Gary & Sharon Hatcher, Our Travels

Monday was our last day in Yellowstone. We had a great visit to the most beautiful spot in the country. Yellowstone has everything, desert like terrain, rolling hills and green mountains, jagged rocky mountains, green grassy plains, and many hot springs and geysers. We will never forget this experience.

We left the RV park in Gardner early and made one more short trip through Yellowstone National Park on our way to Cody, Wyoming. We went through Lamar Valley again where we had seen the large herd of buffalo (bison) on Saturday. They were still there. I learned later that the valley is where the buffalo stay most of the time during the summer. One of the animals that we had really wanted to see was a grizzly bear. Well, we got to see one as we were leaving the park. The road was blocked with the many cars and people that had stopped to see the bear. Since we were driving the RV it was hard to stop, but we slowed enough to be able to see the bear walking along the river on the other side of the road. Couldn't even get a good picture since I couldn't stop. A park ranger came along and started making people move along, or at least get off of the road.

Shortly after leaving the park we got onto the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway headed for Cody.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway just as exciting as all of the other scenic highways that we had been on. This one was even more exciting since I was driving the RV, and towing the car. The highway started out nice and straight with few hills, but that changed soon. There were many turns in the road that I could see the car's rear license plate as we rounded them. Take a look for yourself.

The ride across the Chief Joseph was very pleasurable. There was very little other traffic on the road, so we were able to slow down and enjoy the scenery.

Welcome to Cody, Wyoming. Sharon and I have done all of the touristy things while here in Cody, so let me take you through a couple of days of sight seeing and play.

We started out our sightseeing soon after we arrived in Cody. The first thing that I wanted to see was the WWII internment camp where over 10,000 Japanese were interned right after the start of the war. I had read, and seen stories, about the internment of the Japanese living on the west coast after the US declared war on Japan, but had never really understood why, and the outcome and effect on the lives of those interned. The Heart Mountain Relocation Center housed over 10,000 people at one time, making it the 3rd largest city in Wyoming at that time. The site is now a National Historic Site. The visitor's center is built to resemble three of the large buildings that housed those that were interned there. There is so much to say about what happened here, and the many stories that came after, but I don't have the space, or time. I will just post a few pictures, and let you see some of it for yourself. If you really want to know more, take the time to search about that time in our history.

When those that were relocated to Heart Mountain, they found bare rooms for their families to move into. Depending on the size of the family, they were assigned a single room from 16' X 20', up to 20' X 24'. The only furnishings were cot type beds and mattresses.

Through hard work, and on their own self desire to better their conditions, those interned built furniture from what ever scraps could be found and made their rooms as comfortable as possible.

Even though the camps were called either relocation centers, or internment camps, they were more like prison or concentration camps. The camp was enclosed with fencing and guarded like any other prison camp.

Up on a hill behind the visitor's center is a memorial placed in remembrance of those that lived, and died, at Heart Mountain. It is amazing how many of those that were interned at Heart Mountain, and the other camps around the country, became very productive citizens of the US, including senators.

Here is the history of Heart Mountain.

The memorial site.

After our visit to Heart Mountain, we headed for downtown Cody, and the Cody visitor center. We picked up several brochures about several things to see in the Cody area. The two things we really wanted to see were the rodeo and the Cody Museum. We bought tickets for the rodeo and made plans for the museum.

We really had a great time at the rodeo. Here are just a few of the many pictures that I took.

Prior to the beginning of the rodeo, these young ladies rode onto the arena with the American Flag. After an orchestrated ride, the girls stopped in the middle of the arena, we were all asked to rise as the National Anthem was played. The crowd joined in by singing the National Anthem. I thought that was the best, but it got better as the announcer then ask all to join him in prayer. He then prayed for the rodeo competitor's, the animals involved, and for those of us there to watch the rodeo. Really impressive. We had some visitors from Germany sitting behind us, they commented on how they thought this was a very good thing to do.

Then the action began. This bronco rider didn't last very long.

This guy stayed on for the full 8 seconds required. He went onto win the bronco competition.

They even had a 12 and under bull rider competition. Only one out of six riders was able to stay on the little bull for the 8 seconds. One of the riders was only 6. They are well padded and wear helmets.

This guy was riding a lot of wild bull.

That was the end of a busy day. Next the Cody Museum.

Sharon is standing next to a large statue of Buffalo Bill.

The first area of the center that I went into was the large gun section. Sharon sat out in the lobby as I toured this area. There are weapons from the earliest ever made, to the latest. There was one musket from the 15th century that I know would take at least two people to hold. It looked very heavy and was over 8 feet long. The display below shows a sequence of muskets and rifles used in the exploration and settlement of the west.

There is a very good display of the plains Indians.

These clothes were actually worn by Bill Cody when he was chief of scouts for the army.

This chuck wagon, and cook, were outside the center. He had cooked some beans, biscuits, and coffee. We got to sample some of each. The beans and biscuits were very good, the coffee was really good. He said that the menu for drovers usually consisted of just beans, biscuits, and coffee. If the crew was big enough there might be beef added, but only if it all could be cooked at one time. Meat couldn't be kept fresh while on the trail drives.

We visited several other attractions as we continued to do the sight-seeing thing.

We saw a western town that had been built from re-located old buildings from around Wyoming. Let's take a walk around town.

Old Trail Town. This sign tells you about the town.

Town from the west end.

This cemetery is real. It contains the bodies of several famous mountain men, outlaws, and one woman. The character that Robert Redford played in the movie "Jeremiah Johnston" was based on a real person of the same name. His body was relocated here after the movie was made. Redford even attended the funeral.

Thought this was interesting. Along with this cabin, all of the other buildings had been moved from other locations to make the town. Several cabins, blacksmith shops, bar, livery stables, store, post office, and many more.

The Hole In the Wall Gang.

We even took time to visit the Cody Dam. When the dam was built in the early 1900's it was the tallest dam in the world.

The lake above the dam.

The river below the dam.

We finished the week with a gun fight at the Irma Hotel. Bill Cody built the hotel in the early 1900's. It is still in operation as a hotel and restaurant.