Buffalo Bill – The Scout
Buffalo Bill – The Scout is a historic site in Wyoming, at a modelled elevation of 1,526 m. Trout Peak stands 3,724 m to the west-northwest, 23 miles off. The nearest named place is Whitney Western Art Museum, a museum 0.1 miles away. Chief Joseph Scenic Highway passes 16 miles off. 73 named places lie within 25 miles, 27 of them named summits.
The story
Buffalo Bill – The Scout is a bronze statue of a mounted rider outside the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, United States, that was placed in 1924 to commemorate the town's most famous resident and de facto founder, Buffalo Bill Cody. Originally in open land on the western outskirts of Cody, the statue now stands at the end of Sheridan Avenue, which became the town's main thoroughfare as Cody grew to the west. The project was initiated by Buffalo Bill Cody's niece, Mary Jester Allen, who had established the basis of what would become the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. A New Yorker, she persuaded heiress and artist Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney to sculpt the piece. Despite the offer of two existing sites in Cody, Vanderbilt selected and bought the final Cody site. Her first efforts attracted criticism for the type of horse, its pose, and its tack, all of which were regarded as too "eastern." She then arranged for a horse named "Smokey" from Cody's TE Ranch to be shipped to New York, along with a cowboy from Cody to pose in the saddle. The statue was dedicated on July 4, 1924 in the presence of an unusual number of dignitaries for such a remote location. It stands on a large stone base, meant to represent nearby Cedar Mountain, which Cody chose as his gravesite. The base is a consciously ironic statement, since Cody was buried, against his wishes, at Lookout Mountain in Colorado. In time, Sheridan Avenue was extended to the statue and loops around the site. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is located nearby. Vanderbilt funded most of the estimated $50,000 cost for the memorial out of her own pocket. She would go on to establish the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1931. Her son, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney would fund the establishment of the Whitney Museum of Western Art at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. The statue's full title is Buffalo Bill – The Scout. The statue was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dates from 1924.
Wikidata Q7762661, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Built
- 1924
- Material
- bronze
How to reach it
- 15.5 mi off the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway
- 22.7 mi off the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway
Overlooks nearby
- Dead Indian Overlook · 21 mi
- Sunlight Bridge Overlook · 24 mi
73 named places within 25 miles
- Cedar Mountain: 5.2 mi
- Red Butte: 5.5 mi
- Rattlesnake Mountain: 9.5 mi
- Heart Mountain: 9.9 mi
- Monument Hill: 10.8 mi
- Don Little Park: 0.1 mi
- Paul Stock Park: 0.2 mi
- Cody City Park: 0.3 mi
- City Park: 0.3 mi
- River View Park: 0.4 mi
- Whitney Western Art Museum: 0.1 mi
- Cody Firearms Museum: 0.1 mi
- Plains Indian Museum: 0.1 mi
- Buffalo Bill Center of the West: 0.1 mi
- Buffalo Bill Museum: 0.1 mi
- Wild Sheep Exhibit: 0.3 mi
- Dan Miller's Cowboy Music Review: 0.5 mi
- Cody Firearms Experience: 1.5 mi
- Old Trail Town: 1.6 mi
- Vietnam Memorial: 1.9 mi
- Heart Mountain Relocation Center Memorial: 11.7 mi
- Meeteetse Rim: 19.9 mi
- Red Point: 20.1 mi
- Bear: 1.1 mi
- Loch-Katrine Bird Reservation: 10.0 mi
- The English Gardens: 16.7 mi
- Sunlight Creek Picnic Site: 24.0 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of Buffalo Bill – The Scout. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trout Peak | WNW 283° | 3,724 m | 22.8 mi |
| Elkhorn Peak | WNW 291° | 3,210 m | 24.7 mi |
| Jim Mountain | W 271° | 3,175 m | 19.7 mi |
| Pat O'Hara Peak | WNW 302° | 3,026 m | 17.4 mi |
| Pat O'Hara Mountain | NW 306° | 2,858 m | 15.5 mi |
| Rattlesnake Mountain | WNW 282° | 2,779 m | 9.5 mi |
| Dead Indian Hill | NW 317° | 2,635 m | 21.7 mi |
| Bald Peak | NNW 329° | 2,620 m | 23.6 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:20 | 18:50 | 19:29 |
| June solstice | 05:32 | 20:21 | 21:05 |
| September equinox | 07:04 | 18:37 | 19:16 |
| December solstice | 07:51 | 15:52 | 16:40 |
Local time (America/Denver).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 28 | 29 | 38 | 44 | 53 | 62 | 71 | 69 | 60 | 47 | 35 | 27 |
| Precip in | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Cody, 2 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
National Register of Historic Places, reference 74002319OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidata- National Register of Historic Places — Buffalo Bill Statue, reference 74002319, listed 12/31/74.
OpenStreetMap element node/3223493404
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