Buffalo Bill Center of the West

 The Plains Indian Museum in Cody, Wyoming is one of five museums at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. This Native American museum explores the lives of Plains Indian peoples, cultures and traditions over hundreds of years.

A bear claw necklace isa symbol of power to be worn by a respected leader. 

The claws represent the bear's strength and courage while the 

otter fur signifies power over both land and water. 

Sioux 1870

Breastplate 1880

Lakota girl's dress 1885

Lakota doll  1890

Dogs were essential to maintaining the seasonal rounds before horses arrived on the plains. 

On a travois, a large dog could carry a load of about 75 pounds of family belongings.

Dogs continued to carry lighter loads even after horses arrived on the plains.

Lakota Dance Shield 1890

Crow dress with elks teeth 1890

McClellan Saddle, originally a calvary saddle is appropriated 

into a decidedly Arapaho work of art.  1997

Traveling Medicine Doll Crow 2008

Washakie Museum

The Washakie is a delightful and informative museum in Worland, WY  

Deinonychus was discovered in 1960s by John Ostrom. 

He theorized the revolutionary idea that dinosaurs were related to modern birds.

What a large beak you have

Leaping forward in time. The indigenous natives hunted 

the mammoth and other large mammals after the last ice age.

Bones found at the kill sites

The atlatl was important in the natives pursuit of large mammals.

The atlatl makes the thrower's arm longer and greatly increases 

the speed of the dart.

 Atlatls were extensively used into the 

12th century when bows started to appear

This guy pops up and tells you the history of settlement in the area

What you would find in the kitchen

and in the closet

After the civil war large cattle operations moved into the Big Horn Basin. 1980s saw the arrival of small ranchers and conflict ensued between the two.  They overstocked the Basin's ranges, and their bottom lines suffered after the winter of 1886-1887. This was followed by the introduction of sheep. Sheepherders took pride in their work, but cattle ranchers did not like the intruders.

Sheepherder's wagon

Shearing demanded skill and strength. An expert fleecer could sheer 100 sheep a day; it took weeks to clip an entire flock. In 1905 W.T. Hogg and Company sheared 20,000 sheep: 14 men worked for more than two weeks to accomplish the task, each earning nine cents per ewe.

One needs a strong grip to work these. 

Wool going to market.

Buffalo WY

Old town Buffalo has a cornucopia of art. Each block has a half dozen statues on each side of the street.

The King family saddlery legacy began with Don King in 1946. Don coined the Sheridan flower style of leather carving, a detailed and intricate art that helped put King's Saddlery on the map. Today, the Sheridan style has influenced leather workers all over the world. 

In 1949, the call of his previous occupation became too strong, so he bought some acreage and began ranching. With too many irons in the fire, he closed his shop.  In 1959, he received a contract to make the Rodeo Cowboys Association World Championship saddles. He was enthused by being able to make these saddles as nice as he wanted to. He continued making them until 1966. In 1961, Don opened his second shop. Business boomed and soon Don was way behind in his saddle orders. Don worked nights when it was quiet, and pushed all the time. Finally, there came a day in 1968 when one order too many broke the camel’s back.  Don said, “I burned out on saddles twice. I had a 150 orders for me (personally) and I just canceled everything.”  Eventually his sons got involved: Bobby ran the rope department, Bruce worked on the business end of things, John became the head saddle maker.

Over the years, King’s took a lot of trade-ins on new saddles. Some of these old saddles were antiques with a lot of history. Don liked to collect old saddles and other historical items

If it has to do with cowboys and their horses, it's here.

Saddles range from hundreds, to thousands to tens of thousands of dollars

For those who don't like brown/tan ropes

The museum houses over three decades of the King family’s dedication to collecting Western and cowboy memorabilia from all over the world. In addition to the hundreds of saddles that line the walls, the Don King Museum also showcases perfectly preserved wagons, coaches, Indian artifacts, guns, Western tack and original artwork.

There are literally hundreds of antique saddles

Mexican Saddle made in 1870, silver trimmed, 

flower carved, seat trimmed with Jaguar skin.

This cow lived in The Pryor, MT area during the depression of the of the 30's. 

It appear to have lived to be 3 to 4 years old.

One of the last of 3 saddles Don King had started. Tooling completed by 

Bill King. The saddle was then assembled by Link Weaver.

Snow shoes for horses

Gene Autrey's saddle

A modern western theme.