1. Jeremiah Johnston grave. 3. Cody, gateway to Yellowstone. 4. Cody Stampede. 5 and 6. Sculpture in front of our hotel.

Note the information on the plaques. Can you spot the local wildlife in the last photo?

Toured Old Trail Town in Cody this morning, about a mile from our hotel. The place brought together about 25 original log cabins and businesses from the 1860s to 1890s in an old town setting on the grounds where the original town of Cody was located. The history for each building is explained including several cabins occupied or visited by  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Also the cabin of Curly, the Custer scout who warned about the hugh Indian encampment on the Little Big Horn River.  He wasn't believed and the rest is history. He survived to old age.
We had lunch at the historic Irma Hotel, build and owned by Buffalo Bill Cody. Buffalo burgers and spinach dip with pita bread, delicious!
It is unseasonably cold today, in the upper 30s. I'm up to 4 layers of sweaters and jackets.
Tomorrow we plan to go to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West museum.

Welcome to AmericInn, Cody, Wyoming!

View heading into the Bighorns. Later views after we drove through the clouds.

151 exciting miles from Sheridan WY to Cody WY today.  I say "exciting" because the eastern side of the Bighorn Mountains we came across, rising to well over 9,000 feet at Granite Pass, was cloaked in dense clouds reducing visibility in spots to near zero.  Adding to the "excitement" were the deer standing like frozen statues in the middle of the 2-lane road.  There were about 25 or 30 miles of hugging the center yellow line but then things cleared up nicely on the western slopes, with spectacular views of the rugged and beautiful canyons.  We've driven thus route several times before and this was not the first time in dense cloud cover.  There was lots of snow today along the road but the road itself was clear.  Some folks out here say the snow is almost a month early, at least at the lower elevations.
Upon arrival in Cody we hightailed it to our favorite Chinese buffet for a late lunch.
We are now getting ready to watch the big Penn State - Ohio State football game on ABC TV.
We'll be doing local Cody area things tomorrow.
Take care all.

Sheridan scene. King saddles, just a few of his historic saddles.

Brinton Museum treasure. Our chilly jeep.

The Bighorn Mountains to the west tonight.

The Brinton Museum and some of the wonderful items in it. The container was for a feathered headdress.

30 miles today in the Sheridan area. We went to the Brinton museum which was wonderful. It consists of a beautiful ranch house and a modern museum building holding wonderful Indian artifacts and Western art. Among the many Indian items was a painted war shirt listed as one of Wyoming's top 10 treasures. Remingtons, Russells, Audubon prints and many other top notch artists. We had lunch in the bistro: gormet seared tuna, salad with avocado and a delicious horse radish sauce. Melt in your mouth good.
We toured the ranch house built at the turn of the century. The owner ran a farm implement company that became Case which he managed.  He was incredibly rich and bought the best of the best and happily for us left it to be seen by the public.
We then went to downtown Sheridan and visited some  shops.
We woke up this morning to at least 4 inches of snow and are glad it is melting off. The mountains have appeared this evening again. A relief as we plan to drive over them to Cody tomorrow.

Dad at Fetterman site with Big Horn Mountains in the backgroubd. Dad standing in the Boatman Trail. View from our hotel room this morning.

190 miles today, Hulett WY to Sheridan WY with a couple of hours midway in Buffalo and nearby Fort Phil Karny.  The fort was established to protect travelers on the Bozeman Trail during the 1860s.  A couple of miles from the fort site we hiked the long ridge where on December 21, 1866, a small number of Indians decoyed a patrol of 81 U.S. soldiers into chasing them along the ridge, right into the hands of a massive Indian war party that had been hidden in vegetation below the ridge.  All 81 soldiers were killed.  This has become known as the Fetterman Masacre, named after a commanding officer.  However, a number of Indians were killed in the battle as well, estimated at 21 or more.  This all happened ten years prior to Custer's Little Big Horn fight.
Upon arrival in Sheridan we stopped at several interesting downtown shops.  King's Saddlery is a huge old business the size of a supermarket, that has many hundreds of beautiful hand-tooled sadles on display, along with thousands of lariats and other Western accoutrements.  And then, behind the shop is another building that serves as a Western museum, too extensive to be absorbed in a single visit.  King's is a highlight attraction in Sheridan.
We'll be in Sheridan for two nights.
Snow expected tonight.
Take care all.

This is the tomahawk mentioned two days ago, the one bought by Bob Coronato at a yardsale!  It can't be seen in the photo but there are lightly engraved pictographs on the blade, illustrating the way the tomahawk was used in a conflict during the Indian Wars.

The wrong end of a longhorn.

Awsome tower; Bob Coronato's studio

Views from today. Antlers anyone?

27 miles today in the Hulett/Devils Tower area of beautiful Wyoming.  We went back to Devils Tower and again walked the 1.3 mile trail that encircles the Tower.  But today we did it counter-clockwise, rather than clockwise like yesterday.  As you can see, we can't quite get enough of Devils Tower!  There were numerous other hikers today and not much English being spoken.  But based on what we could hear there were many representatives from Japan and France, among other countries.  We had a quick hotdog lunch at a Tower snackbar and then headed back to Hulett where we spent a couple of hours swapping collector stories with Western artist and owner of Rogue's Gallery, Bob Coronato.  We didn't buy any major items but quite a variety of things, ranging from books, posters and antique iron, to an 1800s bottle excavated at the site of a saloon in historic Tombstone, Arizona.  The bottle came with comprehensive documentation describing the circumstances of its discovery.  The Jeep is beginning to overflow.
In a few minutes we head down the road to get some grub, probably fresh Wyoming beef!
     Please take care all.

Sign at the airport on the mesa top. View of Hulett and Devil's Tower from the mesa top.

Animal life.

Every angle of the Devil's Tower is different and awsome. And the view 9f the surrounding country is beautiful.