Today was primarily a travel day, from our campsite in Parkside Campground in Custer National Forest in Montana to Buffalo Bill State Park just west of Cody, Wyoming. Although there were not many sites to see along the way, we did see this interesting old abandoned mining facility.
Apparently this is where the worst mining accident in Montana history occurred, according to the accompanying sign.
After we reached Cody, WY, we went straight to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, where we visited the Cody Firearms Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, and the Plains Indian Museum. We didn’t take any pictures, but we both agreed that it was well worth the time and money. The firearms museum was absolutely fantastic, so many guns that there’s no way to look at them all. It was especially good from the perspective of someone that doesn’t really know much about guns, as there was plenty of detailed information on how guns are constructed, how they evolved, etc. The Western Art Museum was good, but it’s not much different from any other art museum, save that it is curated with specifically western subject art. The Plains Indian Museum was quite interesting as it had a ton of Indian artifacts and info we hadn’t seen elsewhere about the various tribes, etc.
After we finished with these 3 museums, we dropped the camper off at the Buffalo Bill State Park and proceeded to the Buffalo Bill Dam, where we toured the dam and visitor center there. I had never heard of the dam, but apparently when it was completed in 1910, it was the tallest dam in the world at 350ft. The featured image of this article at the top is a shot of the Buffalo Bill Reservoir from the dam itself, and this is a shot down the canyon from the dam.
We’re looking forward to finishing the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Tomorrow.