Buffalo Bill Center of the West

William Cody founded the town in 1896 and the museum began as a memorial to him in 1927; it has grown into five separate museums sharing a building. The Whitney Western Art Museum holds Remington, Russell, Bierstadt and Moran. The Plains Indian Museum is one of the more substantial collections of its kind and has worked increasingly with the nations represented on how the material is shown. The Cody Firearms Museum holds several thousand weapons, including the Winchester factory collection. The Draper Natural History Museum covers the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. The Buffalo Bill Museum itself treats his Wild West show as the mass entertainment that shaped how the frontier is imagined.

What to look for

• Five museums in one building - art, Plains Indian, firearms, natural history, Cody.
• The Winchester factory collection - in the firearms museum.
• A large Plains Indian collection - shown with nation involvement.
• The Wild West show treated as media - not as history.

When to go

May to September for full hours; reduced in winter. A full day, ticket valid two days.

Things to know

It is far larger than it appears - one day is thin for five museums. Winter hours are much reduced. Cody fills in summer as a Yellowstone gateway. The ticket is priced accordingly.

Nearby

Yellowstone's east entrance is west up the Shoshone valley.

Key facts