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Essentially America Magazine, Summer 2004
Mary Moore Mason

Where people and scenery compete for central stage

Just as I reached the front door of the historic Sheridan Inn, in Sheridan, Wyoming, a tumultuous trio erupted on to the wide, wooden porch. "Howdy there, I'm buffalo Bill," shouted the first, resplendent in goatee and fringed and beaded buckskins. "Have you come to audition for my show?"

Without waiting for an answer, he continued: "And this here is Annie Oakley, my Little Miss Sure Shot, and Calamity Jane, although she hasn't worked for me ever since she broke up a bar in New York and I had to send her back west on the train."

Somewhat mystified, I shook hands with Annie, elegant in a cowgirl outfit, and Calamity, very butch in buckskin trousers. Smoking a cheroot and swigging from a bottle of rot gut, she then told me her remarkable story while Annie looked on in mock disapproval. Born in poverty, she disguised herself as a man to get work on the Wild West frontier and gained notoriety as a prostitute, the heroine of 'dime' novels, and as a hard-drinking, gun-toting performer in Wild West shows. Later, she had a child by famous Indian scout and lawman 'Wild Bill' Hickok, who was shot dead before he could assume his parental duties. The child, known as Sarah, was adopted by an English couple but later returned to the USA.

Annie, on the other hand, lived in relative domestic bliss with her sharpshooter husband/manager Frank Butler (their romance inspired the musical Annie Get Your Gun), and Buffalo Bill, aka William F Cody, became one of the most internationally famous men of the 19th century as, first, a Pony Express rider, buffalo hunter, Civil War hero and Indian scout, and, then, as an actor, friend of President Teddy Roosevelt and the impresario who did more than anyone else to establish the image of the cowboy and Indian West. For, not only did his spectacular open-air Wild West show tour for 30 years throughout the USA, but it also went to Europe, where fans included kings, queens and heads of state.

In fact, when Cody appeared in London for Queen Victoria's 1887 Golden Jubilee, the Prince of Wales rode 'shotgun' on the stagecoach he drove around the arena. Inside were the kings of Belgium, Saxony, Denmark and Greek, inspiring the Prince of Wales to quip: "It isn't often that you hold as good a hand as this — four kings — is it Colonel Cody?". Bill replied: "As well as a royal joker".

As the Colonel is probably the best known former resident of the 'Cowboy State' — his only present-day rival would be the current controversial US vice president Dick Cheney — ft seemed logical to begin my tour of Wyoming at the old inn, which he co-owned and where he often auditioned the acts for his Wild West show. And to have as my hosts three look-alikes who appear in the city's annual Buffalo Bill Days celebrations in June.

People and Places with Theatrical Flair

My flamboyant hosts also initiated me into the realisation that this is a state in which everything and everybody has a theatrical flair — from the breathtaking, cinemascopic scenery of Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons and the Devils Tower, to the larger-than-life characters you meet all along the way.

Sometimes they are living, sometimes dead. The ghost of a former maid is said to wander through the Sheridan Inn, now being restored to its glory days, and when I checked into the tranquil Ivy House Inn in Casper, I discovered that not only did it have two ghosts — one inside and one in the parking lot — but that the co-owner was also a ghost-busting vicar who helped run local Casper the Friendly Ghost tours. There were also stories of more substantial — if long-dead — folk heroes and villains, such as Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Flat Nose George and Cattle Kate. They often began like this: "And as Butch said to my great granddad..."

To meet present-day characters in Sheridan, you drop by the colourful Mint Bar, a Prohibition era 'speakeasy'. Here, you can order a pint of Fat Tire, admire the mounted animal heads and chat to local ranchers and cowboys (perhaps including the real-life inspiration for The Horse Whisperer) before moseying over to King's Saddlery, which includes a fascinating museum. (The Queen was so intrigued during her 1984 visit that she stayed twice as long as scheduled.)

For a glimpse into the lifestyle of the rich and famous of yore, head into the hills for Trail End, the majestic Flemish Revival-style mansion of 19th-century ranching tycoon, Wyoming governor and US Senator, John B Kendrick, and his wife, Eula. Not only is it a showplace, the carriage house is home to Sheridan's community theatre.

Or travel through lush, green countryside to the Circle A Ranch, settled in the 1870s by Scottish aristocrats and now home to the Bradford Brinton Memorial & Museum's superb collection of Western art. Over the years the area has become popular with the British, including the Queen, who has visited some of the ranches. Perhaps that's why polo is played at the nearby Big Horn Equestrian Center every Sunday throughout the summer.

If you are a golf enthusiast you might wish to head instead for one of the area's numerous golf courses, particularly the Powder Horn, with its sparkling lake and impressive link-side mansions. But for a real Western experience, there's Eaton's Ranch, founded a century ago as the oldest dude ranch in the USA, still run by the same family, and offering riding, fishing, swimming and cabin accommodation in 7,000 acres of countryside.

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