 |
| The "Coffin School"
was built at the W Ranch on Wood River, west of Meeteetse, in
1884. It was used as a school for several years. It derives its name
from the tragic death of Alfred Nower, who died of gangrene in this cabin
in 1885. Nower had chopped himself in the leg while hewing logs. |
 |
| Butch Cassidy's "Hole in
the Wall" Gang's cabin is located here, also. Pictured front
row left to right: Sundance Kid, Ben Kirkpatrick, Butch
Cassidy. Back row left to right: Will Carver, Kid Curry. |
 |
| The cabin was located on Buffalo
Creek west of Kaycee, in the Wyoming Territory. It was built in 1883
by Alexander Ghent. |
 |
| Another famous character from
this area was Jeremiah "Liver-Eating" Johnson (also known as
John Johnston, at times). Born in New Jersey, he moved west and spent his
life in the area around Cody and Yellowstone. He became
legendary as a frontier "mountain man", making his living as a
scout, soldier, gold-seeker, hunter, trapper, whiskey-peddler, guide,
deputy, constable, and builder of log cabins, taking advantage of any
source of income-producing labor he could find. Johnson was a large man
standing 6' 6" tall and weighing in at 240 pounds. In the late 1840s,
he acquired a Flathead Indian wife, of whom he was very fond. One day,
on returning from trapping, he found his wife and unborn child dead and
mutilated on the cabin floor. They had been killed by Crow Indians.
That started a personal revenge war against the Crows which lasted for 12
years. According to legend, Johnson would remove the liver from his
dead enemy and take a bite of it. This was an insult to the Crow
because they believed the liver to be vital if one was to go on to the
afterlife. Hence, he became known as "Liver-Eating
Johnson". Johnson later
became Chief of Scouts for General Nelson A. Miles and was credited with
saving many lives. He also became the first Marshal at Billings,
Montana and the first Sheriff of Red Lodge, Montana. In old age, he
developed rheumatism and would treat his ailment at the DeMaris Hot
Springs, near the current site of Old Trail Town. |
 |
| In the winter of 1899, Johson's
health failed him and he was sent to the old soldiers' home in Santa
Monica, California, where he died January 21, 1900. He was buried in
the nearby Sawtell National Cemetery but that never set well with Cody
residents. So, in 1974, Johnson was disinterred and reburied in Old Trail
Town near the
mountains he loved. |
 |
| The 1972 film "Jeremiah
Johnson," loosely based on his life, starred Robert Redford in the
title role. When Johnson was reburied in Old Trail Town on June 8, 1974,
Redford served as one of the pallbearers. Wow! How touching is
that???? |
 |
| The Rivers Saloon was built in
1888 at the mouth of the Wood River, west of Meeteetse, Wyoming. It
was frequented by Butch Cassidy, W.A Gallagher, Blind Bill Hoolihan and
many other outlaws, cowboys and colorful characters of the old west. |
