This cache resides just a short walk from Buffalo Bill Cody's (alleged) final place of rest. The area nearest to the cache is closed due to revegatation, so please abide by park rules. You will need to follow the path that runs along the road, outside of the fence. Happy Hunting and bring an ink stick.
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. State of Iowa), but he lived for several years in his father's hometown in modern-day Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, before the family returned to the Midwest and settled in the Kansas Territory.
Buffalo Bill started working at the age of eleven, after his father's death, and became a rider for the Pony Express at age 15. During the American Civil War, he served the Union from 1863 to the end of the war in 1865. Later he served as a civilian scout for the U.S. Army during the Indian Wars, receiving the Medal of Honor in 1872.
One of the most famous and well-known figures of the American Old West, Buffalo Bill's legend began to spread when he was only 23. Shortly thereafter he started performing in shows that displayed cowboy themes and episodes from the frontier and Indian Wars. He founded Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1883, taking his large company on tours in the United States and, beginning in 1887, in Great Britain and continental Europe.
Cody received the nickname "Buffalo Bill" after the American Civil War, when he had a contract to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo (American bison) meat. Cody is purported to have killed 4,282 buffalo in eighteen months in 1867 and 1868. Cody and another hunter, Bill Comstock, competed in an eight-hour buffalo-shooting match over the exclusive right to use the name, which Cody won by killing 68 animals to Comstock's 48
Buffalo Bill's Wild West toured Europe eight times, the first four tours between 1887 and 1892, and the last four from 1902 to 1906. The Wild West first went to London in 1887 as part of the American Exhibition, which coincided with the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, requested a private preview of the Wild West performance; he was impressed enough to arrange a command performance for Queen Victoria. Buffalo Bill's Wild West closed its successful London run in October 1887 after more than 300 performances, with more than 2.5 million tickets sold.
In 1895, Cody was instrumental in the founding of the town of Cody, the seat of Park County, in northwestern Wyoming. Today the Old Trail Town Museum is at the center of the community and commemorates the traditions of Western life. Cody first passed through the region in the 1870s. He was so impressed by the development possibilities from irrigation, rich soil, grand scenery, hunting, and proximity to Yellowstone Park that he returned in the mid-1890s to start a town.
Cody died on January 10, 1917. On June 3,1917, Cody was buried on Lookout Mountain, in Golden, Colorado, west of Denver, on the edge of the Rocky Mountains, overlooking the Great Plains. His burial site was selected by his sister Mary Decker. In 1948, the Cody chapter of the American Legion offered a $10,000 reward (approximately $112,800 in 2023) to anyone who could steal Cody's body and deliver it to Cody, Wyoming. In response, the Denver chapter of the American Legion mounted a guard over the grave. There are still rumors about the true burial place of Buffalo Bill Cody. Although Lookout Mountain has a gravesite behind a fence and under concrete, there are claims that Cody, Wyoming was the beneficiary of a body swap carried out before he was buried in Colorado and that he was instead laid to rest on top of Cedar Mountain in Cody Wyoming.
Hmmmm, Road Trip Anyone???
"COLORADO SPIRIT QUEST"
The Colorado Spirit Quest is a series of Caches started in 2008. Placed by many individuals, near cemeteries and historic sites in hopes of paying respect to the many pioneer ancestors that have 'walked' before us. There are hundreds of cemeteries in the rural and mountain communities across Colorado. This series will introduce you to many of them. The cache pages will provide a virtual history tour of the cemeteries and tombstones.
The Colorado Spirit Quest endeavor is an enormous and relentless task. It cannot be accomplished by just one or two people. This project will only flourish if there is a multitude of volunteer cachers willing to place these caches.
After locating the cache container, take some time to reflect back on the lives of those pioneers and the effort it took to make Colorado such a great state.
If you are interested in placing a "Colorado Spirit Quest" you should contact Ivy Dog Parents or Joe Friday.
Each person that places a Colorado Spirit Quest cache is responsible for its maintenance.
