As confirmed history lovers, nothing is more dear to Concetta and me than spending a full day at a quality history center or museum. Here in Cody, Wyoming, we certainly spent the day living our dream at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Over a whirlwind two-day period, we learned about the fascinating natural history of the plains and high desert, then segued into the life-ways and crafts of the northern plains Indians. We viewed and marveled over walls full of award-winning western art, and we learned more about the famous western artists. We came away astounded at the breadth of the museum's vintage and collectible firearms collection. And, we even took a guided tour of Buffalo Bill Cody's incredible life and career, from bull-wacker to frontier -- and international -- western showman. Believe me, the Center of the West has anything and everything that the history-lover would want. All you need to do is come and enjoy.
In addition to all the wonderful collections indoors, there is a truly remarkable collection of bronze statues surrounding the museum building outdoors. These are available for anyone to enjoy without entrance to the museum. But if you pay your admission, you are afforded access to more bronzes set amidst incredible gardens of quaking aspen, native plants, flowers, and water features.
We saw a memorable bronze of the Sioux War Chief, Crazy Horse, which we found profoundly moving, especially since we had, on an earlier RV trip, visited Fort Robinson, Nebraska, where Crazy Horse is buried. Another unforgettable bronze was entitled, "The Forgotten," and seemed to be a frozen moment in time showing a group of Native Americans suffering in agony, perhaps in the throes of death from starvation,
We also had some truly uplifting experiences at the museum today. When we walked back to the museum after lunch, the first thing we did was visit the chuck wagon, chautauqua-style exhibit. The chuck wagon came complete with food warming over the fire, including biscuits, beans, and cowboy coffee. When Concetta and I got there and began talking to the exhibit docent, we discovered that she was a stand-in for the REAL "Cookie of the trail," Ron Clark. Evidently, Ron was on his lunch break, and would return by 2:30 p.m.
Still, we tried the biscuits, beans, and coffee, and found them good and hearty. I especially liked the beans. The biscuits could have used a bit of wildflower honey. After taking a few photos, Concetta and I continued on into the museum, promising to return and meet Ron Clark, of the Chuck Wagon for Hire company.
As fate would have it, we finished our tour inside the museum just in time to find Ron back at his job beneath the canvas awning attached to his turn-of-the-century chuck wagon. The wagon had started out life as a simple farm wagon, but Ron revamped it into a chuck wagon in recent times. He makes his living taking his wagon to brandings, weddings, trail rides, roundups, and any other western-themed events where folks might like a touch of the old west with their beans and biscuits.
Oddly enough, we thought we had met Ron inside the museum. At one point we saw an old duffer in a ten-gallon cowboy hat sitting in the cafe area. Working up our courage, we approached the old-timer and asked if he was the chuck wagon guy. Turned out he wasn't, but he acknowledged that the two were friends. Once the ice had been broken, we three launched into quite a discussion of things western. The old cowboy, who told us his name was Don Decker, proceeded to tell us about the life he'd led, the famous people he'd known and worked with, including John Wayne and Ronald Reagan, and the western books he'd written, including one on the famous cowboy, Will James, who at one time lived in Washoe Valley just north of our "spread" in northern Nevada.
Since the RV rested peacefully beneath a spreading cottonwood tree today, we walked back and forth to the museum, about seven blocks away, all day long. In all, we made three trips since we came back to the rig for lunch, then returned to the Center in the afternoon. This evening, after learning about a wonderful museum-sponsored dinner and bit of western musical entertainment, we walked back yet again. Let me tell you, we're sure glad we did. Not only was the food expertly prepared and presented, but we were seated with three delightful and pretty ladies from the town of Cody. Two were school secretaries, one was a school nurse, and all three were great fun to be with. Even though we five had been strangers just minutes before, we never seemed to lack for something to talk about through dinner, and we regret that it's unlikely our paths will cross again.
Following the truly excellent dinner, dessert, and coffee, came our treat for the evening, the Dan Miller Cowboy Review. Now I have to fess up and reveal that Concetta and I have only infrequently listened to country western music. I AM a huge fan of Mary Chapin Carpenter, whose songs often have a country western feel to them, but have not moved much beyond Mary for my western music entertainment. But tonight, watching Dan, his daughter Hannah, and base guitar-player, Wendy, we were snapping our fingers, tapping our feet, and singing along with the rest of the audience. We just may have to give country music another look.
But for now, our time in Cody has come to an end, and tomorrow we travel on. We've met some memorable people here, experienced things in the Cody Center that will remain with us for life, and we have gratefully learned still more about the exciting and humbling history of the western America that we love. And if you set out to explore this country, especially the glorious west, we wish you exciting destinations and memorable travels from the Davises, the Happy Wanderers.
No comments:
Post a Comment