Woke to a beautiful clear day – not a cloud in the sky, and
blue from horizon to horizon. We headed out on foot to the Buffalo Bill
Historical Centre – it was huge and combines 5 museums into one complex.
First
we went into the Yellowstone section. That was really interesting, about the
history of the area and the animals that live there. The next section was
devoted to Buffalo Bill, and was a collection of memorabilia from his life,
including things like the stagecoach used in his wild west show. The exhibits
were good, and we learned about his early life before he became a showman. He
was a bit of a financial disaster though – every time he had any money someone
persuaded him to invest in some “too good to be true” scheme and he lost it
all. So his fortunes went up and down pretty regularly.
From there, we went to
the Plains Indians section. That was really good. The exhibits were excellent,
with life size models of village life, teepees etc. Most of it had interesting
narration from Native Americans about the life they remember, or were told of
by older tribe members. So it was educational and a fantastic tribute to the
old way of life.
By that time we were getting hungry, so we bypassed the
western art section and went to the gun collection. Over 1500 guns on display
and 1200 more in the gun library (we didn’t go in – only so many you can look
at). The guns were arranged by type and age, from the 1400,s through to modern
times. It was interesting seeing the progression of the firing mechanisms
through time.
After the Centre, we headed off for a browse around the
streets of Cody and had a bite in a Japanese restaurant on Main Street. After
that we stopped in at a Saddler because he was doing some leather work in the
shop and it looked interesting. Turned out he was making a pair of cowboy boots
by hand. It takes him 60 hours to make a pair of boots, and he measures each
customer and creates a set of boot lasts (moulds) so the boot is a perfect fit.
He charges from $1800 for a pair…
We visited the Irma Hotel – Buffalo Bill’s Hotel named after
one of his daughters. The bar is rosewood and very ornate and was apparently
given to Buffalo Bill by Queen Victoria.
In the evening we went to the local trifecta – a Chuck Wagon
Dinner, a Country and Western Music show and the Cody Night Rodeo. The dinner
was pretty basic – beef, chicken, beans and salad. The music was fun – the musicians
were very talented. The rodeo was good, but the bucking broncos got Ros
stressed out about them hurting themselves. One horse fell in the chute and the
cowboys were pretty rough getting him back up. He fell again while bucking, but
seemed to be ok after. The barrel racing and children’s calf chase were better –
all the kids in the audience were invited down to the arena, and 3 calves were
let loose with hankies tied loosely round their tails. The kids had to try and
grab a hanky to win a prize. The little calves were ducking and weaving and
bowling kids over. The rodeo finished with bull riding and not a single cowboy
stayed on a bull for more than about 2 seconds. Go the Bulls! J
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