Cody, Wyoming was founded in the late 1800s by William Cody and a group of businessmen from Sheridan, Wyoming. Cody, who was impressed by the fertile soil and hunting and fishing opportunities, established a cattle ranch along the Sheridan River and a dude ranch which he operated from his house. He also built a hotel in town to accommodate travelers on their way to Yellowstone National Park. In 1927, ten years after his death, the Buffalo Bill Museum was opened in Cody.
The museum, now known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is excellent. It has five galleries - Buffalo Bill, Plains Indians, Natural History, Art, and Firearms. Admission is expensive but it’s good for entry on two consecutive days.
The Buffalo Bill gallery, which includes many personal artifacts, gives visitors an in-depth look at Cody’s adventuresome life. At eleven years old, to help support the family after his father died, he got a job delivering messages on horseback for a freighting company. By the time he was 25 he’d worked as a Pony Express rider, a teamster in the Union army, a US army scout and a bison hunter for the army and railroad. Drawing on his experiences he started acting with a “wild west” touring troupe which lead to the formation of his famous “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” show.
The Plains Indian gallery has beautiful exhibits and covers the lifestyle of the Plains Indians before and after they acquired horses but falls short when covering the history of the invasion of their homeland, subsequent wars and banishment to reservations.
The art gallery, which is fairly small, has a nice collection of western art from the early nineteenth century through contemporary times.
We weren’t interested in the firearms and didn’t have time to see the natural history gallery.
Everything is accessible.
Follow the signs to the RV parking lot.
Museum 44.52348, -109.07377
I just discovered your blog, and wanted to say thank you! We are a homeschooling family of 4 hoping to transition to full-time RV'ing sometime in the next 6 months. We have a 12 year old son with a physical disability that requires him to use crutches for walking and a wheelchair for longer distances. As I am sure you are aware, it takes a lot of time to research accessibility of the many beautiful destinations our country has to offer. Information about full-time RV'ing from an able-bodied perspective is plentiful, but info for RV'ing with a disability is not. So to find a wheelchair-using, seasoned full-time RV'er sharing her knowledge and experience is a HUGE blessing! Thank you, and I look forward to exploring your blog in more depth in my spare time!
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy,
DeleteI'm so glad that you discovered my blog! Hopefully you will find the information helpful.
You will probably notice that I have posted attractions as inaccessible but we have obviously visited them. I try to post accessibility information with an unaccompanied person in mind. Tony is a very willing and able assistant so we go many places that are minimally accessible. I sure this will also be the case with your family.
Please feel free to ask about anything. I started the blog after years of traveling so if there's any place that you are curious about thar is not in the posts, I may still be able to supply information.
Check the museum pass information in the tab under the header. The passes are great for saving admission fees and the museums, zoos and gardens should help with your home schooling. Plus they are almost always fairly accessible!
Please let me know if there is anything else that you are curious about. You can email me if you wish. A link is on the right side of the blog.
Let me know how everything goes. Thanks for commenting!