Well where to begin, it has been sometime since I have done a post on here. The last blog post about my travels was down to Texas and the Mother road in October. Since then I purchased a 1941 Plymouth which was the last post I made on here. Lots has happened since then one of the biggest was me getting a new job.
Lets start there…
On November 5th of 2018 I became the director of the Owyhee County Museum in Murphy, Idaho. After my summer job ending at the end of September I came back home and had about a month off before starting the new job. I applied for the position back September and had my interview early October. Since starting at the museum which I have been a member of for the past ten years there is lots going on. I have been able to fire up not only the 1915 Model T at the museum but also the 1941 John Deere B tractor. The museum is located in a very small town in Owyhee County. I commute each day about 30 mile along country roads with no traffic which is great because if I had a job in downtown Boise I would be fighting the rush hour traffic mess, it gets worse each year.
Being the director, the boss of a museum was something I didnt think I would be doing at this point in my life. I just graduated Boise State University with my Bachelors in History in 2017 and without a Masters I have began my career in history running a museum. This small but well funded museum by volunteer, donations, members and county support is quite large and has alot going for itself. The museum highlights the history of the county from ranching to mining.
Front of the Owyhee County Museum
Besides being busy running the museum Thanksgiving came and went along with the Christmas holiday. Both were enjoyable spent with family and Christina. Christina and I have grown closer and continue to work well together. This year in May will mark our 5 years of being together and as we continue on we are getting closer to wanting to move in together and eventually an engagement to follow. Only time will tell to see what
Christina and I under a canopy of Christmas Lights
happens. There is lots to talk about before anything happen and we are taking it slow. I am also still working part time at the Boise Depot as their tour guide. Five years ago I created a historic tour for Parks & Rec. who run the old 1925 Boise Depot as an event center. Each first Sunday I lead a tour of the history and during Christmas there is a special evening open house where I read the Polar Express to all the kids. I even dress as the conductor.
Conductor at the Boise Depot
As for restoration of the Plymouth is concerned it is moving along at a great pace. So far the new white wall tires are on and the inside is being cleaned and improved. By March the car will be ready to roll.
I believe that covers it for now, im sure I left things out but will add photos below of the museum and other highlights in the past months. Not much traveling will happen this year due to my full time job but for sure will be down in Ogden Utah for the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10th. There will be a huge event and the largest steam engine in the world there as well.
Until next time..
First start of the 1915 Model T in seven years.1940 JD model B out front of museum. currently being fully restored.
New White wall tires for plymouth
Cleaning our inside of car and prepping it for rust preventive. The car over all is in great shape.
A trip to Cody Wyoming would not be totally complete without a visit to not only the famous Irma Hotel but also the Buffalo Bill Center of the West! This large Smithsonian affiliated museum covers five different topics all under one roof. The museum features, the life of William F. Cody, history of the Plains Indians, Natural history of the Yellowstone Eco-system, western art and a large firearm exhibit. This museum will take you all day to see and possible two full days.
I unfortunately only had a full day to spend here so when Christina and I visited on August 22nd we split the museum up to what we wanted to see most .
Christian and I in front of the Museum.
I of course dove into the history of Bill Cody and Christina being a biologist and love of animals headed for the Draper Natural History side of the museum. We both took and hour and half to see those sides of the museum and planned to meet back at the center of the museum and have lunch. The museum is divided by wings and they all attache in the center by a main lobby. After lunch we would both look through the Plains Indian wing and also catch a 30 min show on Birds of Prey out in the back court yard.
Before diving into the history of Buffalo Bill and what I saw at that part of the museum me and Christina both looked at his childhood home which he lived in for only four years of his life. The house sat along side the banks of the Mississippi River in LeClaire, Iowa. the house was built in 1841 by his father and was eventually purchased as a tourist attraction by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and moved to Cody, Wyoming, Buffalo Bill’s adopted hometown, in 1933.
William Cody’s Childhood home
The museum has it roots dating back to 1927 in a log cabin in downtown Cody that was modeled after Bill Cody’s house at his “TE Ranch” located southwest of town, the museum remained in that location until 1969 when it was relocated to a newly-built wing of the then Buffalo Bill Historical Center.
Original museum
The original log building is still in town and is used as the Cody Visitor Center. The Buffalo Bill Museum’s focus is on the life and times of William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Cody lived from 1846 – 1917, witnessing the formation of Yellowstone National Park and settlement of the western frontier. Mr. Cody was a noted guide, scout, frontiersman, showman, actor, entrepreneur, town founder, and American icon.
William F. Cody “Buffalo Bill”
I found the Cody museum well laid out and also engaging. Many artifacts are on display from Cody’s life. The displays are easy to read and are to the point. Many museum these day struggle with trying to get information across without loosing the reader. Too many displays can have to much text trying to get the history to the visitor and will loose the reader quickly. There were lots to see regarding Bill Cody and it all starts out with his childhood and loosing his father at an early age and then his mother. Cody would set out on the high plains of the west and little did he know that he would become synonymous with the West itself.
Some background….William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody became an American scout, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Iowa Territory, but he lived for several years in his father’s hometown in Toronto Township, Ontario, Canada, before the family returned to the Midwest and settled in the Kansas Territory.
Cody started working at the age of eleven, after his father’s death, and became a rider for the Pony Express at age 14. 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 US Army during the Indian Wars, receiving the Medal of Honor in 1872. Now Cody received the nickname “Buffalo Bill” after the American Civil War, when he had a contract to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat. Cody is reported 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, “Buffalo Bill” which Cody won by killing 68 animals compared to Comstock’s 48. (Boy those were the days!)
Cody’s guns, hat and jacket from when he was a scout
The legend Buffalo Bill began to spread when he was only twenty-three. 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 Show in 1883, taking his large company on tours in the United States and, beginning in 1887, to Great Britain and continental Europe. Mr. Cody and his troop of wild west performers got to meet Queen Victoria in 1887, the queen was so impressed by him that she spent her own money and her own craftsmen to make a bar for Cody’s Irma Hotel. (photos of the bar to follow in a special post on the Iram Hotel)
Buffalo Bill meets Queen Victoria and performed for over 20,000 people. Panoramic shot of a large advertising poster.
The Cody museum also has some other unique things on display within the Cody section of the museum, such as the gun that belonged to Wild Bill Hickcock and the gun that was used by the original Lone Ranger. There is also Annie Oakley’s saddle and riding dress.
James B. “Wild Bill” Hickcock’s gunLone Rangers gun used by John Hart
I found out that Buffalo Bill performed in every state in the continental U.S. except one and that being Nevada. He performed in many places in Idaho, towns such as Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, Boise, Lewiston, and Sandpoint. I am from the Boise area and had to go down to the office at the museum and find out when the show came to town. I found out that he performed three times in Boise and the entire show was on a train that would arrive and then have two performance days. Shows would take place in the morning and evening. The museum staff not only found the dates on when he performed but also Idaho Statesmen newspaper clippings and were able to print them out! Found out that the show was set up in a square block in the north end neighborhood between 15th and 17th and Sherman. At the time the area had not been developed and was currently being developed by Walter E. Pierce who loaned his land for the show. Living in Idaho all this time and never once have I come across a photo or information that his show ever came to Idaho let alone Boise.
Buffalo Bills Showman gloves and hat
After having lunch in the parking lot we headed back into the museum for the Birds of Prey talk and then walked through the Plains Indian exhibit which was very well done and took you through this history of many different tribes that once lived on the western Plains from Canada to Mexico. The last stop on the tour that day was of course the gift shop to get that souvenir pin and magnet. The museum is open from 8:30-6pm everyday in the summer and we were there from 11-5:30. If you want to learn more about the museum check them out on line here: https://centerofthewest.org/explore/buffalo-bill/
I didn’t even cover all the neat things I saw so ill list some below,
movie footage of 1910 buffalo Bill Show in New York
On the go with Eriks 