Cody, WY, September 1st

The Badlands of South Dakota

Cody, Wyoming, just east of Yellowstone and named in honor of Buffalo Bill, is Sun Valley for the motorized cowboy. SUV's have given way to pick-up trucks (most have dogs riding in the back), there are rodeos six nights a week, and a shoot out re-enactment is held every night on the main street. "This town ain't big enough for the both of us...."

The highlight of the town is the Buffalo Bill Historic Center. Just another museum ,I figured, but it turned out to be the best in the West. There are separate wings for Buffalo Bill (an amazing character!), the West in general, the plains Indians, and probably the best collection of original Western art anywhere, both paintings and sculptures. The New York Times calls it the top museum in the country for Western Americana. Who'd a thunk?

Devil's Tower, simply put, is worth the entire trip. Enough said.

The historic old mining town of Deadwood, in the Black Hills, is the sort of place that scriptwriters of westerns can now mine for stories and characters. And, after visiting the Adams Museum in the center of town, there were plenty of both in the old days! The museum is quite thorough in depicting this mining history (hundreds of great old photos), as well as documenting the Wounded Knee massacre. A glass case contains the exact cards Wild Bill Hickock was holding when he was shot during a poker game in Deadwood in 1876. It's well known that he was holding aces and eights, but I was unaware that the fifth card was the Queen of Hearts. Hmmm.......

Deadwood, today, is a tourist mecca and the main street is comprised entirely of eateries, gaming casinos and trinket stores. Go west, young man. There's gold in them thar hills! But that gold is now tourism, gambling and real estate.

In spite of this, one can spend days at any of the spots I've visited. They're all destinations in themselves for the explorer, environmentalist, nature lover, sportsman, historian, photographer, and Billy Crystal 'City Slicker'. (Jeez, I'm starting to sound like the local chamber of commerce member).

One more thing. According to the latest census, South Dakota now ranks number one in the U.S. in the proportion of people who work from a spare bedroom, garage, shop or basement in their homes. And I have absolutely no idea what they're doing.