Just Some Local Stuff!

10 Jul 2010--Checked out a couple spots in the local area yesterday, the Buffalo Bill Dam and Old Trail Town.


I'll tell you, Buffalo Bill was quite the entrepreneur. This dam is not only named after him, he was instrumental in getting it built. This area of Wyoming only gets 5-6 inches of water a year, so the farmers really need it for irrigation. Bill was instrumental in establishing what became the Bureau of Reclamation, which built this dam after he and his buddies gave the feds some land to do it. When it was completed in 1910 it was the tallest in the world at 325 ft, 7 men died working on it, and the 3 companies that contracted with the government to build it all went broke. It took 5 years to build due to the sometimes brutal weather. But it appears Bill came out just fine. haha

Wyoming was then, and still is today, a very conservative state. During the building of this dam, Wyoming experienced its 1st labor strike, which was successful in raising the men's pay up to $3 a day, but when they tried a 2nd strike, all the leaders were fired or re-assigned and replaced with common workers.

The river running into the reservoir is called the Shoshone River, but used to be called "Stinking Water River".

There is a series of 3 tunnels that you have to go thru to get by the dam and into Cody, and here are 2 of them. In the 1st picture, which was taken from the top of the dam, you have to look for the small hole at the bottom, center of the picture. There is a lot of mountain on top of that tunnel!!!

Before we pressed on to Old Trail Town, I talked to guy who worked at the dam and asked him a few questions on their taxes. Wyoming has no income taxes, only a 4% sales tax, and I noticed on a sales brochure we saw that a $300,000 house that was for sale listed only $1500 in property taxes.

Texas prides itself on being a supposedly low tax state, but although there is no income tax, the San Antonio sales tax is about 8.25% and I paid about $3200 a year in property taxes on a house valued about $150,000.

This guy told me that the state government is very conservative with the money it has, and pretty much leaves the towns and cities to their own devises. If they want something new built the town has to vote on a temporary sales tax increases.

He went on to say that the state does collect what he termed "a lot" in oil, gas and mineral rights, but also said that in all likelihood the state got most of its money from the feds to build and maintain their roads. There simply aren't enough people here to support road building and maintenance.

So what does this all mean to you? #1...Everyone should consider living/retiring in Wyoming as an incredibly low tax state! And #2...No more than Buffalo Bill, the people of Wyoming are getting the feds (you) to pay for a lot of stuff they don't want to pay for! haha

After being satisfied that I understood their tax structure (haha), off to Old Trail Town we went. This is a town that has been constructed of buildings from other places in both Wyoming and Montana. There are a total of 26 buildings, but only a few of them here were worth posting. They not only transplanted these buildings, but there are 5-6 graves that they dug up and moved here also, including that of Jeremiah Johnson, played by Robert Redford in the movie of that name.

If you look at the bottom of the picture below, you will see a roping stand that called out to me. See video.

Curly was a leading scout for Custer, went on to become Chief of the Crow Reservation Police, died in 1923, and was buried in the National Cemetery on the Custer Battlefield in Montana...I think we saw that years ago Ellen!

This was one of the few 2 room houses in the town, showing once again that crime does, indeed, pay! That is Sundance in the bottom, left of the picture, and Butch bottom, right.

Cathy is bellying up to the bar while I play the piano and "spit" in the spittoon.

There was a small museum building that had mostly stuffed animals and Indian stuff. I love these little papooses.

These shoes are made with porcupine quills, and the saddle is the type where the Indian could sit facing front or backwards and still be secure while firing at the enemy.

A girl and woman's dress alongside a war bonnet...I love the colors.

An overcoat from 1800s made from buffalo hide.

A black mark on the history of the west.

When the wild west began, according to Standing Bear. Definitely worth reading.