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True West Magazine's Renegade Roads, 2003

Chief Red Cloud led Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians against the U.S. Army in the 1866 Fetterman fight and the 1867 Wagon Box fight near Fort Phil Kearny. The fort’s mission was to protect the Bozeman Trail and prevent Indian inter-tribal warfare. Cheyennes burned the fort when it closed in 1868, but you can still head down to Bozeman Trail Days near the end of June when seminars and living history events occur at the fort replica.

Sheridan’s history wasn’t always so bloody. Buffalo Bill Cody once said of Sheridan, "It would not be a bad place for a man to lose himself." Cody often auditioned acts for his Wild West Show from the porch of the Sheridan Inn, which he once co-owned. Many a cowboy rode his horse into the inn’s Buffalo Bill Saloon, signaling drinks were on the house because Buffalo Bill had hired him for his show. No cowboys will race for a bride like they could in 1909, but Sheridan’s July rodeo does offer Indian relay races, bed races and PRCA events. Every Sunday until fall, watch polo at the Big Horn Equestrian Center Starting in September, events include the Polo Ranch Cutting Classic, Indian Paintbrush Festival and Don King Days. In nearby Bighorn, art lovers will savor over 600 Western art pieces of the Bradford Brinton collection at Quarter Circle A Ranch, including works by Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington and Frank Tenney Johnson. Information: 888-596-6787.

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