BBHC & Cody Trolley Tours

The Combination Ticket Plan

June 2 - September 26, 2008

BBHC Members always enjoy $5 off the ticket price*!

*Please have your membership card available to receive discount.

Cody Trolley Tours - BBHC Combintation Ticket

Enjoy an informative and entertaining one-hour Cody Trolley Tour spotlighting historical sites, scenic vistas, geology, wildlife and other sites around Cody. The price includes admission to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

Trolley Tour passengers gain a better sense of the accomplishments of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody when viewing area icons like his Irma Hotel, The Cody Enterprise - his town newspaper, and the Buffalo Bill Dam.

This interpretive one-hour, 24-mile, non-stop trolley tour greatly enriches your visit to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, and is a great way to break up your day at the Historical Center. The lively trolley tour utilizes two narrators, poster-sized historical photos, hands-on objects and entertaining audio clips to share the story to share the story of William F. Cody and the town he founded - Cody, Wyoming.

William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody

See the complete online biography of Buffalo Bill, with a chronology of the life of William F. Cody, and a history of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

In 1896, Buffalo Bill and six other men founded the town of Cody, Wyoming. His many contributions to this small community, and the area, reflected a broad generosity of spirit that brought a better quality of life to many within the area and paved the way for economic growth and prosperity.

A legend in his own time, William F. Cody reached into many corners to find bold, new experiences - living life to the fullest, and fitting ten lifetimes into one. His dashing good looks and charisma captured the idea of "the West" for people everywhere he went, in America and abroad.

As early as age 15, Cody was showing signs of an eclectic and energetic personality. He had allegedly worked as a bullwhacker, a mounted messenger, a trapper, a gold prospector, and a Pony Express rider. During the Civil War, he served as a scout for the 7th Kansas Cavalry, and, after the war, operated a hotel, drove a stage, and hunted buffalo for the railroad, and served as a scout for the 5th Cavalry. By 1870, he was being proclaimed in dime store novels, and two years later, he could be found on stage portraying himself.

Cody opened his Wild West in Omaha on May 19, 1883, catapulting him to worldwide fame and fortune. In the mid-1890s, he established the TE Ranch on the South Fork of the Shoshone River, and co-founded the town of Cody. He began to invest large sums of money into irrigation projects within the region, helping the area grow and prosper. In 1897 and 1899, Cody and his associates acquired from the state of Wyoming the right to draw water from the Shoshone River to irrigate about 169,000 acres of land in the Big Horn Basin. They began digging a canal to carry water diverted from the river, but the plan did not include a water storage reservoir, as they were unable to raise sufficient capital to complete that phase of the project. However, early in 1903, they joined with the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners in urging the federal government to step in and help with irrigation development in the valley.

The Irma Hotel, named for his daughter Irma Louise, was built in 1902. Cody called it "…just the sweetest hotel that ever was." He maintained two suites and an office at the hotel for his personal use. When the Burlington Railroad completed a spur line into Cody, his plan was that travelers would stay at one of Buffalo Bill’s Hotels in the Rockies on their way to the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park. These included the Irma Hotel in Cody, near the railroad; Wapiti Inn (a day’s wagon ride west); and Pahaska Teepee, at the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park.

The Cody Enterprise, a twice-weekly newspaper, was founded by Cody and Col. John Peake in August 1899. It is still the main source of information for Cody today.