Billing itself as
The Best REAL Western Experience in the Rockies, Old Trail Town is a collection of buildings and artefacts collected from around the "Old West", buildings of renown, such as a saloon frequented by Cassidy's "Hole-in-the-Wall Gang", a cabin used by Kid Curry and Sundance Kid as a hideout, Butch Cassidy's "Hole in the Wall" cabin, schools, general stores, blacksmith shops and much more. All are authentic, not reproductions, dismantled and moved to Old Town Trail. Within the building are thousands of artefacts, some once belonging to well known characters of the old west. As well as buildings and artefacts, to the northwest of the buildings are the burial places of William Garlow Cody, grandson of Buffalo Bill Cody, Jeremiah "Liver Eating" Johnson and other notable western figures.
One thing one cannot miss when entering is the wagons, dozens of them. They are mostly haphazardly arranged down the length of "Main Street" and consist mostly of old wooden wheeled freight wagons, with a couple of buckboards, a water wagon, and a few more democrats, doctor's buckboards and a hearse inside a few of the buildings.
In the spring of 1967 archaeologist Bob Edgar began collecting notable old buildings from around Wyoming, completely disassembling most of them and reassembling them here at Old Town Trail. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017, Old Town Trail was first opened to the public in 1967. It now houses "
the largest collection of its kind in Wyoming".
Bob Edgar, a native of the Wyoming Big Horn Basin, had developed an interest in archaeology and history at a young age. After exploring much of the region and having spent seven years working as an archaeologist for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Bob realized that the old historical buildings and associated materials were rapidly disappearing from the landscape.
The Old Trail Town collection now consists of 26 buildings, which date from 1879 to 1901, one hundred horse drawn vehicles, an extensive collection of memorabilia from the Wyoming frontier and authentic Indian artifacts.
From Old Town Trail
OLD TRAIL TOWN
We offer visitors a unique opportunity to experience first-hand our rich Western heritage. Voted "Best Tourist Attraction and Historical Site" by True West Magazine. Old Trail Town is one of Cody, Wyoming's most popular family friendly sites and is conveniently located on the road to Yellowstone National Park.
On this site in 1895, Western scout and showman William F. ("Buffalo Bill") Cody laid out the original townsite of Cody, Wyoming, which was named in his honor. Today Old Trail Town preserves the lifestyle and history of the Frontier West through a rare collection of authentic structures and furnishings. From remote locations in Wyoming and Montana these historic buildings were carefully disassembled, moved and reassembled here at Old Trail Town by Western historian Bob Edgar and friends.
Located here also are thousands of historic artifacts from the Old West and grave sites of several notable Western figures. Among the is the grave of mountain man John Johnson, who was portrayed by the actor Robert Redford in the 1972 motion picture "Jeremiah Johnson".
Here too are original cabins used by Old West outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and a Wyoming saloon frequented by Cassidy's "Hole-in-the-Wall Gang". Also on this site is the log cabin home of "Curley" a Crow Indian army scout who helped guide Lt Col. George A. Custer and the U.S. 7th Cavalry to the battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. Old Trail Town exists today as a memorial to the uniquely American experience known throughout the world as "the Old West".
From the Plaque at the entrance