One of the Best Wild West Towns - Time Out #481

 Thursday is a very special day in Our Country. This upcoming celebration is our unique American holiday.

 It's the U.S.A. tribute when most of us gather with family and friends, enjoy great fellowship, and, of course, eat delicious food. Some of us watch a few football games that day, too, in addition to possibly throwing the pigskin around in the yard? No football heroes, just a little holiday fun! Remember, be careful of your throwing arm.     

      Happy Thanksgiving, folks, near and far away!  

      Several spots in Our Country could claim the title of "#1 American Western Town". Since there is no official location with that exact designation, it simply depends who is being asked.  I contend certainly one of the finalist would be remote Cody, WY. My bride, Lady Deborah, and I recently visited this historic town of 10,028, located in isolated Park County in far northwestern Wyoming. This was our first time to experience Buffalo Bill's namesake hometown, Cody, established with his help in 1896. During his lifetime, William F. Cody, was generally known as the most "well-known person in the world', .     

     Ms. Debbie and I decided to travel to Cody during our most recent visit to our townhome in Jackson. The 2 Wyoming towns are about 180 miles apart, via the shortest of several driving routes. The route we chose to drive our rental car took us north through Grand Teton National Park, continuing north on the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, then we entered huge (2.2 million acres) Yellowstone National Park's south entrance. We next drove in the park through West Thumb, Lake, Fishing Bridge, and around the north side of expansive Yellowstone Lake, passing its historic large yellow hotel. We exited the park through the remote east entrance, then drove the highway President Theodore Roosevelt called "The most scenic 50- mile drive in America" to Cody. Before we entered Cody, we drove by the Buffalo Bill Dam, at 325-feet , was the tallest dam in the world when the concrete structure opened in 1910. It dams up the North Fork of the Shoshone River to form the large Buffalo Bill Reservoir. Daily free public tours are given of this historic dam.  

     Tourism is Cody's largest source of income, and most of it is realized from May thru September. My bride and I stayed 2 evenings, before reversing our previous driving route, and returning to Jackson. Several leading attractions had closed following the summer season, as we were there a couple of  months ago. Probably the most popular of these tourist activities we did not see is the evening, 2-hour long, Cody Nite Rodeo. It has been open nightly during summer evenings since 1938. We drove by the large, permanent-seating, impressive rodeo venue, west of the downtown area, several times. We also did not visit the Old Trail Town and Museum of the Old West. This attraction is located on the original site of historic Cody City, and consists of 28 separate structures open to the public for a fee.  

     What we did experience during our 2-day visit were the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Inside this iconic museum complex are actually 5 separate museums that branch off the main entrance, like the spokes of a wheel. The 5 museums are the Buffalo Bill Museum (All about his life, and the only one we toured); Western Art; Natural History; Firearms, and the Plains Indian Museums. Your ticket purchase allows the visitor 2 days to tour these 5 spacious and beautiful museums under one central location.   

     In addition, we also toured the Heart Mountain WW II Interpretive Center, about 12 miles north of Cody on US Highway 14A toward Powell. This is a emotionally-moving historical site, where over 14,000 Japanese-Americans were confined in substandard housing structures for over 3 years during WW II. It was one of 10 such sites our government established over the western U.S. to confine these ethnic  American citizens. Debbie and I were certainly glad we visited this site, and read the extensive educational displays.    

    Before we departed Cody, we enjoyed eating lunch in the historic downtown Irma Hotel. Irma was Buffalo Bill's youngest daughter, and he constructed this well-known structure in 1906. The restaurant and hotel are like a history museum, too, with many interesting items displayed on the walls, furniture, etc. 

     We are so glad we finally decided to drive to Cody. The scenery traveling there and returning to Jackson was truly spectacular. The memories are now firmly established in our mind's eyes, along with our photos to help us remember our adventure.