Buffalo is a favorite stop for us when traveling between the Black Hills of South Dakota and Yellowstone. It is just the right size, has lots of history and just enough amenities. The Bighorn mountains are picturesque and have plenty of hiking trails and big animals for sightseeing. We stayed in the Buffalo and Sheridan area before and looked forward to returning.
Bighorn Mountains
They are stunning. At 13,175 feet, Cloud Peak is the highest mountain. Since it was late May, there was still snow in the mountains, but according to locals there should have been more this year.
Wildflowers were just starting to bloom.
Pasque flowers are one of the first perennials to bloom in the spring in open meadows. I was down on the ground taking these photos when I got a pleasant, unexpected surprise.
A couple of moose came out of a creek bed to an open grassy area. I gave them plenty of room, so they didn’t seem to mind being photographed from a distance.
Buffalo, Wyoming
At an elevation of 4,646 feet, Buffalo has cold dry winters and hot wetter summers. Less than 5,000 people live here. Buffalo was initially a fort in the 1800s to help settlers along the Bozeman Trail. The Sioux, Arapahoe, and Cheyenne Indians all considered the area prime hunting grounds and therefore conflicts arose with settlers. The city was founded in 1879. There were also conflicts between ranchers and farmers known as the Johnson County Cattle War of 1892. Settlers were being driven off their lands until President Harrison sent troops from McKinney to arrest the hired guns employed by the ranchers. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids infamous Hole in the Wall hideout is about an hour south of Buffalo. Sheep ranching took off because of the extensive grasslands.
The area is known for livestock, lumber, oil, sugar beets and grains, but tourism is becoming a vital part of Buffalo’s industry because of the Bighorn Mountains. Buffalo is also known for the Longmire television series. The books are written by Craig Johnson and based on Durant (Buffalo) Wyoming, in Absaroka (Johnson) county, Wyoming. Each year, Buffalo hosts Longmire days in August.
KOA, Buffalo
We had a pull through site with 50-amp service, good water pressure, sewer and WIFI fast enough to stream. A couple days it snowed, so we had to disconnect our water so that it wouldn’t freeze.
We toured Mountain Meadow Wool company. In the 1800s, Wyoming was a big wool producer, but with decreasing demand, prices bottomed out 20 years ago. In 2007, Mountain Meadow Wool opened their doors to produce fine wool from local ranches and has prospered.
Un’WINE’d was a treat. They are the only wine bar between Buffalo and Sheridan. The owners are very personable and we enjoyed spending a couple hours there with a nice bottle of zinfandel and a charcuterie plate.
The Historic Hotel Occidental Saloon was founded in 1880. We loved their bar, which feels like it hasn’t changed since 1908, other than the accessories. Buffalo Bill Cody, Teddy Roosevelt, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Calamity Jane were known to visit the saloon. The bar is filled with memorabilia. We made new friends and had a nice early dinner with drinks.
