On a
road trip I took with my daughter last year, I insisted that one of our
cross-country stops had to be Buffalo, Wyoming.
Conveniently nestled at the foot of the Big Horn Mountains on the Cloud
Peak Scenic Byway (as well as near the Bozeman Trail), it lies between
Yellowstone—or Cody, if you prefer—and the attractions of the Dakotas. In our case, we were headed to the Little
Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
But, if you look at any of those other attractions, the likelihood of
them mentioning Buffalo in their advertisements is not great. And that’s a shame.
Buffalo
is steeped in history. Some might say
it’s a good thing that not many people make their way down the circuitous roads
that lead there, but to me it’s something of a pity. Founded in 1879, the town isn’t named for
bison but for Buffalo, New York.
Apparently, the name was drawn out of a hat amidst other suggestions,
having been put in by a N.Y. native. As
the local area developed with large cattle companies out on the Powder and
Sweetwater Rivers and elsewhere, it soon became the major stopping place for
cattle barons and travelers alike. Hotels
were built in 1880 to cater for these people, including The Capitol and The
Occidental, which started as a basic log structure with 6 rooms, a saloon and
restaurant.
While The Capitol has been
converted into modern rental suites, the Occidental maintains its Old West
charm. It has played host to Buffalo
Bill, Calamity Jane, Teddy Roosevelt, General Phil Sheridan, Owen Wister who
wrote The Virginian’s walk down scene as taking place outside, and
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The Occidental Hotel in 1883 |
That
brings me to The Hole-in-the-Wall. About
eight-five miles from Buffalo is the notorious Hole-in-the-Wall where Butch
Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, along with their ‘Wild Bunch’ gang, hung
out. Based around Ghent’s Cabin, the
Hole-in-the-Wall became a veritable village of outlaws, and included a livery
and cabins. Elzy Lay, Black Jack
Ketchum, ‘Kid Curry’ Logan, and other famous outlaws ‘holed up’ there. While several
gangs used the site, apparently there was little interaction between them, and
it proved an ideal place to winter Wyoming’s minus sixty temperatures. To reach the “Hole” today, it is a 2.5 miles
hike from the trailhead parking lot.
Buffalo
is the Johnson County seat and so played a major role in the famed Johnson
County War. It must be said that things
got unpleasant after the winter of 1886/87 when the large cattle companies lost
about 60-75% of their stock. By the late
1880s, things had got sticky between those large cattle companies and the
smaller ranchers, and Ellen Watson—now known mistakenly as ‘Cattle Kate’—and Jim Averell paid the ultimate price and were lynched. For the full story of the hanging of ‘Cattle
Kate’ please see my blog at https://andreadowning.com/2012/08/31/a-lynching-an-opera-and-a-book/ In any event, things between the large cattle
companies and the smaller ranchers/homesteaders spiraled on from there and
ended with the Johnson County War. This
entailed the cattle barons hiring guns from Texas, who came out and started
going after the smaller ranchers, who were accused of rustling. It ended at the TA Ranch in April, 1892,
after a three day shoot-out. Today the
TA Ranch, thirteen miles south of Buffalo, has guest lodging in its historic,
preserved ranch house and bunkhouse.
When
I moved from the ranch, at which I was staying outside Buffalo, to the Little
Bighorn Battlefield, I stopped to see the marker of Fort Phil Kearney. This has a large interpretative site; the
fort was used to fight Indian wars. It
was actually burned by the Cheyenne in 1868 after being abandoned when the railroad
made the Bozeman Trail obsolete. It was from Fort McKinney, on the other hand, that
soldiers were sent to arrest the Texas gunfighters hired by the cattle barons
in the Johnson County War. Situated on
the Clear Fork of the Powder River (1878-1894), it was basically aimed at
keeping Sioux and Cheyenne on their reservations, but it was from here that
President Benjamin Harrison sent out those troops. Today it, too, is discernible by an historical
marker.
So
when I needed a setting for my latest novella, Long A Ghost, and Far Away
which has come out in the anthology, The Good, The Bad, and The Ghostly, I
sought someplace other than Jackson
Hole, which is my part-year home turf, and turned to Buffalo, which I had
visited.
The Occidental Hotel is
purportedly haunted and seemed a good spot to include, but it is the town of
Buffalo with all its history that intrigues me.
I hope you’ll get the chance one day to visit and maybe stay at The
Occidental. And, of course, I hope
you’ll read the anthology as well.
The lobby of The Occidental Hotel today |
A native New Yorker, Andrea Downing divides her time between the canyons of city streets and the wide-open spaces of Wyoming. Her background in publishing and English Language teaching has transferred into fiction writing, and her love of horses, ranches, rodeo, and anything else western, is reflected in her award-winning western romances.
Downing/e/B008MQ0NXS/
You can hunt down Andrea at http://andreadowning.com and at
https://www.amazon.com/Andrea-
My story, Long a Ghost, and Far Away (set in Buffalo) is available in the boxed set, The Good, The Bad, and The Ghostly--eight stand-alone stories by best-selling and award-winning authors, available at Amazon worldwide.
6 comments:
Andi, after reading this I'm going to put Buffalo, WY on my travel wish-list. To be honest when I saw the name of the town I drew a blank. Who knew it was the spot to go for so many of the stories and places I'm drawn to. I've been trying to get my family to go the Little Big Horn Battlefield forever and you know I got a thing for the hideouts on the Outlaw trail such as Hole-in-the-Wall. Then you go and throw in the Johnson County Wars! Thanks for an interesting post. I loved working with you on this anthology and loved your story with the time-travel element.
Patti, thanks so much for your comment and I'm glad to have opened your eyes to the great little town. I'm sure you'd enjoy a visit there. and, yes, the Little Bighorn National Battlefield is AMAZING--be prepared to spend a very long time there because you drive (or walk) from site to site and read the stories of each part of the battle.
What a great post. It appears Buffalo Wy has more history than I first thought. But then the old west had more going on than most people believe it did. The town's name makes me think of Buffalo, Tx. Have travel through there many times because my grandmother lived not far from there.
Have to say I love your story, love the part about her husband shooting her.
Hello Cowboy Kisses and Ginger! Thanks for hosting Andi and The Good, The Bad and The Ghostly.
They HUNG a woman!! Gosh...no, just kidding. I think I recall reading about Kate, but there's still a lot of controversy about her hanging. This was a great post, Andi, but then all your posts are chocked full of great information, little tidbits we can all squeeze in somewhere to our stories. You, girl, outdid yourself!
Thanks Ginger for hosting us. Can you tell we had a great time writing these stories? I hope if your followers read them, they enjoy them.
Best, Keta
Anita, I can understand a Buffalo, TX, but I always wonder about Buffalo, NY. I arrived there years ago by train and they have an enormous 'sculpture' of a buffalo in the station--weird.
And Keta, thanks very much for your kind words--it was a huge pleasure to work with both of you.
On my list of places I want to visit someday! :)
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