Cody, WY August 30, 2014

Our little group set out for Cody this morning to tour the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.  This place is a complex of five museums and a research library that gives a very comprehensive overview of life in the west.   It is a huge collection of historical displays and artifacts that requires quite a bit of time to go through, but is well worth the effort.  I highly recommend it to anyone visiting this area.

The Buffalo Bill Museum showcases the fame and success that William F. Cody attained through his "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show" as well as his frontier life as a soldier, scout, and buffalo hunter.  His personal and family life are also documented.  It is a very interesting museum.

The Plains Indian Museum features the stories and objects of the Plains Indian Peoples, their cultures, traditions, values, and histories as well as the contexts of their daily lives.  Here are displayed some of the most beautiful examples of Indian beadwork that I have ever seen.  I especially enjoyed the insights into the role of the Indian women in the west.

Sacajawea

We lost our guys for a long time in the Cody Firearms Museum which houses the most comprehensive collection of American Firearms in the world.  Enough said.

The Draper Natural History Museum features many interactive exhibits highlighting geology, wildlife, and human presence in the Greater Yellowstone region.  Videos, natural history dioramas, and photography replicate the sights and sounds of the area.

I have to admit that after all of the above, I skipped the Whitney Western Art Museum.  To really cover all of this information in depth would take at least two days.   It is quite a place.

In addition to the museums, we were able to attend a special exhibit featuring live raptors.  These birds have been injured in the wild and are unable to return to their natural habitats.  We learned very interesting information about the great horned owl, the turkey vulture, the Peregrine falcon, the red-tailed hawk, and the golden eagle.   It was  a great program.  

Great horned owl

Turkey buzzard

Peregrine falcon

Red-tailed hawk

Golden eagle

Tired out from the museum, we stopped for lunch at Bubba's Bar-B-Que, and while we were there the rain came down and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees into the 50's.  Is it still August???  Ida and Joe ordered a variety of appetizers for the table: onion rings, jalapeño poppers, corn crisps, and MOUNTAIN OYSTERS.  The Shields and Colts declined the mountain oysters, but Joe and Ida (who did not know what they were) dug right in to our delight.   Joe ate most of them, but Ida stopped after a bite or two and an explanation of what she was eating.  

On the way home we shopped at Wal-Mart again while Joe and Ida toured the Buffalo Bill Dam.