6 August, Thursday

Cody again. Headed to the Murals of Cody, displayed in the Mormon church. These were done by a local artist and depict the movement of Mormonism from New York state to Utah and the settlement of the Great Basin by the Mormons.

Next stop on our agenda today was the Buffalo Bill Dam. This was completed in 1910 and at the time the tallest dam in the world. Placement was on the Shoshone river about 4 miles west of Cody on the entrance route to Yellowstone Park. When built it contained no steel reinforcement. Sections were poured and large rocks and boulders were placed on the surface of the pour. The next pour was then put on top of that and again rocks were laid. This procedure was copied when building the Hoover Dam, only rocks were not used, sections of concrete were off set. The primary purpose was to gain water for irrigation, but soon after completion a power house was added.

Final stop at the Buffalo Bill Museum. This time we visited the wing with the guns. Over 4,000 are on display arranged by time period and manufacture. Another 5,000+ are in the archives in the basement of the building. Several of the guns were used by various actors in their movies, owned by politictians and other dignitaries.

Big plans for attend the rodeo in the evening (a rodeo everyday during the summer) were halted when a huge thunderstorm and severe weather warning occured. The rodeo went on, rain or shine, but we opted to stay in the coach.