Ever since researching Annie Oakley for my Pink Pistol story, I’ve developed a serious fascination not only with Annie herself, but with the charismatic man who made her famous – Buffalo Bill Cody. In fact, In Her Sights opens in 1893 Chicago, the day after the closing of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. This is where the creator of the pink pistol sought out Annie Oakley and set the entire plot in motion for the Pink Pistol Sisterhood Series.
So when several of the fillies decided to meet in Deadwood this summer for Wild Deadwood Reads, I started plotting a route that would take me and my husband on a slight detour to Cody, Wyoming. Buffalo Bill made so much money in Chicago, taking advantage of the draw of the World’s Fair, that he used his profits to help found a town on the east side of Yellowstone, a town named in his honor. Cody was established in 1895.
In 1902, Cody built a hotel downtown – the Irma. It was named after his youngest daughter. He maintained two suites and an office for his personal use at the hotel. When Wes and I arrived in Cody after a long drive from Colorado Springs, the first thing we did after checking into our AirBnB was to walk the few blocks downtown and have dinner at the Irma.
The place was packed! More than a century later, this is still the place to be in Cody. Especially for their prime rib buffet. If you like meat, this is the place to go. I’ve never eaten so much meat in my life! In addition to the prime rib, there was ham, chicken, and crab. People don’t go there for the vegetables.
As you would expect in cowboy country, there were antlers used in all of the decorating. Gaston from Beauty and the Beast would feel right at home. 🙂 Lots of dark wood, too, authentic to the time period in which it was built.
My favorite part of the place, however, was the gorgeous cherry wood bar. This was a gift from Queen Victoria after Buffalo Bill brought his Wild West Show to London! They still use it today, though it doubles as a gun case.
After our meal, we waddled out of the restaurant and found Buffalo Bill himself on a bench outside. He was kind enough to let me grab a photo with him.
The next day, we spent all morning touring the large museum in town. Even the outside was amazing, with all kinds of larger-than-life statues paying tribute to the west Buffalo Bill knew and loved. I almost got run over by a pony express rider, but my heroic husband whisked me out of the way just in time.
We ran into Buffalo Bill again at the entrance to his museum, and the legendary fella was kind enough to allow us to take another photo.
At the Center of the West museum, they had an entire museum dedicated to the history of firearms. I didn’t care for much after about 1900, but my research brain was soaking in as many details as possible on the countless displays of earlier weapons. On the way in, I got to snap a quick photo with Annie Oakley. I knew all of our Pink Pistol readers would enjoy that. 🙂 The museum had one of Annie’s rifles on display next to one of Buffalo Bill’s. I got a little shiver when I saw them.
We spent the majority of our time in the museum dedicated to Buffalo Bill’s life and accomplishments. He really was a remarkable man and passionate about preserving the west. I nearly squealed with delight when I saw a diorama of the city-like area they set up for the Wild West show whenever they stayed somewhere for a significant amount of time. I saw where Annie Oakley’s tent would be and imagined my gunmaker finding here there.
Then I found her myself. Or some of her belongings, anyway. The museum boasted a display cased filled with one of Annie’s trunks, travel dresses, pair of gloves, rifle, and pistol. I felt such a kinship with her as I studied her belongings. What a wonderful treasure!
If the pearl handle on that revolver were just a little pinker, it could’ve been our courtship pistol!
My husband eventually gave up on me and went to visit another of the five museums while I took my time and savored every exhibit in the Buffalo Bill wing. So much to see and read and learn! Needless to say, I enjoyed every minute.
What was the last museum you visited?
LOUD & QUIET PERSONALITIES – BRINGING LIFE TO THE WILD WEST
Texas Hill Country — 1879