The Virginian and Cody

Legend has it that my great grandfather, an Alan, had assassinated someone of political import in Wyoming and had fled to the hills of West Virginia. So I kept wondering about the karma that might befall me heading to such a severe part of the universe, in particular, a seemingly lawless part of the United States of America called Cody, Wyoming. What really turned me onto this were the smashed guard rails leading down from Yellowstone where the vehicles that had turned them into metal spaghetti must have fallen 500' to the valley below. There were at least 3 turns where someone or something had met there maker.

So we arrive in Cody where they have a nightly shoot out from 6 to 7 pm. Unfortunately, I didn't think to bring the camera to the nightly rodeo where the under the age of 12 bull riders would limp off the field and the MC and clowns would make fun of them in their own unusual forms of self deprecating humor. Something along the lines of that the recently injured don't know where they are, they think they're in Dallas.

As the guns blare and the smoke builds the onlookers stare unaffectedly. Strangely enough, with all of the guns and ammo in town, I couldn't find one outfit that dressed and/or dried wild game, like moose, elk or antelope. All of the jerky had beef in it yet everyone in the place was a hunter.

Heading south from Cody we passed through Medicine Bow which was made famous by the movie the Virginian.

The film is most memorable for a card-playing poker scene. Insulted by the words, "When I want to know anything from you, I'll tell you, you long-legged son of a ---," the Virginian (Gary Cooper) responds by laying his gun out on the table and threatening the gambler:

Trampas: ...you long-legged sonova -
Virginian: If you wanna call me that, smile.
Trampas: With a gun against my belly, I-I always smile.

Here is the Hotel, in the middle of a basically deserted town. I walked in and asked the bar keep what the folks would have drank 100 years ago. He though about it and said Jack Daniels. So I had a shot.