Buffalo, WY Summary

Buffalo’s primary businesses are beef and oil, and its population of 3,900 caters mainly to the local ranches. Seated in the high plains of Johnson County at the junction of I-90 and I-25, Buffalo was once the center of the West’s most bitter disagreements between cattle barons and settlers, which led to the Johnson County War in 1892.

Buffalo is still a cow town. Main Street features many late-Victorian fa\347ades. The Johnson County Courthouse, the Gatchell Drugstore, and the former Occidental Hotel are reflections of the Old West. The hotel was also the setting of the climactic shoot-out scene in Owen Wister’s novel \”The Virginian.\” The Jim Gatchell Museum on Main Street is also worth a visit.

Fifteen miles north of the town is Fort Phil Kearny State Historical Site. The fort was built in 1866 to protect settlers along the Bozeman Trail; today only a memorial and a cemetery stand with the charred remnants of the former outpost.

North of Hwy 87 is the Fetterman Battle Site, a tribute to Captain William Fetterman’s cavalry who were annihilated by the Sioux.

Twenty miles from town is the less significant Wagon Box Monument, and the Hole-in-the-Wall, south along State Route 190, where the sharp red-hued rocks served as the hideout for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Buffalo hosts the Bozeman Trail Days, a three-day historic, music and chuckwagon venue held in late June. Other events include Powder River Roundup (also in June) and the Johnson County Fair and Rodeo (in August). The nearest airport is in Sheridan, 32 miles north via I-90. Airport shuttle service is available.