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Cody, Wyoming 82414
Story by Pony Smith
For many people whose vacations bring them to Wyoming, their first glimpse of Cody is nothing more than a small dot on a map, situated amid the Rocky Mountains fifty-some miles from the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park. Their first impressions of Cody often fall into one of two categories: either Cody offers a brief respite before continuing on to Yellowstone or Cody is just a short sojourn after finishing a tour through America’s first national park.
Upon entering Cody, however, a visitor’s opinions tend to change as fast as Wyoming’s unpredictable spring weather. The town often leaves the traveler with a lasting impression not only of what the West was, but of what it continues to be—a permanent reminder of this great state’s history in the long and colorful story of America.
The keeper of that history is the most visited and renowned attraction in Cody, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (BBHC), arguably Wyoming’s best-known museum. The museums within the historical center present a look at the West through different aspects of history. One portion of the BBHC is dedicated to Col. William (Buffalo Bill) F. Cody, who founded the town and whose name and legacy still color the area. Another BBHC section, The Plains Indian Museum, exhibits the lives and culture of the American Indians. Similarly, the BBHC’s Whitney Gallery is a collection of art that depicts life on the Western frontier. The Cody Firearms Museum, another key section of the BBHC, is heralded as one of the world’s largest firearm collections and also traces the development of the frontier.
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Photo: Bob Woodall/ Wade McKoy/ FPI In “The Scout,” a giant bronze sculpture outside the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Col. William F. Cody signals his finding of a track. |
The latest addition to the BBHC, The Draper Museum of Natural History, includes exhibits on ancient animals, local history, and the geological processes that shaped the area around Cody and Yellowstone.
The BBHC is not the only piece of history in Cody, though. In fact, the entire town of Cody can be considered a museum. Several buildings in the downtown area are original historic structures dating back to the years immediately following Cody’s founding. The Irma Hotel, included in the National Register of Historic Places, was built by Buffalo Bill himself just seven years after the town’s founding in 1895. Even now, its historic atmosphere lives on in authentic pieces of Western lore enhancing its rooms and through actors staging mock gunfights in front of the hotel’s steps.
Equally impressive is nearby Old Trail Town, a re-creation of an 1890s’ Western main street. Standing like an excerpt from a frontier diary on the west end of Cody, Old Trail Town is a collection of horse-drawn wagons, antiques, and almost 30 authentic historic buildings, all gathered from around the state and relocated to the Old Trail Town.
And less than a mile farther west, the old mingles with the new as modern cowboys compete in the Cody Nite Rodeo (see page 34), showcasing the skills that their predecessors relied upon so heavily when settling this land.
In the true spirit of the frontier and the exploration that brought people to Wyoming in its early days, varied festivities appear in Cody throughout the summer months. Like pioneers of all shapes and sizes, they bustle into Cody, bringing their own unique stories and entertainment only to disappear after a brief stay, as if to continue their journeys. Art exhibits, auctions, gun shows, even bands, all of these arrive in Cody throughout the summer. Perennial favorites include the Yellowstone Jazz Festival (mid-July, see page 25), the Wild West [hot air] Balloon Fest (first week in August) and the annual visit of the Montana Shakespearean Troupe, which performs two different Shakespeare plays every year.
There is, however, one Cody event that far overshadows any of the others: July Fourth. True, America’s Independence Day is celebrated all over the country in major cities and farm towns alike. However, those lucky enough to find themselves in Cody on the Fourth of July are in for a gripping display of unrivaled patriotism. The cowboy spirit thrives in the people of Cody. That spirit, infused as it is with a fierce patriotism, combines with the Fourth of July celebrations like flame and fuel, and the result is truly something to behold. Wyoming and American flags hang from every street pole and flutter in the wind on car antennas. Uncle Sam walks the hot July pavement on stilts and cranes down to shake the hands of awestruck children. People pack the sidewalks and storefronts in search of vantage points to watch the parades. Horses and riders gallop around the rodeo arena with flags trailing behind like the wind’s hair itself. And evening fireworks explode, reverberating off the nearby mountains and fading into a tapestry of stars that shine through the clear mountain air in everlasting celebration.
When visitors leave Cody, heading home or perhaps on to Yellowstone, most will remember it as more than a dot on a map, more than just a resting point. They’ll see Cody as a piece of living history, a symbol of the West, a haven in a land of incomparable beauty.
Cody is what America was and what America will always be.
Pony Smith, a lifelong resident of the Cody and Wapiti, Wyoming, region, is pursuing his Master’s in English at the University of Wyoming.
Copyright 2004 by FPI (Focus Productions, Inc)., P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 83001. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publishers.
Mountain Country is a free visitors’ guide published annually in May and distributed at hundreds of locations throughout Jackson Hole, Cody, and other regional communities. To receive a copy in the mail, send $5 to Mountain Country, P.O. Box 1930, Jackson, Wyoming 83001.
Publishers: Bob Woodall & Wade McKoy, dba Focus Productions, Inc. (FPI)
Editors: Mike Calabrese, Wade McKoy, Bob Woodall
Art Direction & Ad Design: Janet Melvin
Advertising Sales:
JACKSON: Ike Faust, 307-690-5908, 307-733-6995 email: mail.focus@wyom.net
DUBOIS & PINEDALE: Janet Melvin 307-733-6995
CODY: Guy & Barb Hull 307-527-7808