By Jeff Burns
Cody
Wyoming was named for its founder, Buffalo Bill Cody, the scout, hunter, and
Wild West Show creator. Located about an
hour from Yellowstone National Park, Cody is full of great attractions.
Whether
you stay there or not, you have to visit the Hotel Irma, built by Buffalo Bill
Cody and named for his daughter. The
rooms are quaint and old-fashioned, but a little pricey. Have a meal in the
restaurant and then walk around the lobby and gift shop. Every evening during the summer, the street
in front of the hotel is closed off for a Wild West shootout show.
The
biggest attraction in Cody is the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, sometimes called the “Smithsonian of the West.” It’s actually five museums
in one, and you could spend a couple or three days exploring the Center
alone. The museums are the Draper Museum
of Natural History, the Plains Indian Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, and
the Buffalo Bill Museum dedicated to the life of the showman.
Every third weekend of June, the Center hosts an annual
Plains Indian Powwow, which brings tribal dancers and Native American artisans
from throughout the West to the performance area next door to the Center. It is
a fantastic experience, an auditory and visual spectacle that will stay with
you for a long time. Word of Advice:
Book your hotel early if you plan to be in town for the powwow, at least
6 months in advance. Rooms fill fast.
For a taste of the Old West, visit Old Trail Town, a collection of cabins and buildings from
the area that have been set up for visitors.
The cabins include cabins belonging to Curly, one of the Crow Indian
scouts with Custer at Little Bighorn, and Jeremiah “Liver-eating” Johnson, the
real life mountain man portrayed in the 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson by Robert Redford. You can also explore a cabin
and saloon occupied and patronized by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Johnson is one of several notables buried at Old Trail Town, along with Buffalo
Bill himself.
About twenty minutes from Cody, you can find the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, one of 10 internment camps built during
World War II for thousands of Japanese-Americans forced from their homes on the
West Coast following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Not much remains of the original structures
of the camp, but the Interpretive Center is excellent. This was one of the darkest moments in
American history, and the Heart Mountain complex does a great job of telling
this painful story.
It is Wyoming, so
summertime is rodeo time in Cody.
There’s an amateur rodeo every night from June through August, and a big
professional rodeo is in town the first week of July. In town, there are neat
shops and restaurants. Cody offers a lot
to keep you occupied.
