Tag Archive for: cody-yellowstone

Celebrate Cody Yellowstone’s Art Scene In 2024

Visitors to Cody Yellowstone next year will experience a special treat, as one of the destination’s most celebrated and recognizable art attractions (The Scout) turns 100. Installed in 1924, the massive bronze sculpture is a cornerstone of the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. The lauded art museum will also hit a milestone – it turns 65 next year.

Named one of the top small art towns by USA Today, there are plenty of other places to experience the artsy side of Cody, including By Western Hands Museum & Gallery, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary next year, and the Cody County Art League, a 60-year-old nonprofit facility that promotes the work of local artists.

2024 is also a great year to become a “dude,” as one of the region’s perpetually popular dude ranches,  Shoshone Lodge & Guest Ranch, will celebrate a century of welcoming vacationers for an old-fashioned, Western-style vacation. Built in 1924 by Henry and Berthan Dahlem, the historic lodge is still in the family, and it still offers all-inclusive ranch experiences including cabin lodging, horseback riding and nightly cowboy entertainment.

The Shoshone Lodge & Guest Ranch will celebrate 100 years of helping visitors become “dudes” during old-fashioned, Western-style vacations. Photo courtesy of Cody-Yellowstone Country

For more information on Cody Yellowstone, visit www.CodyYellowstone.org.

From Buffalo Bill Cody to Amelia Earhart, History Abounds in Cody

Buildings that line Cody’s main street and dot the vast northwestern Wyoming landscape illustrate Cody Yellowstone’s storied past. Here are some examples:

Built in 1841, Buffalo Bill Cody’s boyhood home can be seen at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Pahaska Teepee, just outside the East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, was Cody’s hunting lodge where he brought his pals – including Theodore Roosevelt and the prince of Monaco.

Kirwin Ghost Town is an abandoned mining town in the high Absaroka Mountains and 34 miles from the town of Meeteetse, Wyoming. A short hike away is the foundation of Amelia Earhart’s cabin, intended to be her summer home before she disappeared.

Old Trail Town/Museum of the Old West is an enclave of 27 authentic frontier buildings, including one used by Butch Cassidy and his infamous Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Barracks at the Heart Mountain WWII Interpretive Center show how incarcerated Japanese-Americans lived until the war ended.

The Chamberlin Inn in downtown Cody often hosted high-profile guests like Ernest Hemingway and Marshall Fields. And The Poker Church was built after a group of men gambling in 1902 pledged that the winner of the game would put all of his winnings toward the church of his choice.

Kirwin Ghost Town is an abandoned mining town in the high Absaroka Mountains, a short hike away from the foundation of Amelia Earhart’s cabin, intended to be her summer home before she disappeared. Photo courtesy of Visit Cody Yellowstone

For more information on Cody Yellowstone, visit www.CodyYellowstone.org.

“Liver Eating” Mountain Man Interred In Cody, Wyoming

Cody, Wyoming, certainly has its share of colorful characters, but only one of them was known as “Liver Eating.” John Jeremiah Johnston was a real person and not just a character portrayed by Robert Redford in a 1972 movie. The real Jeremiah Johnston was a mountain man who was born in 1824 in New Jersey, fought in the Mexican American War, married a member of the Flathead tribe, and embarked on a 25-year vendetta after his wife was killed by a young Crow brave.

He spent many years in Montana and was a town marshal in Red Lodge.

Johnston died in 1900 at a veterans’ home in Santa Monica, California, and was buried at a Los Angeles veterans’ cemetery. When a freeway was planned to go through that graveyard, some 25 seventh-grade students and their teacher embarked on a campaign to find a suitable location for Johnston’s final resting place. In 1974, he was reinterred at Cody’s Old Trail Town/Museum of the Old West. Among the pall bearers was Robert Redford.

Johnston’s epitaph reads “No More Trails.”

Portrayed by Robert Redford in a 1972 movie, Jeremiah Johnston was a real-life mountain man who spent many years in Montana and was ultimately interred at Cody’s Old Trail Town/Museum of the Old West. Photo courtesy of Cody Yellowstone

For more information on Cody Yellowstone, visit www.CodyYellowstone.org.

There’s Another Wild Year Ahead in Cody Yellowstone

If there’s ever been a destination that’s up to a little “wild,” it’s Cody Yellowstone. It’s in our DNA, and we have learned to embrace the unexpected while celebrating our Wild West roots and connections to the wild outdoors. Here are just a few of the notable anniversaries and events coming in 2023.

  • 145th anniversary of the Pitchfork Ranch in Meeteetse, the oldest ranch in the Bighorn Basin.
  • 140th anniversary of Yellowstone’s National Hotel, now called Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel.
  • 140th anniversary of the Hole in the Wall Cabin, the hideout of outlaw Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch. The cabins is now on display at Cody’s Old Trail Town and Museum of the West.
  • 120th anniversary of the Buffalo Bill Scenic Byway from Cody to the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
  • 120th anniversary of the dedication of the Roosevelt Arch, which beckons visitors with the inscription “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People.”
  • 85th anniversary of the Cody Nite Rodeo.
  • 30th anniversary of the opening of the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center at the Buffalo Bill Dam.
  • 15th anniversary of the Meeteetse Ice Fishing Derby.

Don’t miss the 85th anniversary of the Cody Nite Rodeo in summer 2023 – it’s sure to be wild! Photo courtesy of Cody-Yellowstone

For more information on Cody, visit CodyYellowstone.org.

There’s A Lot (Or A Little) To See In Cody Yellowstone

Exploring Cody Yellowstone during its quiet season means you have two choices every day of your visit: You can see a lot of a little, or a little of a lot.

With abundant sunshine, surprisingly comfortable temperatures (we love low humidity) and plenty of snow, Cody Yellowstone in winter is an adventurer’s paradise.

Outdoor options include Sleeping Giant Ski Area, with 184 skiable acres and a terrain park constructed of materials found on the hill. In addition to being the only resort in Wyoming with “SNO-GO” bikes, Sleeping Giant has night tubing and skiing, a big New Year’s Eve party with live music, and yurt and tent rentals for groups.

If you prefer non-downhill activities, try ice skating at Homesteader Park in Powell, climbing on one of many frozen waterfalls, cross-country skiing at Wood River Valley Ski Touring Park or riding a snowmobile throughout the world-class trail system in the Beartooth Mountains.

Indoor options include watching the Yellowstone Quake Hockey Team, ice skating at the Victor J. Riley Arena, or checking out various attractions like the world-class Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Heart Mountain WWII Interpretive Center and the Cody Firearms Experience.

With abundant sunshine, surprisingly comfortable temperatures (we love low humidity) and plenty of snow, Cody Yellowstone in winter is an adventurer’s paradise. Photo courtesy of Cody Yellowstone

For more information on Cody, visit CodyYellowstone.org.

Mark Your Calendars for Summer in Cody-Yellowstone

The John Wesley Powell Festival takes place over two days in late May at Homesteader Park in Powell, Wyoming. The event highlights local foods, outdoor recreation and the arts. A kids’ carnival features bike races, a boat float, games and more.

The Jake Clark’s Mule Days in mid-June is an auction, competition, rodeo and barbecue rolled into one. It celebrates an animal that is great on trails, in the mountains and on the ranch.

The Cody Stampede is celebrating its 103rd year and begins June 30 with the PRCA-sanctioned Cody/Yellowstone Xtreme Bulls followed by four days of rodeo competitions, parades (because just one isn’t enough) and fireworks.

The Heart Mountain Pilgrimage is an annual event that sees formerly incarcerated American citizens and their descendants return to where they were unjustly imprisoned during World War II. Held the last weekend of July, this event features time for remembering, processing and opening up new dialogues.

The Rendezvous Royale and the 41st Annual Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale is a week-long celebration in mid-September of Western art featuring stylistic interpretations, educational seminars, a “quick draw” competition, studio tours, and an art show and sale. The week culminates with a Patron’s Ball.

The Cody Stampede features five days of bull riding, rodeo competitions, parades and fireworks. Photo courtesy of Cody Yellowstone

For more information on Cody, visit CodyYellowstone.org.