frontier and authentic Indian artifacts. Old Trail Town has three buildings used by the "Hole in the Wall Gang." The Hole In The Wall Cabin was the famous hideout for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Several infamous icons of the Wild West have been re-interned here, Jeremiah "Liver-Eating" Johnson, Jim White "Buffalo Hunter", Phillip Vetter, trapper - killed by a grizzly bear, and Belle Drewry, the famous "Lady in Blue" murdered at Arland.

After touring Old Town we took a peek at the Irma, Colonel Cody's elegant hotel that opened on November 1st, 1901. The Cherrywood Bar was a gift from Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill in gratitude for an amazing Command Performance in England in the 1900s. The bar was made in France, shipped to New York by steamer, then shipped by rail to Red Lodge Montana, then by horse drawn freight wagon to Cody. The bar has survived remarkably well and is very beautiful. It even has a bullet hole from a gunfight that took place in the bar.

Next it was time for a Cody Trolley Tour. Their slogan is "Give us an Hour, We'll give you 100 years" and they do. These folks are clever and informative. It is interesting and provides a good overview of the town, and why it's laid-out the way it is. One tid-bit I found interesting is the reason the streets here are so wide. We can thank Buffalo Bill - he travelled extensively in Europe and always complained about the narrow streets - he couldn't turn his wagon around very easily. He wanted to make sure this wouldn't happen in Cody City - he insisted all the streets be very, very wide.

Soon after our tour we were off the visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. It houses a Plains Indian Museum, The Buffalo Bill Museum, the Draper Museum of Natural History, The Whitney Gallery of Western Art, and the Cody Firearms Museum. There is also the Cashman Greever Garden, the Coe Auditorium and the McCracken Research Library. You can spend several days here and is a must see.

Of course we had to take in the Shoot-Out that goes on every day at 6 p.m. Yes, it's really corny, but it's for the kiddos. After all the shootin' stopped we had dinner at the Irma - Buffalo Ribeye Steak. We ended the evening with Dan Miller's Cowboy Music Review. We enjoyed a beautiful day, fun and interesting.