We got to Cody, Wyoming on Sunday, August 30 and discovered that there is so much to see and do here just a few days does not do justice to see and enjoy all there is to offer.
On Monday, August 31 we began our day with a trip to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. It is one of the finest institutions devoted to the American West. This center includes five distinguished museums and a renowned research library.
The Buffalo Bill Museum, dedicated in 1927, examines both the personal and public lives of W.F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and seeks to interpret his story in the context of the history and myth of the American West.
The Whitn
ey Gallery of Western Art, dedicated in 1959, presents an outstanding collection of masterworks of the American West. Original paintings, sculptures, and prints trace artistic interpretations of the West from the early nineteenth century to today.The Plains Indian Museum, dedicated in 1979 features one of the country's largest and finest collections of Plains Indian art and artifacts. It explores the cultural histories, artistry, and living traditions of the Plains Indian peoples.
The Cody Firearms Museum, ( where John spent a great deal of time!!) dedicated in 1991, contains the world's most comprehensive collection of American and European arms dating back to the sixteenth century.
The Draper Museum of Natural History, dedicated in 2002, integrates humanities with natural sciences to explore, document, and interpret the Greater Yellowstone region and adjacent landscapes.
The McCracken Research Library, dedicated in 1980, advances the study of the American West by the collection, preservation, and use of manuscript collections, books and photographs.
One could spend days in just these museums alone and never see anything else. When you purchase your ticket it is good for two days entrance, and we did go back on Tuesday so see what we had overlooked on our first visit. This is one museum that is not to be missed.
Later in the afternoon we took the Cody Trolley Tour. This tour was very well worth the money. Two guides share the story of world-famous "Buffalo Bill" Cody while they spotlight historic sites, scenic vistas, geology, wildlife and old and new West attractions.
My favorite story on the tour was of the Buffalo Bill burial controversy! The official version of Buffalo Bill Cody's internment has him buried on Lookout Mountain, just outside of Golden, Colorado, gazing serenely over the skyline of Denver, the city where he expired, while visiting his sister, Mary Cody Decker. Buffalo Bill was granted eternal peace buried under his loving wife Louisa and twenty tons of concrete.
The twenty tons of concrete was necessary because the good folks of Denver were terrified that the people of Cody, Wy. were coming to dig up their town founder and return him to Cedar Mountain just outside of Cody. A will dated in 1906 stated that he should be buried on top the Cedar Mt. so he could forever look over the town that he loved. The "official" version of the story says that on his deathbed, Buffalo Bill told his wife Louisa, a friend and a priest that he wanted to be buried on Lookout Mt near Denver. this burial supposedly occurred 5 months later when the snow melted and the mountain roads became passable. The story goes, because Cody's wife Louise - long unhappy in her marriage to the western legend - sold the body to the owners of the Denver Post for $20,000. Buffalo Bill had been the most famous man on earth and the Post owners wanted his body buried near Denver to attract tourists.
However the story is told that the local undertaker in Cody, who was a friend of Bill Cody, was quite upset with the fact that Bill Cody was not going to be buried on Cedar Mt. near Cody, Wy. He and others began looking for a cowboy or somebody who might pass away that they could take down and exchange. Well, it came to pass. A cowboy passed away in early May and nobody claimed his body. The Mortician trimmed up his beard and moustache, looked at him and thought he might pass for Bill Cody. It is told that the bodies were exchanged and the men drove the iced-down body of the stranger to Denver, convinced the mortician there to let them pay their last respects and then cased the joint to make their plans. The men somehow switched the bodies and headed back to Cody with Buffalo Bill;s body. They promptly buried it on top of Cedar Mt. where, according to this account, it remains today.
When Louisa died she requested burial with Buffalo Bill on Lookout Mt. This was granted and Louisa's casket was placed on top of Buffalo Bill's burial vault and covered with more concrete. So no one really knows just who is buried on Lookout Mt., or if Buffalo Bill was really buried on Cedar Mt. near Cody, Wy. The exact location of the grave on Cedar Mt. is known to only a few people. The site in not open to the public and access requires gaining permission of a private land owner.
I thought this story was great, one can only wonder what the truth really is?
More below on our trip to Cody.....
Candy and Johnny
