Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody Wyoming encompasses six different museums. They are the Buffalo Bill Museum, The Whitney Gallery of Western Art, The Plains Indian Museum, The Cody Firearms Museum, The Draper Museum of Natural History and The Harold McCracken Research Library. The complex is at the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Cody, Wyoming. Visitors can reach the museum from the north on Highway 14A which is Bighorn Ave then turn right on to Sheridan Avenue. The address is 720 Sheridan Ave.

Buffalo Bill's Museum displays the personal and public persona of Buffalo Bill Cody. He lived from 1846 to 1917. The collections in the museum explore and interpret the history of American cowboys, dude ranching, frontier entrepreneurship and how we see the source of the concepts of the West. With his personality and talent Buffalo Bill became a communicator of life in the West. Buffalo Bill himself described his shows as an education on a grand entertaining scale. He incorporated Indians, cowboys, trick shooters and specialty acts in his outdoor shows.

There was even a Buffalo Bill's Cowboy Band that played appropriate music to accompany the acts in the arena. They were highly trained musicians and set the mood for the action. Buffalo Bill's show ran for thirty years and toured in the United States and Europe. Sitting Bull and Annie Oakley were an integral part of his show. In a time when travel was not possible for many Americans he brought the Wild West to them.

The Whitney Gallery of Western Art is celebrating its fiftieth year. They have art that portrays life in the old west with animals and Indian culture. The Plains Indian Museum gives visitors insight into the lives of the Plains Indian peoples. Guests of the museum will learn about their culture, traditions, history and values. It will also explore the scope of their lives today. Many of the pieces in the collection are from the early reservation period of 1880-1930. The tribes that the museum relates this information about are the Lakota, Arapaho, Crow, Shoshone, and Cheyenne. If visitors come in June they can enjoy the Plains Indian Museum Powwow in the Robbie Powwow Garden. It features dancers from all over North America as they compete in Cody for at least $25,000 in prizes.

Next is the Cody Firearms Museum that displays the most comprehensive assembly of American firearms. The Winchester Collection was brought to the museum in 1976 from New Haven, Connecticut. Although Winchester is in the museum it is certainly not the only manufacturer of firearms on display.

The Draper Museum began in 2002 as the inspiration of benefactor Nancy Draper. This natural science museum associates, staff and students have authored or coauthored over 30 book chapters and articles. They go across the country delivering lectures on topics such as the direction of natural science museums in the 21st century. The McCracken Research Library has many materials on Western American Art, Buffalo Bill, the Plains Indians, American firearms and the natural history of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains.