Montana seems to go on for ever. A mix of mountain passes and ranches that cover acres and acres, we saw lots of cattle but neither deer nor antelope playing. It must have been even too hot for them to be out and about. It took us most of day to make our way into Wyoming. We intended to stop for the night in Sheridan, but I refused to pay $250 for a hotel room in what to me is the middle of nowhere! Needless to say, we continued on our way.
Instead we stayed in the little town of Buffalo, Wyoming. The hotel, an award winning one, lived up to its reputation with excellent service at a far more reasonable price! The woman at the desk suggested we might want to explore the downtown area that had retained a lot of its colourful Wild West history.
We got a few groceries and then parked on Main Street to wander through the historic downtown. It was established in 1855 and is known as the site of the first gun fight in America right in front of the Occidental Hotel.
In its day, the hotel was frequented by the likes of Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid, Calamity Jane, and Buffalo Bill Cody. More recently a few U.S. presidents laid their heads there (Herbert Hoover and Teddy Roosevelt) as well as other well known people like Ernest Hemingway and the guy that wrote the Virginian. It’s still an active hotel today with its small but well preserved lobby, original safe, wall telephones and even newspapers from the late 1800s.
We had our supper in the saloon with its swinging door, stuffed taxidermy trophies hanging on the walls, and a number of original gun-fightin’ bullet holes in the bar and ceiling.
As we walked up and down the main street, we noticed a lot of references to Crazy Woman … Crazy Woman Square, Crazy Woman Liquor, Crazy Woman Health, etc. It turns out that there is a Crazy Woman Canyon that is quite beautiful and worth a visit. Maybe next time when we’re not making a beeline for home we will take more time to explore this wonderful little town.
Nancy's Notables ... 