WILD WILD WEST

 I Dropping down out of Yellowstone National Park through a canyon lined with red rock cliffs i entered the great state of Wyoming. Cody Wyoming is named after the iconic Western legend, Buffalo Bill Cody who called this town home and it shows.

Cody is a tourist town on its own grounds, no putt putt golf, no water slides just cowboy, cowboy and more cowboy.. and a few Indians too. the first thing you pass is the rodeo grounds which has full blown professional rodeos every night, that’ right every night in July and August and they are packed.

Next i passed the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum, a campus sized array of buildings in the center of town.

i pulled up to the Irma Hotel and Restaurant not knowing i was entering history. Ol Buffalo Bill himself opened this fine place and named it after his daughter. The huge scattering of animal trophies surrounded the walls. Tight gene, cowboy hat wearing waitresses dripping in silver jewelry scurried about with massive plates of food. The original bar and cash register are still on display. The proprietor told me to see the museum, flat out and invited me to the nightly gun fight in the street the bar puts on.

I had planned on moving on to the next town but the suddenly blackening sky and clap of thunder changed my mind. i checked into the Buffalo Bill Lodge, pretty much every name has ol Bill in it somewhere.

Taking the good advice i received i rode back to the museum and paid my $20 entry fee. The museum has five parts: guns, Ol Bill, Indians, art and natural history. I went right for the guns. This one of the best gun displays in the world. I especially liked the guns from TV and movies, the Lone Rangers Colt, all the guns from the Cartwright family and Gary Cooper’s own Colt he used in many movies.

The Lone Ranger’s Colt

I spent the rainy afternoon drifting through the displays, learned so much. i found the Gun Fighters Hall of Fame, and enjoyed the virtual tales of the famous gun fighters; Bella Star, Butch Cassidy, Johnny Reno, Doc Holiday and on and on. Each picture would light up and a voice replica would tell the tale, then another voice would tell of their demise. the West made outlaws, scarlet women and murderers the legends of my youth , i knew them all by name.

Speaking of guns, as i checked in the very local and symbolically western middle aged lady at the desk had a t-shirt only found in America, a picture of an automatic pistol and the caption, “First Choice in Feminine Protection”. An interesting conversation developed with the Danish group checking in, the receptionist was shocked when the visitors told of the gun laws in Denmark, hardly western.

Butch Cassidy in the gun fight

Continuing with the i love guns theme, i went to the nightly gun fight, a free event in the blocked off street next to the Irma. Authentically costumed gun fighters came out just as i saw them in the museum; Wild Bill Hickok, Johnny Ringo (who evolved into Doc Watson while in the local jail) Butch, Billy and all the gang were there along with some hot saloon girls. One of the girls picked me out of the crowd-that happens so often, why? haha — for a dance, she was surprised when i spun her around and we did the cowboy swing. She smiled and told me i was the best dancer this year. A slap stick gun fight followed, good guys won and all survived. it was a fun night in the Wild Wild West.