HOMETOWN MYSTERIES (PART I OF IV - IRMA HOTEL)

There are times when all of us, no matter where we are, look back to where we came from. For the majority of people, it is hopefully filled with happy memories that are held dear, of childhood homes and growing up, learning how to be an adult. I think that it is important to look back into one’s own history to at the very least reminisce, and hopefully to be able to pull some guidance to help when life throws its curve-balls.

I look back to my hometown with pride and happy memories. Sure, there are always the memories we wished we didn’t have, but those help to define us right along with the good memories. Some people that I have talked to throughout my life have stated that they couldn’t wait to leave their hometowns, but I had a different view of mine. 

Sure, I wanted to grow up and see where the world would take me, but I was happy growing up where I did and still revere my hometown as the place that made me.

So, I thought, “why not do a series for History’s Mysteries involving my hometown”. There are some reasons to do this. 

One, it’s a shout-out to my hometown and family and friends that still live there, two, I know a great deal about the town and so the writing will come easier, and three, it bolsters more pride for my hometown and let’s face it, everywhere in the world has a historical mystery of some type. I thought before I started this venture that it would be easy to whip up some narrative about my hometown and the mysteries, but, wouldn’t you know, I had to research just as much, if not more and there were many things I learned about things that were in my own backyard that I had never realized before. 

Isn’t it funny how we do that? I grew up for eighteen years in my hometown and never once have I sat through a whole performance of the nightly gunfight outside the Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming. I have never hiked through Cedar or Rattlesnake Mountains or toured the entire Buffalo Bill Historical Museum. I was able to develop more pride for my town through my research into many facets of its rich cultural and natural history.

There are many stories about Cody, Wyoming that I want to tell you, and for the sake of this blog post being shorter than a Stephen King novel, I have decided to split it into multiple posts. So, if you want to read all the stories about Cody that I am going to write, you will just have to stay tuned through all the posts. So, for those of you who haven’t been to Cody, I will give you some information about the town that will hopefully give you a visualization as you read the stories I will tell.

In 1894, William Frederick Cody (aka “Buffalo Bill") was visiting what is now Sheridan, Wyoming and a proposition was made. That proposition by the Sheridan businessmen was to develop a township in the northern Big Horn Basin region of Wyoming. While Buffalo Bill was accompanying the businessmen, they showed him the site of what they hoped would be the future town. Buffalo Bill was taken aback by the beauty and was eager to join forces with the businessmen to create a town. 

Other than the immense beauty of the area, Buffalo Bill could see the value of a town in such close proximity to Yellowstone National Park which was already attracting a record amount of tourists and was growing in tourism every year. He was also interested in the fact that there were great opportunities for hunting and fishing, and the ranching and farming that had a potential in the area. 

To make the area work for the ranching and farming however, they had to figure out a way to get enough water in the area to be viable. Luckily, the Shoshone River (named “The Stinking River” by the Crow Indians) was close by and being ever the driven type, Buffalo Bill was able to co-found the Shoshone Land and Irrigation Company in 1895.

Later in 1895, the plans for the town were moved two miles to the east due to some land disputes and unwillingness to sell. Shortly thereafter, construction of the Cody Canal began which was designed to carry water from the south fork of the Shoshone River. In May 1896, plans for were drawn up on the site of the present town of Cody.

Buffalo Bill was investing a great deal of money into the construction of the town and also the potential growth of the town. Soon after construction was under way, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad approached the founders with interest in bringing a spur of the railway from Montana. 

To ensure this business venture, Buffalo Bill’s company decided to sell a good amount of the land it owned to the railroad company and on November 11^th, 1901, the Cody Depot was opened.

In 1899, Buffalo Bill founded The Cody Enterprise, a newspaper that is still subscribed to all the way here in 2017. By 1900, the town had a population of roughly 300, and in 1901 it had reached enough population to become an incorporated town and the CB&Q railroad had completed its spur from Montana to Cody. 

Later, on November 18^th, 1911, Buffalo Bill opened the Irma Hotel and it was said to be the most modern hotel of the day in the entire Rockies. With the passage of the 1902 New Lands Reclamation Act created by the U.S. Reclamation Service, water rights were now available and Buffalo Bill assigned his water rights in 1904 to the reclamation service and the Buffalo Bill dam was planned and construction began. 

The town started to grow at a more rapid rate after the railroad was established and the dam was being constructed and in 1909 the Wyoming Legislature created Park County and made Cody its county seat and in 1911, the county was fully up and running. Another surge of population started in 1912 when oil was discovered in what is known as Oregon Basin and the population remained growing steadily until World War I.

Sadly, on January 10^th, 1917, Buffalo Bill died and immediately after, five of the most prominent members of the town created the Buffalo Bill Memorial Association. They raised the funds necessary for a memorial to Buffalo Bill and on July 4^th, 1924, the statue was dedicated and three years later the Buffalo Bill Museum.

Today Cody continues to be the seat of Park County and the census of 2010 put the population at around 9,520 permanent residents. It continues to be the East Gate to Yellowstone National Park and the main industry, as Buffalo Bill could foresee, is tourism, followed by oil and gypsum. Cody is comprised of 10.43 square miles with 10.20 square miles of land and 0.23 square miles of water. 

The elevation of Cody is roughly 5,016 feet with the main part of the town divided into three levels with a 60-foot difference between them. The Shoshone River flows through Cody in a fairly deep canyon and the whole town is located at the western edge of the Big Horn Basin which is surrounded by the Big Horn, Owl Creek, Bridger and Absoraka mountain ranges. 

The deep canyon formed by the Shoshone River provides the only passage to Yellowstone National Park’s East Entrance. The entire town has an amazing view of the picturesque Heart Mountain.

The town has continued themes of pioneer, Cowboy and Western history in the cultural events and activities. What started out as the Buffalo Bill Museum is now comprised of five comprehensive museums in the same complex and includes; the Draper Natural History Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum and the Buffalo Bill Museum. 

The complex used to be named the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and now has been dubbed The Buffalo Bill Center of the West and it is one of the favorite stopping point for tourists visiting the town or just passing through on their way to Yellowstone.

Rodeo goes deep in the roots of Cody and is still embedded in the culture. Dubbed “The Rodeo Capital of the World”, Cody has a nightly rodeo with amateur cowboys and cowgirls every night from June 1^st through August 31^st. On July 1^st-4^th, the Rodeo hosts the Cody Stampede and brings in the most professional and famous Rodeo personalities in the country and the world, and it is one of the largest Rodeo’s in the nation on Independence Day and has been so every year since 1919.

I could literally go on and on with all of the interesting facts about historic and modern day Cody, and believe me, having grown up in the town, I know a lot. Not as much as I did before my research, but a great deal nonetheless. So, it is time to start talking about the mysteries from the area that I have selected to write about, and believe me they are fun and have some paranormal aspects to them that add to the mystery and intrigue. I have decided that the first mystery I want to tell you about involves an iconic building in the town, and that would be none other than the Irma Hotel.

With Buffalo Bill living in Cody, was his youngest daughter, Irma Cody. He decided that he wanted to do something grand to honor her because he loved her so much. So in 1902, Buffalo Bill commissioned the Irma hotel to be built on the main street of town and he was quoted saying that it is “just the sweetest hotel that ever was”. 

When he first built the hotel, he had a vision that it would appeal to a variety of worldly types including; Yellowstone visitors, big game hunters, tourists, and of course, as always, businessmen who were involved in the likes of ranching, mining and various other business ventures. Building a hotel has definitely got its perks, and Buffalo Bill was able to have two suites set aside for his personal use, as well as a personal office. He planned to have all travelers stay at his establishments which included the Irma Hotel, Wapiti Inn and Pahaska Teepee.

The Irma Hotel is part of the National Park registry of historical places. The hotel was designed by Alfred Wilderman Woods who was originally a church architect. Some exterior walls are made of river rock and sandstone quarried from the local Beck Lake. The fireplace is made of rocks, ores, minerals and fossils brought from all around the Big Horn Basin. 

The Irma Hotel also boasts a beautiful Cherrywood bar (constructed in France) which was gifted by Queen Victoria and the entire royal family due to Buffalo Bill’s international shows and the acclaim he had received. The hotel was built in three installments, with the first part being constructed in 1902, the second part in 1929 (Northwest section), and the third part in 1976-1977 (Southwest section). 

The current dining room that is still in use today was originally the saloon and billiards room. When the hotel was originally constructed, it had forty rooms and each room is named for a historical character from Buffalo Bill’s time, including Buffalo Bill himself. His name is still on his old historic suite. 

Buffalo Bill financed construction of the Irma Hotel from proceeds at his Wild West Shows and he even held auditions for his Wild West Show near the hotel. In 1913, Buffalo Bill signed over the hotel to his estranged wife, Louisa due to their divorce settlement. After Buffalo Bill’s death in 1917, the hotel went to Barney Link in a foreclosure and he sold it back to Louisa and she remained in the hotel until her death in 1925.

The main attraction nightly in the summer in the street right outside the west side of the hotel is the gunfight. The entire street is cordoned off nightly to accommodate the spectacle and it is viewed by thousands every year. The nightly gunfight isn’t the only attraction, however. There are said to be spirits that inhabit the hotel and have been seen over the years by numerous people.

The Entity of Irma

In room 16 of the Irma Hotel there is said to be sightings of an apparition that is thought to be that of Irma Cody herself. She reportedly likes to visit the guests who stay in her room and can often be seen sitting in her favorite spot that is occupied by a rocking chair and she seems to be happy and non-threatening.

Colonel Cody’s Hallway

There is a hallway that runs outside of the Colonel Cody Room and it is reportedly an active spot. Footsteps can be heard going up and down the hallway in the middle of the night. Loud knocking in the hallway is also reported as it often wakes up the guests occupying rooms in that hallway.

The Entity of Buffalo Bill

It is said that Buffalo Bill has been seen in multiple spots in the hotel. He has been seen by a server who was setting up the dining room (previously the saloon and billiards room) for an event. The server looked over and saw the face of Buffalo Bill watching him from the long mirror behind the counter. The server was frightened and ran out of the room, but it is reported that Buffalo Bill is only watching that work is done correctly and doesn’t interfere. 

He has also been reported to visit is old suite and will pick on women who have a resemblance to his previous wife, Louisa.

The Entity of the Confederate Soldier

It has been reported that throughout the oldest part of the hotel there is an entity of a Confederate soldier that watches people, but is never menacing.

The Entity of the Sour, Former Bully/Killer Guest

There is some historical reference to a previous guest of the hotel that was very cruel to people and bullied everyone from staff to other patrons of the hotel. He was even reported to hang people off his suite balcony with his belt, supposedly killing some. He has been felt by guests and others investigating the hauntings, and it is generally a menacing feeling. He has also appeared briefly to some guests and will often talk to paranormal investigators in the form of EVP’s (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).

(I would like to cite the following sources from my research; www.hauntedhouses.com/states/wy/cody-irma-hotel.htm, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody%2C_Wyoming, and www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/cody-wyoming).

I have tried hard to make sure that I am using all photographs by permission. If I have used a photograph or other images that are not permissible, please let me know and I will take them down immediately.