Mike Yardley calls into Wyoming’s Cody and Buffalo, where Wild West legends come alive in rodeos, historic hotels, and frontier tales.
If you’re itching for at taste of the Old American West’s frontier spirit, Wyoming delivers in spades.
The charismatic frontier town of Cody was founded by the legendary showman Buffalo Bill Cody in the late 19th century and it’s remained true to the buckaroo spirit of the Old West.
Cody proudly touts itself as the “Rodeo Capital of the World”, and its colourful downtown brims with cowboy apparel stores, cheap and cheerful steakhouses and effervescent, boot-tapping saloons. I adored Cody and its infectious, welcoming ambience. Those apparel stores are strangely intoxicating, stacked to the ceiling with hats, boots, belts and buckles.
For 85 years, the Cody Night Rodeo has been staged in Stampede Park overlooking the Wyoming Plains, abuzz with bucking broncos, rodeo clowns, cowboys with lassos and expert horse riders.
Nearby, Old Trail Town delivers an indelible sense of what an old Western town really looked and felt like. (Stick to the walking tracks to avoid stepping on a rattler!) This living museum comprises a collection of 26 historic frontier buildings from the late 19th century that were salvaged and moved here from towns across Wyoming and Montana. You can wander through homely trapper cabins and atmospheric saloons, inspect several well-worn covered wagons, and even pay your respects to the early settlers at a historic cemetery.
Fans of the hit movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid will be particularly enthused at the chance to wander into the original “Hole-in-the-Wall Cabin,” which Butch Cassidy and other outlaws of the Wild West used to shelter from the law.
Dubbed the “Smithsonian of the West”, Buffalo Bill Center of the West is a sprawling facility encompassing five themed galleries. You can marvel at frontier artworks at the Whitney Western Art Museum, dive into the natural history of the region, gawk at the most comprehensive collection of US firearms in the world, and treasure the cultural insights at the Plains Indians Museum.
But the biggest crowd-catcher is the gallery dedicated to the town’s namesake: the Buffalo Bill Museum. No historical figure did more to popularise the American West than William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody.
A frontier scout and bison hunter in his youth, Buffalo Bill put together a travelling Wild West show that proved a smash hit throughout the United States and Europe for 30 years. Cody had huge respect for Native Americans and supported their civil rights. The Lakota tribe, part of the Sioux Nation, formed a huge component of the production. This museum details his extraordinary life, chock-full of interactive exhibits that pay homage to his rip-roaring stage show and enduring legacy.
Shortly after Cody’s inception as a town, 120 years ago, Buffalo Bill opened the landmark Irma Hotel, named after his daughter. It’s still an evocative place in town to soak up the spirit of the Old West. You’ll feel like you’ve been transported back to the turn of the last century in the main dining room, with its antique gold cash register, antler chandeliers, red-leather bar chairs and tin ceiling. The hulking cherrywood bar along the back wall was a gift to Buffalo Bill in 1900 from Queen Victoria, who was most amused by his Wild West shows in London.
Every night between June and September Cody Gunfighters is a cheesy shoot-out western re-enactment that bursts into life outside the hotel at 6pm. It’s free to view. Retire indoors for dinner and surrender to the all-you-can-eat prime-rib buffet, headlined by barbecued buffalo and pork ribs.
Where to stay? The Cody Hotel, right across the road from Old Trail Town, is a luxury mid-size hotel, with warm hospitality and exceptional in-house amenities, including oven-fresh complimentary cookies! The woodsy, Western design aesthetic is stylishly executed, while creature comforts include on-site laundry, an indoor swimming pool, a jacuzzi and a fitness centre. The complimentary continental breakfast is generously proportioned, while evening refreshments are available in the lobby. It’s a winning establishment.
Heading east, make time for a stop in Buffalo, Wyoming on your road trip. Located at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains on the Bozeman Trail, cute little Buffalo is proudly home to one of the most acclaimed Old West hotels. Dating back to 1880, the Occidental Hotel was frequented in the early days by Buffalo Bill Cody, Teddy Roosevelt, and Calamity Jane. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid rode to the Occidental from their hideout at the nearby Hole-in-the-Wall. Cowboys went miles out of their way to enjoy the many pleasures and comforts offered at the Occidental.
David and Jackie Stewart now own and operate the hotel, after helping restore it to its original grandeur, over the past 20 years. Even the bullet holes in the saloon are original. Today the hotel proudly displays its original wall coverings, woodwork, tin ceilings, Charles Rennie Macintosh–designed bar imported from Glasgow, and much of its original furniture (which had been stored in the attic). It’s a true gem.
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