After Church and breakfast out we went to The Buffalo Bill Center of the west. Huge place. Five different museums inside. First the gun exhibit. Some were on loan from the Smithsonian. More guns in one place than I have seen in my whole life. I saw guns belonging to Ernest Hemingway and President Coolidge and even General Patton's M-1 semi. Another 1886 gattling gun mounted on a army wagon. They sure look wicked. Went out into the sculpture gardens to enjoy a show about raptors. All these birds had been injured in some way and could not be released into the wild. A tiny lttle 4 oz. Kistel is the smallest raptor. Raptors eyes are 8 times stronger than humans. I ended up really admiring the turkey vulture. He is one of the largest raptor type birs. He was found at two weeks and is human implanted and is afraid of other birds. The ph level in his stomach is zero and is 4 times stronger than battery acid. Vultures are being studied because after eating anything with aids, anthrax and other deadly things, their droppings had no traces left of those diseases. To defend themselves they project vomit. That must be awful. I sure don't want to upset a vulture. They can soarfor 6 hours and smell dead stuff a couple miles away. Surprisingly they are very clean birds and just have a bab reputation. The last was a great horned owl. Can lift twice its weight while hunting. Favorite food is skunk but hunts mice, rabbits and even small dogs or cats.
Went next into the Plains indian museum. Wonderful exhibits. Tipis (always erected by women) bearclaw and eagle talon necklaces, and lots od incredible bead work. Lots of things for me to write to the kids at Drews school.
Went back to guns and saw folding rifles, miniature copies of guns. Even Olympic rifles used for target shooting. Some of the rifles were so long I don't know how they held them up.
I went into the Buffalo Bill exhibit A d saw a lot of his belongings. Pony express equiptment and learned they would try to ride 15 miles an hour.Annie Oakley exhibit and the Deadwood stage from the wild west traveling show. Carved tree from Camp Moraco where Buffalo Bill entertained the Prince for two weeks of hunting. Buffalo Bill even had a folding bath tub. I even saw Cmors Grandfather. There was a wheel of fortune from Buffalo Bill's Irma Hotel, named after his youngest daughter.
Next on to Old Trail Town. A state owned towm made up of buildings brought from all over Wyoming. I was not open to the public for two more weeks but I met the manager and he opened the gate for me. Very nice man. At the end of town was a small cemetary with about 7 or 8 graves that had been moved there. One was extra weird. Jerimiah (liver eating ) Johnston. He was married to an Indian woman who was pregnant and was killed by a group of Indians. He took revenge by hunting indians and eating their livers. Supposedly he was once captured and killed his guard and ate his leg. I sure hope none of you are having lunch right now. I walked all around town looking at stuff including how well the boardwalks were supported underneath. Finished my tour by going to visit the manager and his dog Deke at his home. Then back to our camp for a well deserved rest. hugs from Jr. P.S. sorry about the vulture and Jeremiah story but I thought it was interesting. Maybe I need to print a warning next time..
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