Cody, the self-proclaimed "Rodeo Capital of the World," is also home to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. This complex is absolutely amazing and should be on everyone's bucket list. The complex contains five different museums plus a research library - Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Plains Indian Museum, and the McCracken Research Library. While men are spending an afternoon in the Cody Firearms Museum, the women may want to go down the street to the Friends & Company Quilt Shop, reported to be one of the best stocked fabric shops in the area.
The Heart Mountain WWII Japanese-American Confinement Site is located just off of U.S. Highway 14A between Cody and Powell. This "internment camp" had a maximum population of 14,025 people, which made it the third largest "city" in Wyoming. A few building remain on the original site and one building has been converted to a museum. There are also various hiking trails and monuments located around the grounds. .
Although most of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is located in Montana, the National Park Service has established a nice visitor center at the junction of U.S. Highways 14A and 310 just east of Lovell, Wyoming. The visitor center has a number of displays and a variety of movies available for viewing. One of the more interesting movies describes a large historic Medicine Wheel that is located just to the east of the visitor center in Bighorn National Forest. We were told that it was a strenuous hike to reach the wheel, so we settled for the movie.
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| Photographer Unknown |
We stopped by the Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting in Greybull; but much to our disappointment, the museum was closed. Apparently, the museum curator died and a new curator had not yet been selected; so, I had to just view a few of the planes from outside of the fence.
The historic Greybull Hotel was the first and largest brick building constructed in Greybull and has an interesting history. During the Great Depression a "colorful local character" purchased the property, opened a "speakeasy" in the basement, and connected the basement to various other buildings around town with a series of underground tunnels. Apparently, once, a liquor run went bad when Federal agents showed up at the 2 Dot Ranch drop point just as they were transferring the goods. A shootout ensued and Federal agents killed one of the workers. Since the worker was already dead, the bootleggers first finished the liquor run and then dropped the body at the local funeral parlor. The speakeasy is now a nice restaurant and the tunnels have been sealed.
Shell Falls is located in Shell Canyon, which contains some of the earliest fossils of hard-shelled creatures known. All of the Shell Falls facilities and exhibits were closed for the winter, but we were able to park on the side of the road and hike a short distance to view the falls.
On August 29, 1865 Brigadier General Patrick E. Connor attacked an Arapaho village near Ranchester and drove the Arapaho men out of camp. However, unexpectedly, the Arapaho men launched an aggressive counterattack. Because General Connor was out numbered, he retreated with his men down the Tongue River. Connor claimed a victory for the battle, even though he retreated under fire. The site is now a park called Connor Battlefield ("The Battle of Tongue River").
On the way to old Fort Phil Kearny, my truck turned right instead of left and I ended up at a Wyoming State Fish hatchery. (I really did not want to turn left anyway because it was a dirt road.) The hatchery ponds contained some fairly large trout!
Fort Phil Kearny was constructed in 1866 on 17 acres of land and was the largest fort constructed along the Bozeman Trail. The Fort walls were 8 feet high and 1,496 feet in length. The Fort is now a State Historic Site that contains a visitor center, part of the old fort stockade, information kiosks, and various exhibits.
However, the most interesting history (known as Fetterman's Fight) happened on a hill about three miles northeast of the Fort. Due to the frequency of raids against wagon trains on the Bozeman Trail, the Fort's commanding officer stationed a flagman on the highest hill in the area and when the Indians would attack a wagon train, the flagman would signal the cavalry. The cavalry would quickly respond and rescue the wagon train. However, the commanding officer always instructed the cavalry to never pursue the Indians or go over a hill where the troops could not be seen from the Fort.
On December 21, 1866, Captain Fetterman and his cavalry troops were dispatched to rescue a wagon train. When Fetterman arrived at the site he noted that there was only a small band of Indians, so he decided to chase them over the hill to teach them a lesson. What Captain Fetterman did not realize was that Chief's Crazy Horse and Red Cloud had a band of about 2,000 Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors hidden on the other side of the hill. All 81 men, along with Captain Fetterman, were killed within 30 minutes. When the Fort Commander learned of the massacre, he was worried that the large band of warriors may attack the Fort, so he immediately dispatched John Phillips to Fort Laramie to "summon aid for the Garrison of Fort Phil Kearny." Phillips rode 236 miles in sub-zero weather through Indian infested country in four days to get help. The Fort was never attacked.
In the summer of 1867 the Indians attempted to repeat the Fetterman attack about five miles northwest of Fort Kearny. What the Indians did not realize, however, was that the Army had just received the new Trapdoor Springfield rifles and 100,000 rounds of ammunition. The Indians suffered heavy losses in their attach while the army lost only three men.
A monument in honor of John Phillips has been constructed outside of the Fort and a monument to Captain Fetterman and his troops has been placed along the Bozeman Trail on the hill where he chased the Indians.
When you walk into the Occidental hotel in Buffalo, it is like walking back in time. The guest register reads like Who's Who of the West - Butch Cassidy and the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill, Teddy Roosevelt, and many more. The hotel has been restored to its original grandeur and still contains the original embossed ceilings, saloon back bar, chairs, and even some original bullet holes. Although we did not stay in the hotel, the rooms are reported to be "furnished with antiques and decorated in elegant period style."
We had planned to take a coal mine tour in Gillette, but when we called for a reservation we were told that they only give tours during the summer months. Bummer! As a substitute, it was suggested that we visit the Rockpile Museum and watch some of the coal mining videos. We did, and it was well worth the stop. I also found the Cannonball Sandstone Concretions to be very interesting. Apparently, the Cannonballs are found in many parts of Wyoming and are formed as "water from rain or snow melt flows through the sandstone it develops an electrical charge. Areas of sandstone which block the water flow become more charged, and attract the minerals dissolved in the water. The minerals, in this case, mostly calcite, accumulate around the blockage and cement the sand grains together. As the softer sandstone erodes the harder concretions remain. The process can continue until spheres 10 to 18 feet in diameter are formed. The spheres also vary in color and shape depending on the minerals and source of blockage involved in the process"
As we approached Devil's Tower National Monument, it started to sprinkle and by the time we reached the visitor center we were in a downpour - you could not even see the Tower. After having lunch in our trailer and a short nap, it quit raining; so I did a record time lap, making it around the 1.3 mile loop trail that circles the Tower tower's base before it started raining again. I stopped in the visitor center on my way back to see if anyone had found my Instamatic camera that I left on one of the viewing benches the last time I visited the Tower. The 23 year old ranger said that no one had turned in a camera and she inquired when I lost the Instamatic. I explained that it was almost 50 years to the day (October 1965) when I last visited the Monument! She rolled her eyes and gave me that "just another crazy old senior citizen" look.
Everyone that goes through Sundance has to stop and see the old Jail where Harry A. Longabaough spent 18 months for "horse stealing." Harry was kept in this jail rather than being transferred to the penitentiary in Laramie because he was under 21 years of age. One day before Harry was to be released, the Governor granted him a full pardon because of his age. After leaving jail, Harry took the alias Sundance Kid and joined up with Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch Gang. The rest is history!
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