Buffalo and Kaycee, Wyoming, emerged during one of the wildest periods in American history. From Outlaw Country to the Cattle War, you can get an inside peek into the stories at our museums and even stand in the exact places where this history was made on a journey through Buffalo and Kaycee’s wild past.
A notorious bank and train robber and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang, Butch Cassidy was known as the “Robin Hood of the West” for sharing his loot with folks whose lives were ruined by cattle barons and bankers. Butch Cassidy, along with the Sundance Kid, Kid Curry, Flat Nose George Currie, and other outlaws, found sanctuary between robberies in the Hole in the Wall, west of Kaycee. Visit Hoofprints of the Past Museum in Kaycee to view related artifacts and information or sign up for a tour of the area.
Tensions between small homesteaders and large cattle kings grew in the 1880s, leading to a conflict that shaped the West. The cattle barons used their influence in government and the press to keep small homesteaders out of the ranching business, and painted them as rustlers. When this did not work, they turned to violence, assassinating two small ranchers and attempting to kill Nate Champion, a well-respected small rancher of Kaycee. They went further in the spring of 1892, organizing a group, now known as the Invaders, with a plan to kill the leaders of the small ranchers, including the sheriff of Johnson County! On April 9, 1892, they surrounded Nate Champion and Nick Ray at the KC Ranch in Kaycee. Ray was killed, but Champion held them off long enough for news of the invasion to reach Buffalo. He was ultimately shot and killed after they burned down the ranch house. The Invaders headed toward Buffalo but were surrounded by angry local citizens at the TA Ranch. Their powerful friends in Washington, D.C., orchestrated their surrender to the soldiers of nearby Fort McKinney, saving the lives of the Invaders. They were eventually freed and never paid for their crimes. Visit the Jim Gatchell Museum in Buffalo and the Hoofprints of the Past Museum in Kaycee to learn more.
In 1876, Dull Knife, chief of the Northern Cheyenne, reluctantly led his people to fight alongside Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull at the Battle of the Little Bighorn against George Armstrong Custer. That winter, General Crook sought the hostiles responsible for the massacre and discovered that Dull Knife’s tribe was camped in the Red Fork Valley west of Kaycee in November 1876. The battle began at dawn, and the military was able to get between the Indians and the horses. The braves held off the soldiers long enough for the women and children to escape into the mountains. Many froze, and the loss of all their supplies broke the tribe, and they surrendered to the reservation the following spring. This was the last Indian battle in the area. Artifacts and information on the fight can be found at Hoofprints of the Past Museum. Tours are available through the Red Fork Ranch.
Discover the site of the preserved Fetterman Massacre and Wagon Box Fight battle sites at the Fort Phil Kearny Interpretive Center. Explore Native American history, enjoy guided tours and dramatized historical accounts and events.
The Bozeman Trail, marked by John Bozeman in 1863, was a cutoff from the Oregon Trail to the Montana gold fields. Known as the Bloody Bozeman, the wagon trains that traveled it were under constant attack, leading to the involvement of the US military, the construction of a series of forts, and numerous battles that culminated in the military withdrawing from the area in 1868 after disastrous losses.
The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum offers booklets for various tours to learn about how the past and present collide, how the folks of yesteryear lived, and how old buildings are utilized today. While so much has changed, there are so many similarities between old and modern frontier life and Western living that are connected. Head to the museum to pick up guides on a Historic Main Street Walking Tour, Railroad Walking Tour, Streets and Homes Tour, and National Register of Historic Places Tour.
