9 Towns in Wyoming that Transport You to the Past
The allure of the Old West has a certain romantic magic that keeps people interested and wishing they could visit it. While you go back in time per se, visiting Wyoming is a similar experience. There are many famous places where outlaws and heroes of the Old West saddled horses and made history. However, Wyoming may have the most in a single state. Move over, Texas, many cowboys spent a lot of time in Wyoming, and multiple cities share the names of Western legends. These nine cities are small towns that will transport you back to those simpler yet more exciting times without the danger of an actual gunfight or train robbery.
Buffalo
Buffalo, Wyoming, is not Buffalo, New York, but is named for Buffalo, New York. The town at the base of the Big Horn Mountains sits on a popular area visited for centuries by the Northern Plains Indigenous people. Eventually, in 1879, Western settlers founded the town of Buffalo when Fort McKinney moved nearby to protect travelers as they passed on the Bozeman Trail, which cut through Buffalo and across the state. Visitors can still see the marker on the edge of Buffalo where the historic Fort once stood.
All of downtown Buffalo is on the National Register of Historic Districts. A dozen historic buildings still stand on Buffalo’s Main St., including the Occidental Hotel. Local legend claims that this is where they put names into a hat, and a man from New York put his home city in the mix and was selected. The Occidental Hotel is a restored hotel with multiple restaurants and a saloon. Some famous visitors to the hotel include Teddy Roosevelt, Calamity Jane, Butch Cassidy, and The Sundance Kid. The Jim Gatchell Museum celebrates the region's history and takes its name from the man who opened Buffalo Pharmacy in 1900. Crafty visitors can
Cody
Cody is a small but historic town founded by and named after the legend of the Old West, Buffalo Bill Cody, in 1896. The city is a tribute to the Old West and the Buffalo Bill legacy. After viewing the area’s beauty, capability for ranching, and abundant wildlife, including animals to hunt and fish, he invested heavily in the town.
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West is a group of five museums that will delight and comprehensively cover the various aspects of the region’s history. These include the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum, the Plains Indian Museum, the Draper Natural History Museum, and the Whitney Western Art Museum. The Old Trail Town is an outdoor museum with buildings from the 1890s and the location where Buffalo Bill laid out the plans for Cody. Cody was also named “The Rodeo Capital of the World" for its various ongoing rodeos, including The Cody Stampede Rodeo, which has been held in the summer annually since 1919.
Sheridan
Sheridan, Wyoming, is a historic town with a taste for adventure. Civil War veteran John Loucks laid out and founded the city, named after Union General and cavalry leader Philip H. Sheridan, under whom he served. Before its founding, it was a frequent battleground between the U.S. Army and Native American tribes and unsafe for settlers to stay or travel.
The Historic Sheridan Inn, built in 1893, is still open to overnight guests. After it opened, "Buffalo Bill" Cody used the location to recruit local talented cowboys and girls to his Wild West Show, which would become his legacy. Its rooms today are restored and themed after Cody and other famous characters from his life. King’s Saddlery is a long-running authentic Western and horse-riding equipment store. Attached to it is the Don King Museum, with hundreds of antique items, including wagons, guns, and Indian art. Among the over 40 places on the National Registry of Historic Places is the Mint Bar, which has been serving adult beverages and tall tales since 1907, including as a speakeasy during Prohibition.
Thermopolis
Thermopolis is a historic Western town known for its rejuvenation and natural beauty. It was founded in 1897 after the local Shoshone and Arapaho tribes sold their land to the government. The Indigenous tribes valued the land for its natural hot springs, which they believed had restorative powers. The hot springs soon attracted settlers passing through the area. The city’s name comes from the Greek words thermal (hot) and polis (city).
Hot Springs State Park offers boating, fishing, swimming, and a free bathhouse with waters at a comfortable 104 degrees Fahrenheit for soaking. Visitors can experience the same therapy and naturally flowing waters that led to the city becoming what it is today. For a taste of the Old West, visitors can explore the Hot Springs County Museum and Cultural Center, which explores the region's roots, including an Old Town, memorabilia, photographs, and Native American artifacts. The Hole-In-The-Wall-Bar, named for the infamous gang, is on-site as well, where Butch, Sundance, and their crew used to meet. For those who want to step further back in time, the Wyoming Dinosaur Center & Dig Sites offers a museum with hundreds of displays, including skeletons, and educational experiences about dinosaurs in the area.
Dubois
Dubois is a small Western town with a population under 1,000 that seems frozen in time in the Old West. It was founded in 1886 by homesteaders who wanted to live the life they’d heard or dreamed about in America’s West. Dubois gets its name from Fred Dubois, an Idaho Senator from the late 1800s. The town quickly became a place where tourists came to experience the life of a homesteader or cowboy in the Old West, with many dude ranches springing up in the surrounding areas.
Today, visitors can have an authentic cowboy experience at Dubois's dude ranch, CM Ranch. The ranch offers families the chance to fish, ride horseback, and explore the area's natural, untouched beauty. A visit to the National Bighorn Sheep Center allows visitors to glimpse the diverse wildlife, such as elk, eagles, and the Whisky Mountain bighorn sheep, and habitats in the area, including snowy mountains and grassy slopes. The historic downtown offers many old buildings from the time of the Old West, including the Rustic Pine Tavern and the Outlaw Saloon, both still serving in their original buildings from 1919 and 1934.
Lander
Lander is a Western city in Wyoming, and the picture-perfect Western backdrop proves it. The city sits within seven miles of Sinks Canyon State Park and the Wind River Mountains. Lander, founded in 1884, is known for its natural recreation opportunities. Its name comes from Frederick W. Lander, who mapped the Lander Trail, a wagon trail to the West. The city became the endpoint for the “Cowboy Line” railroad in 1906 and was then known for its slogan, “Where the rails end, and the trails begin.”
The town is known for mountain biking, rock climbing, and hiking in the nearby Sinks Canyon State Park and the Wind River Mountains. Climbing is so prevalent that the city is home to the annual International Climbers Festival. For those who want to learn about the region's long history, there’s the Fremont County Pioneer Museum, which has artifacts from before 1920. Those looking for a break from adventure and education can visit the still-operating Lander Bar, built as a saloon in 1907 in the historic “Coalter House.”
Pinedale
Pinedale is the rugged gateway to exploration, initially frequented by mountain men exploring the nearby ranges and the adventure they hold. The city, founded in 1904, became a place where traders, trappers, and travelers could stop, rest, socialize, and exchange goods and information. At the time, it was the town farthest from the United States railroad and considered extremely remote. Today, it is still a small and remote town that wears its history on its sleeve.
As a city founded by mountain explorers, it only makes sense that the Museum of the Mountain Man exists in Pinedale. The museum opened in 1990 and has a collection of artifacts, art, and exhibits illuminating the history of the mountain man and the area. Following in the city’s founders' footsteps, much of the recreation in the area simulates activities they would have done out of necessity. Outdoor lovers can hike or backpack the Cirque of the Towers and Titcomb Basin. Likewise, visitors can ride horseback or hunt in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, just 30 minutes away. Winter activities such as ice skating and fishing are popular at Fremont Lake, just 3 miles from the city.
Sundance
Sundance is a town home to close to 1,000 residents, a staple of the Old West. It's in the northeast corner of Wyoming, near the Black Hills in the valley of the Bearlodge Mountains. Founded in 1875, it is where legendary outlaw The Sundance Kid got his name. It was initially a trading post, but its location led to its continued growth into a city. Today, the city is known for its Western heritage and the ideal natural beauty of its grassy prairies and tree-covered mountains.
To get to the heart of the city’s history, visitors can stop at the Crook County Museum, which holds over 7,000 artifacts and numerous exhibits on the history, outlaws, and Native Americans of the area. The museum is in the Old Stoney building, which began as the city’s first high school in 1923. The Sundance Kid served jail time in the town, and there’s even a statue memorializing the occasion titled “Sundance Kid” located on East Cleveland Street. The Vore Buffalo Jump is a unique historical experience where visitors can literally get a look at the past on one of the most accessible Plains Indian sites. The sinkhole holds bone and rock artifacts that are still being uncovered and studied as they are well-preserved and viewable within the Earth.
Encampment
The encampment's name itself brings to mind images of an Old West settlement! This town of around just 500 regular residents sprung up in the late 1800s. Fur traders and trappers used the area as a meetup spot for many years. However, more serious development started after the discovery of copper in the nearby mountains. The settlers organized the town, called it Grand Encampment, and it was incorporated in 1897. The discovery of copper led to thousands flooding the area, looking to find their fortunes, turning Encampment into a mining town.
The Encampment Museum pays tribute to the town's rich mining history. A piece of the original mining tram built to transport ore down from the mountain is on display, among many other artifacts. Another piece of the town's history is a business endeavor of a different kind. The Willis House, put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, was built in 1908 to be a large prostitution business for the many travelers that came through the town. The original construction left the house incomplete until 1931, when a local rancher purchased and completed it as it stands today. The Grand Encampment Opera House was built in 1902 and is an outdoor community space and hub that holds events regularly, including the annual Woodchoppers Jamboree & Rodeo.
Take a Trip Back In Time
These little Wyoming towns are the portals to the past you have dreamt of but never knew existed. They have an enticing aura of small-town charm and literally have stories, structures, and traditions straight out of the Old West. These towns have many historic landmarks to explore and classic Western landscapes to witness. Visiting them will reignite your passion for the Old West as you delve into the locales of legends like Buffalo Bill and The Sundance Kid.
