A Golden museum celebrates Buffalo Bill’s birthday every February. The Buffalo Bill Museum’s 2018 celebration is Feb. 25 with cake, ice cream and free admission from noon to 4 p.m.
William F. Cody, who became known as Buffalo Bill, was the most famous American of his time.
He became a legend all over the world. He lived a life of adventure beyond the imagination.
Born in 1846, Cody left his home in Kansas at age 9 to take a job as a cowboy. He worked on a wagon train and came to Colorado to look for gold during the 1859 Gold Rush. At age 14, he answered an advertisement that read “looking for skilled experienced riders willing to risk death daily” and got the job as a Pony Express rider. He rode the longest Pony Express ride on record — more than 322 miles in less than 21 hours, using up 20 horses in the effort.
Still in his teens, he joined the 7th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry and later worked as an Army scout with the 3rd Calvary and received a Medal of Honor.
He was next employed by the Kansas Pacific Railroad as a hunter of buffalo, used for feeding construction workers building railroads west. He was credited with providing more than 4,000 buffalo to the railroad in a year. He earned his nickname in a hunting contest against a man who claimed to be the best buffalo hunter, hence he became known as “Buffalo Bill.”
He then began a career in show business at age 26, and went on to create a Wild West Show, an outdoor spectacle with hundreds of live animals, cowboys and Native Americans, and took his highly successful show all over the U.S. and to Europe, where he entertained at Queen Victoria’s Jubilee.
Eventually, the show’s popularity waned, Cody went broke and the show was seized for debts in Denver. He died a few months later and was buried on Lookout Mountain near Golden. The Buffalo Bill Museum is by his grave.
Near the museum is the Pahaska Teepee gift shop and café that has a huge inventory of Buffalo Bill memorabilia and souvenirs, such as posters,
T-shirts and DVDs. The café serves buffalo burgers, hot dogs and chili.
To reach the museum, take Interstate 25 north to Denver and take Interstate 70 West to exit 256. Turn right at the top of the ramp and then an immediate
left. Follow this to Lookout Mountain Road. Turn right and follow this road for about 4 miles. There’s a park and picnic area on the left and a sign for the museum immediately following.
- 94 miles
- 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday
- $5 for adults
- $1 for ages 6-15
- under 6 are free
- 987 Lookout Mountain Road
Golden, CO 80401