1867 |
William
F. Cody acquires nickname "Buffalo Bill," for his
abilities as a buffalo hunter |
 |
1875 |
Gertrude
Vanderbilt Whitney born in New York City |
|
1883 |
Buffalo
Bill's Wild West show created |
|
1896 |
Buffalo
Bill and six other men found Cody, Wyoming |
|
January
10, 1917 |
William
Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody dies in Denver |
|
early
1917 |
first
seeds of an idea cast, for a memorial to Buffalo Bill, when
Margaret L. Simpson, L.L Newton, Charles Hayden, W.T. Hogg,
and Sam Parks meet on the front porch of the Irma Hotel |
|
January
1917 |
Wyoming
Legislature appropriates $5,000 for erection of a "...fit
and proper memorial statue of William F. Cody..." |
|
January
1917 |
Town
of Cody shocked to learn that Buffalo Bill will be buried
atop Lookout Mountain, west of Denver |
|
March
1, 1917 |
Buffalo
Bill Memorial Association created |
|
June
1917 |
Cody
buried at Lookout Mountain after an elaborate $10,000 funeral
given by Harry Tammen and Frederick Bonfils of The Denver
Post |
|
1917-1924 |
delay
in memorializing Buffalo Bill in Cody, due to World War I and
its aftermath |
|
ca.
1917-1926 |
Mary
Jester Allen (Buffalo Bill's niece) resides in New York City,
establishing Eastern connections pivotal to the future of
the Buffalo Bill Museum and, later, the Buffalo Bill Historical
Center |
|
early
1920s |
Gertrude
Vanderbilt Whitney agrees to sculpt a bronze statue of Buffalo
Bill on horseback and purchases an additional 40 acres across
Sheridan Avenue from the Buffalo Bill Museum |
|
July
4, 1924 |
Buffalo
Bill -- The Scout (bronze monument) dedicated |
|
Fall
1925 |
International
Cody Family Association founded at Drake Hotel, Chicago |
|
October
4, 1926 |
Buffalo
Bill Memorial Association executed warranty deed for lots
to the Cody Family Memorial Board |
|
July
4, 1927 |
Buffalo
Bill Museum dedicated |
|
1927-1960 |
Mary
Jester Allen serves as Buffalo Bill Museum’s first director,
over 34 years |
|
1942 |
Gertrude
Vanderbilt Whitney dies |
|
Post
World War II |
Buffalo
Bill Memorial Association considers museum expansion toward
a 'great national shrine and memorial to Buffalo Bill' |
|
1950 |
Stan
Kershaw, Chairman of the Planning Committee, suggests the
name 'Buffalo Bill Historical Center,' for the first time |
|
1955 |
Gertrude
Vanderbilt Whitney's son, Sonny Whitney, donates $250,000
for 'construction of an art center in Cody' |
|
1958 |
Whitney
Gallery of Western Art completed |
|
August
1960 |
Mary
Jester Allen, Buffalo Bill Museum's first director, dies at
the age of 85 |
|
1969 |
Plains
Indian Museum established |
|
1976 |
Winchester
Arms Museum dedicated |
|
1979 |
Plains
Indian Museum rededicated in its own wing |
|
1980 |
McCracken
Research Library established |
|
1991 |
Cody
Firearms Museum (previously called Winchester Arms Museum)
rededicated in a new wing |
|
June
2000 |
Plains
Indian Museum completes a reinterpretation to create 'a living
breathing place where more than just Indian objects are on
display.' (Joseph Medicine Crow) |
|
October
2001 |
Draper
Museum of Natural History receives a $1.34 million grant from
the National Science Foundation to develop and install three
exhibit galleries |
|
June
2002 |
Draper
Museum of Natural History scheduled to open |
|
