BUFFALO BILL LEGEND LIVES ON AT LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN

I’m definitely enamored of the mountains of Colorado.  

Having lived at almost sea level with either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean in my backyard for the first 40 years of my life, the ocean doesn’t have the draw for me that the rugged Wild West does at elevations that hint so brazenly of the connection between heaven and earth. 

Time stands still on Lookout Mountain.

There’s something ethereal and timeless about these mountains as well as a ruggedness that speaks directly to the challenge to eke out a living in this vast wilderness. I’m in awe of the past and the people swallowed up by time and these mountains.  
 
When Jim and I discovered the Buffalo Bill gravesite and museum were just outside Golden, Colorado at the top of Lookout Mountain, we jumped at the chance to learn more about the man behind the myth.  After all, isn’t his face on the buffalo nickel?

You didn’t really fall for that one, did you? 

William “Buffalo Bill” Cody embraced the rugged life and this unforgiving land at the tender age of 11 following the death of his father, a Canadian-born Quaker whose anti-slavery views ultimately cost him his life.  OMG!  Eleven!  

Cody saw life in the Wild West changing as rapidly as his fame grew.

He helped herd cattle and worked as a driver on a wagon train, ultimately crossing the Great Plains several times before moving on to fur trapping and gold mining.  He was 14 when he began working for the Pony Express, fitting the bill for the advertised position: “skinny, expert riders willing to risk death daily.”  

Buffalo Bill earned his nickname after the American Civil War when he was just 21.  He was contracted to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat.  During an eighteen month period spanning 1867-1868, he was credited with killing 4280 American bison.  Holy
cow!  I mean bison!  Those railroad workers were a hungry bunch.  

No way this guy is going to fit on a nickel.

With two Buffalo Bills roaming the plains (go figure!), Cody had to duke it out with William Comstock in a buffalo shooting match to earn the rights to his famous name.  Cody killed 69 bison to Comstock’s 48.  And who said the pen was mightier than the sword/shotgun?!

Jimmy and I wandered through Buffalo Bill’s Museum, True West Magazine’s museum of the year in 2011, for about an hour; we soaked up over 3,000 square feet of history and rare artifacts: Cody's saddles, guns, show outfits, posters and artifacts; the peace pipe and headdress that belonged to Sitting Bull.

Buffalo Bill appears to be just a ghost of the man he used to be.

I discovered I truly liked the man behind the legend. Buffalo Bill was a visionary when it came to equal rights for both women and American Indians.  He employed both in his Wild West Show, their pay linked to their skills and only their skills. 
 
Annie Oakley was a regular with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show for 13 years, as was her husband, Frank Butler.  She was a better sharpshooter than many of her male counterparts.  

She undoubtedly went through a lot of clay pigeons.

In another time and place, maybe I could have given Annie a run for her money.  And maybe the altitude is messing with my brain. But I digress.

I certainly seem to have a thing for 10-gallon hats.

Short Bull, a Lakota (Sioux) medicine man joined Cody’s Wild West Show in 1890, performing for two years, as did Chief Sitting Bull, although he remained for one year only.  Both headdresses are significant memorabilia part of the Buffalo Bill Museum. 

Sitting Bull sitting pretty.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Buffalo Bill was considered the most famous American in the world.  He was honored by royalty, feted by businessmen and praised by military leaders.  When he succumbed to kidney failure in 1917, over 20,000 people were in attendance on Lookout Mountain for his burial.  He was just weeks shy of his 71st birthday. 

Don't think too hard about it, Jimmy.

His wife Louisa was buried by his side four years later. That same year Johnny Baker, close family friend and unofficial foster son to Cody and Louisa, opened the Buffalo Bill Museum at the top of Lookout Mountain.

Cody was master of an untamed frontier.  On a clear day, from the top of Lookout Mountain, he can still see the plains he loved.

Denver in the distance from Lookout Mountain.

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Ten Things You Might Not  Know About Buffalo Bill

1. “Willie” as he was called by his family, was the fourth of 8 children born to Isaac and Mary Cody. By his own admission, William Cody managed to “familiarize myself with the letters of 
the alphabet” before a sudden love for skiff-riding on the Mississippi River arrested any future progress. 

2. Buffalo Bill’s boyhood home of Le Claire, Iowa has traveled almost as extensively as Cody did. The home was moved 1200 miles west to Cody, Wyoming in 1933 and then moved again in 1947 approximately 2 more miles across the Shoshone River in Cody, Wyoming to a location adjacent to the 20-year-old Buffalo Bill Memorial.  The then 129-year-old house was moved a third time in 1969 when the Buffalo Bill Memorial was sold and moved a few yards south as a completely refurbished addition to the new Buffalo Bill Historical Museum.  In 1970, a fourth move placed the home inside the historical grounds in the Greever Garden area where the landscape now resembles the Iowa farmland surrounding Cody’s boyhood home.

3. Cody was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1872 for “gallantry in action” while serving as a civilian scout for the 3rd Calvary Regiment.  When the U.S. Army revised the standard for awards in 1917, Cody’s medal was one of 911 removed from the rolls of previously awarded medals.  His award was reinstated in June, 1989 along with 4 other medals awarded to civilian scouts. 

4. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show had a successful 30-year run, including 8 European tours to 12 countries: Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Bohemia (Czech Republic), Spain and Italy.  His show is credited with laying the groundwork for today’s modern rodeo.

5. Among the dignitaries Buffalo Bill Cody performed for and/or met during his European tours was the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, Queen Victoria, Keiser Wilhelm II, future King George V and Pope Leo XIII.

6. Buffalo Bill Cody was one of the founders of the town Cody, Wyoming, where he is credited with establishing several National Historic sites, including the Irma Hotel (named after his  daughter) and the TE Ranch that originally comprised 8,000 acres of land and a herd of cattle numbering 1,000.  
 
7. Buffalo Bill made his stage debut in 1872 in Chicago in Ned Buntline’s Wild West production, The Scouts of the Prairie. A year later Wild Bill Hickok joined the troupe and toured with Buffalo Bill for ten years before Buffalo Bill opened his own show called Buffalo Bill’s Wild  West.  
 
8.  Cody was a Knight Templar with the Freemasons Platte Valley Lodge No. 32 in North Platte,
Nebraska, receiving his 32nd degree in Scottish Rite Masonry in 1894. 
 
9.  Buffalo Bill was an advocate for women’s rights from equal pay to the right to vote.  His respect for American Indians despite his early adversarial role was well documented in his treatment of those American Indians involved in his Wild West Show, including Sitting Bull and Short Bull.  

10.  In 1958, Cody was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

 
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The Bottom Line on Buffalo Bill Museum and Gravesite

Verdict:  If you’re a baby boomer into western legends, you won’t want to miss this museum owned and operated by the city and county of Denver under the auspices of Denver Parks and Recreation.  Several interactive exhibits are designed to keep kids entertained.  Family guides are also available for downloading prior to visiting the actual museum. The depth of artifacts and information is substantial. The price of admission was very reasonable.

How to Get There:  From Denver take I-70 W. to exit 256. Turn right at the top of the ramp, and then take an immediate left. Follow this road to Lookout Mountain Road. Turn right and travel approximately 4 miles. The Museum will be on your left following an open park and picnic area. 
 
Insider Information:  Dress in layers. The elevation at the top of Lookout Mountain is 7,582 feet, which often equates to chillier temperatures than those at lower elevations.  Any time you travel in Colorado you should carry plenty of bottled water. Be alert for bicyclists on Lookout Mountain Road.  Be sure not to miss the Observation Deck to the left of the actual
Museum.  On a clear day the views of Golden as well as Denver are spectacular.

Nearby Food:   The Pahaska Tepee Café inside the gift shop offers a full grill featuring the usual fast food options and taste, including buffalo entrees, burgers, ice cream and homemade fudge. Picnic tables and grills are available at Lookout Mountain Park, located at the base of the Museum entrance.