Saddle up for your Western fix in the Rodeo Capital of the World, a small town packed with history. Big bonus: its proximity to Yellowstone National Park.
Not only is the town named after him, but so is its premier tourist attraction. Indeed, the spirit of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show pervades Cody, Wyoming. Anyone looking for a taste of those rip-roaring days of yesteryear will find it here, a place that celebrates all things Western.
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Many visitors to the town of 10,000, founded in 1896 by Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, make a beeline to the Smithsonian-affiliated Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a world-renowned ensemble of five museums, one of which spotlights the great showman. Arguably the biggest international celebrity at the turn of the 20th century, Cody took his arena show—a hoopin’, hollerin’ spectacle of cowboys and cowgirls, sharpshooters, Indians and exotic animals—around the world. From 1883 to 1913 his Wild West extravaganza played in more than 2,000 venues in 15 countries and every U.S. state.
Artwork at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming depicts the famous showman, buffalo hunter and frontier scout.
Visitors to the center’s Buffalo Bill Museum see Cody’s buffalo hide coat, buckskin pants and a rifle he used during a stint hunting buffalo for the railroad. They learn that Cody (1846-1917) fought Indians, rode for the Pony Express and served as a cavalry scout in the U.S. Army.
Clips from a grainy 1910 Thomas Edison film give gallery-goers a rare glimpse of the Wild West show, which would run for three or four hours twice a day. On display are colorful posters that advertised the production, whose cast and crew totaled more than 500 people. One exhibit features guns, gloves and other possessions of Annie Oakley (1860-1926), the sharpshooter and trick rider who toured with the show for 17 years. She achieved stardom second only to Cody’s.
The Buffalo Bill Center’s Draper Natural History Museum showcases the people, plants and animals of the Yellowstone area. (Cody is about an hour from the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park.) The museum complex, just west of downtown on Sheridan Avenue, also includes the Plains Indian Museum, Cody Firearms Museum and Whitney Western Art Museum. An admission ticket covering all five museums is good for two consecutive days.
Shops, Tours and Attractions Reflect Cody, Wyoming’s Classic Western Vibe
Sheridan Avenue, the main drag, and side streets abound with shops purveying Western wear, fine art and souvenirs. From boots, belts and buckles to hats, jewelry, home decor and Native American crafts, the range of merchandise is vast at places like Wayne’s Boot Shop, By Western Hands, Seidel’s Saddlery, Custom Cowboy Shop, Rockstar Cowgirl & Friends and Wild West Emporium.
Downtown Cody’s historic Irma Hotel. (Randy Mink Photo)
The latter shop resides in the historic Irma Hotel, built by Cody in 1902 and named for his youngest daughter. He maintained an office and two suites there (and had a ranch south of town). In the Irma’s restaurant, an atmospheric spot filled with Western and Cody-related memorabilia, artwork and animal heads, stands the magnificent cherrywood back bar said to be a gift from England’s Queen Victoria in appreciation of a command performance of the Wild West show in 1887. Bring your appetite for the breakfast, lunch and prime rib dinner buffets.
Many other downtown buildings also date from the early 1900s. The streets are wide because Cody and his associates designed them so that a wagon and team of horses could completely turn around. Cody Trolley Tours’ narrated one-hour loops from the Irma Hotel shed light on the town’s pioneer past.
Old Trail Town outdoor museum in Cody, Wyoming. (Randy Mink Photo)
More frontier lore surfaces at Old Trail Town, a collection of 28 artifact-filled buildings that were transplanted from various locations in Wyoming and Montana. Among the wooden structures are the cabin used by Old West outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and the home of Curly, the Crow Indian scout who led Lt. Col. George Custer’s 7th Calvary to the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. Old Trail Town’s cemetery is the final resting place of folk legends like mountain man/Indian fighter/lawman John Jeremiah Garrison Johnson (1824-1900), portrayed by actor Robert Redford in the 1972 movie Jeremiah Johnson.
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Rodeo Action for Cody, Wyoming Visitors
Old Trail Town is built on the town’s original site, a piece of real estate just east of Stampede Park, home to the famous Cody Nite Rodeo. The only rodeo in the world held every day in the summer, it has been entertaining travelers and locals alike since 1938.
From June 1 through August 31, spectators can enjoy feats of saddle bronc and bareback riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing, tie-down roping and other events. The only nights off are during the town’s big Independence Day celebration, when the Cody Stampede grabs the spotlight. The nation’s largest July 4 rodeo, a tradition going back to 1919, ranks among the top 15 rodeos in the world, with a total purse approaching $400,000. It is the second-largest rodeo in Wyoming, trailing only Cheyenne Frontier Days. The Cody Stampede Parade captivates crowds that line Sheridan Avenue the mornings of July 3 and 4.
Cody Nite Rodeo. (Photo credit: Cody Yellowstone)
“Staying true to our roots is something in which we take a lot of pride,” says Ryan Hauck, executive director of Cody Yellowstone, the marketing arm for the region that includes the towns of Cody, Powell and Meeteetse, part of Shoshone National Forest and a large swath of Yellowstone National Park. “Much of our rodeo culture can be traced back to cowboys who would come to town to demonstrate their skills to Buffalo Bill Cody himself in hopes of being hired for his famed Wild West Show.”
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Buffalo Bill Dam: A National Civil Engineering Landmark
After the Buffalo Bill Center and Cody Nite Rodeo, Cody’s biggest attraction is the Buffalo Bill Dam & Visitor Center. Located six miles west of town on the Yellowstone Highway, the Shoshone River dam was among the first federal irrigation projects, one that entrepreneur Bill Cody and friends pushed for. Completed in 1910, the engineering marvel—known as Shoshone Dam until being renamed for Buffalo Bill in 1948—once claimed the title of tallest dam in the world at 325 feet.
Before or after admiring views of the river’s deep granite gorge (and perhaps sighting bighorn sheep on the rocks) from the dam’s walkway, visitors interested in its history and workings can watch a 12-minute video that talks about the hardships laborers endured.
Through the years the dam has helped turn the arid high plains of the northern Big Horn Basin into one of Wyoming’s most fertile farming regions, with sugar beets and barley being major crops. The adjacent reservoir provides opportunities for fishing, boating, swimming, picnicking, camping and wildlife viewing. Its recreation facilities are part of Buffalo Bill State Park.
Ranch Resorts in Wyoming Immerse Guests in the Spirit of the West
Located an hour west of Cody and just two miles from the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park, Pahaska Tepee Resort has its own connections with Buffalo Bill Cody. Now a guest ranch offering trail rides, a restaurant and modern accommodations, the property started life as a hunting lodge/hotel for the elite, developed by Cody to promote tourism in the area. Tours of the original log building, no longer used for lodging, reveal a rustic interior decorated with bearskins and cowhides, moose antlers, and elk and buffalo heads. Dating from 1904, the historic space can be rented out for parties and weddings.
Buffalo Bill Cody established this resort as a hunting lodge in 1904. (Randy Mink Photo)
Pahaska Tepee rests on Shoshone National Forest land leased from the federal government. It is one of several family-oriented guest ranches along the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway (Highway14-16-20), which starts in Cody and passes through the Absaroka Mountain Range, following the North Fork of the Shoshone River through the East Yellowstone Valley (also known as the Wapiti Valley for its resident “wapiti,” the Indian word for “elk”). Besides horseback riding, they offer a wide range of activities, from fishing and float trips to hiking, horseshoes, cookouts and nightly campfires.
Back in Cody, the Cody Cattle Company dinner show also brings out everyone’s inner cowboy. Popular with families and bus groups, it’s a common go-to for hearty grub and country western music prior to the Cody Nite Rodeo. The all-you-can-eat meal, served family-style, features beef brisket, chicken and pulled pork, plus sides like baked beans, coleslaw, corn bread and macaroni and cheese.
Bristling with frontier flair, this small town in northwestern Wyoming is the very essence of the American West.
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By Randy Mink, Senior Editor
Lead Photo – Shops in downtown Cody offers complete lines of boots and other items of Western apparel. (Randy Mink Photo)
