HOMETOWN MYSTERIES (PART IV OF IV - OLD TRAIL TOWN)

As we’ve seen with all great stories we’ve heard or read, they must come to an end. Even the dustiest, unknown trail has a stopping point. This trail you have been on with me is no different as I prepare to tell you my final hometown mystery. This does not of course mean the end of the trail for History’s Mysteries, or even, more future hometown mysteries, but it does signify the end of this four-part series.

I have had such a great time learning so many in depth facets of my hometown history, and I had even more fun telling you my stories. I always knew my little town, with no hopes of ever being a sprawling metropolis (thank goodness), had rich culture and I was delighted to see it was even richer than I thought. One thing I think smaller towns possess over some big cities, is a sense of deep pride exhibited by all the residents. Cody, Wyoming continues to be proud of its heritage and cultures, and it has shown over the last century.

The town has always banded together to put on its best suit and put its best foot forward, while keeping to its old west roots without trying too hard. I’ve been to other towns where tourism is their main commodity and it often feels like there are two towns. 

There is the one town where locals live and detest the tourists, and the other town that is set up just for tourists and can be a bit over-the-top. Cody has always been one fluid town. Locals love to do the same activities as tourists, and the locals realize where their lifeblood is coming from. And what an honor it is having millions of people pass through every year to see things they have never seen before, and may never get to see again.

So, as I come to the end of this trail, I want to tell you about a rich, cultural and historic place in Cody. A place where history from all over the Big Horn Basin comes together to form a town inside a town. A place where you can literally step back in time. A place called, “Old Trail Town”.

Just off the Yellowstone highway on the far western outskirts of Cody, sits Old Trail Town. With the looming giants of Rattlesnake and Cedar Mountains distantly standing at the end of its boardwalks, and picturesque Heart Mountain behind it. Aside from the always breathtaking views of the natural landscape, the feeling of stepping back in time is fairly amazing. Every time I visit Old Trail Town, I feel a little like Marty McFly in Back to the Future III, and I expect to actually see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Old Trail Town was founded in 1967 by a local historian and archeologist, Bob Edgar. Bob was a native of the Big Horn Basin and lived there until his death in 2012. Being a native of the area and loving it so much, he extensively explored the entire area. He even worked for almost a decade at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center before founding Old Trail Town. Through his exploration, he identified many artifacts and buildings that ran the risk of being forever lost to time. He saw the need to preserve these artifacts and the idea for Old Trail Town was born.

Old Trail Town was definitely meant to be, as the land Bob Edgar secured for the site, is the very place where Buffalo Bill and his associates first surveyed the area as the future town of Cody. The wonderful part of Old Trail Town isn’t just the amazing artifacts, which includes a skeleton of an unknown Civil War veteran, but the museum itself is living history. Every building containing artifacts; is an artifact itself. The buildings and artifacts date from 1879-1901. The museum is open almost daily between May 15^th and September 30^th every year.

Many of the buildings are not just steeped in Cody history, but from all areas around the Big Horn Basin. Take for instance the entrance to Old Trail Town, the Marquette General Store. The general store comes from a small town named Marquette. Now, if you were to look at a modern map of Wyoming, you could search for hours and never run across Marquette because it doesn’t exist anymore.

George Marquette, also known as “Uncle” George Marquette, emigrated with his parents from Germany and settled in Ohio. He grew up there and then served in the Civil War. After the war was over, George ventured out west and ended up in the Big Horn Basin. 

George found an area of land that he thought would work well for homesteading and he became one of the first white settlers in the area that was once a Crow village. He built his homestead where the north and south forks of the Shoshone River converge. Soon after, others decided to settle in the area pioneered by George, and by 1891, the new town of Marquette got a post office.

Before long, the residents had erected a dance hall, barbershop, saloon and general store. George was often said to grace town functions with his fiddle playing and everyone loved it. George swerved as postmaster, justice of the peace, and coroner.

In 1906, Cody was founded and this effectively started a countdown for the town of Marquette. Soon after Cody was founded, the federal government saw how private irrigation was failing and the greater need for irrigation in Cody, and decided a dam would need to be built between Marquette and Cody. The Buffalo Bill Dam was completed in 1910 and the remnants of the town of Marquette were forever submerged beneath the present-day Buffalo Bill Reservoir. 

Some in the past have speculated that Marquette was a bustling metropolis and the residents were forced out of their homes. In reality, the town was only a few buildings and homes, most of which were transported to Cody, and the residents were compensated for their land. 

The federal government paid the residents of Marquette: $45 an acre for land growing alfalfa, $35 an acre for land growing grain, $20 an acre for unbroken ground with water rights, $7.50 an acre for grazing land along the river bottom, and $3.50 an acre for grazing land with no water. It may not seem like the residents were paid a lot of compensation, but remember that $45 in 1910 is equivalent to $1,105.68 today.

What would an old west story be without cowboys and Indians? There was once a Crow Scout named, Ashishishe (literally meaning, the Crow), or more commonly, Curley. Born in 1856, he eventually went on to work for the US Army as a scout during the Sioux Wars. He worked directly for General Custer and was witness to Custer’s Last Stand and one of the few survivors of The Battle for the Little Big Horn. He was gifted a cabin by the government and lived in it on the Crow Reservation in Montana from 1885 until his death from pneumonia in 1923.

There are many other buildings that were brought to Old Trail Town.

The Monument Hill Homestead Cabin built by homesteaders north of Cody in 1900.

The Coffin School which was built in 1884 at the W Bar Ranch on the Wood River. It got its name after the death of Alfred Nower, who succumbed to gangrene in the cabin after cutting his leg while hewing logs.

The Bonanza Post Office which was built in 1885 in the Bonanza settlement, one of the first settlements in the Big Horn Basin.

The Mud Spring Cabin which was built in 1897 and was used by Kid Curry and the Sundance Kid as a hideout before and attempted bank robbery in Red Lodge, Montana.

The Livery Barn which was built in 1890 in Clark’s Fork Canyon.

The Trappers Cabin which was built in Meeteetse in 1895.

The Home of the First Mayor of Cody. This cabin was built in 1897 for Frank Houx who was the first Mayor of Cody. He lived in the cabin until 1903. He eventually went on to be Secretary of State and Governor.

The Meeteetse Blacksmith Shop which was built in Meeteetse in 1898.

The Museum of the Old West which houses artifacts, a horse-drawn hearse from the late 1800’s, and prehistoric stone tools and Native American clothing and beadwork.

The Burlington Store built in 1897 on the Greybull River and later moved to Burlington to be used as a general store for several years.

The River’s Saloon built in 1888 at the mouth of the Wood River just west of present-day Meeteetse. It was frequented by cowboys, gold miners, and outlaws. Bullet holes can still be seen in the door and it is the oldest remaining saloon in northwest Wyoming.

The Taggart Carpenter Shop built in 1884 at the foot of Copper Mountain just east of Shoshoni. It was first used by Luther Morrison who was the first person to bring sheep to central Wyoming in 1882. He and his wife, Lacy, lived there from 1884-1886.

The Shell Store was the first store in the town of Shell, Wyoming in 1892.

The Hole-in-the-Wall Cabin is a two-room cabin that was built in Buffalo Creek in “Hole-in-the-Wall” country in 1883 by Alexander Ghent. This was a favorite meeting spot for outlaw such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, as well as others.

The Grainery built in 1898 in Lovell, Wyoming.

The Wood River Homestead which was built in 1899.

The Dry Creek Homestead Cabin built at the head of Dry Creek in 1900.

The Carter Cabin which was built by William Carter’s men on Carter Mountain. Carter first brought cattle to the Cody area and his foreman, Peter McCulloch needed to stay on the mountain to tend the cattle. He and his men lived in the ranch cabin from 1879-1900.

The Arland Cabin which was a residential cabin built at the Arland (Corbet Trading Post) on Cottonwood Creek. It was a trading center for hunters, trappers, and Native Americans from 1883 until Arland was closed.

As if the buildings weren’t impressive enough, Old Trail Town also possesses some of the finest Mountain Man Memorials and Monuments. These men are honored at Old Trail Town;

George Drouillard was a member of the Lewis & Clark expedition and returned to Cody area for fur trade in 1809. He also supplied information that led to the first maps of the area.

Jedadiah Smith was a fur trader and trapper from 1820-1860.

John Colter was a member of the Lewis & Clark expedition and returned to Cody in 1807. He informed the Crow that there was a fur trading post at the mouth of the Big Horn River so they could trade buffalo hides.

Jim Bridger who was a renowned mountain man and was also known as “Old Gabe”. He pioneered Bridger Trail through the Big Horn Basin to the gold fields of Montana and worked from about 1820-1860.

There are monuments built for these men on the Old Trail Town premises.

There are also a number of graves, with actual bodies in them on the site of Old Trail Town. These graves weren’t originally here, but were relocated as part of the archeological preservation activities of Bob Edgar. These graves include;

Jeremiah “Liver-Eatin’” Johnson who was born in 1824 and died in 1900. His grave was relocated to Old Trail Town on June 8^th, 1974 and over 2,000 people attended his re-burial making it the most attended funeral in Wyoming history. A movie starring Robert Redford was made about Jeremiah Johnson called “Jerimiah Johnson”. He was a trapper, hunter, woodhawk, army scout, marshal and Civil War Veteran.

Jim White “Buffalo Hunter” was born in 1828 and died in 1880. He was one of the foremost buffalo hunters in the Western Plains and mountains. He was reburied in Old Trail Town on May 6^th, 1979. In his career, he killed over 16,000 buffalo. He was killed when he was ambushed by thieves at his hunting camp on Shell Creek in the Big Horn Mountains. His grave, cabin and Sharp rifle are at Old Trail Town.

Jack Stilwell “Frontiersman” was born in 1850 and died in 1903. He was a scout and hunter best known for his heroism at Beecher Island in September 1868. He moved to Cody in 1897 to take care of Buffalo Bill’s affairs while Buffalo Bill was away with the Wild West Show. He was reburied in Old Trail Town on May 12^th, 1984.

Phillip Vetter was born in 1855 and died in 1892. He was a market hunter and a trapper and he built a cabin on Greybull River just above Meeteetse in 1890. He was killed by a grizzly bear in September of 1892 and was reburied in Old Trail Town on June 10^th, 1978.

W.A. Gallagher and Blind Bill were outlaws who were murdered in 1894 on Meeteetse Creek below the town of Arland. Both were reburied in Old Trail Town on December 17^th, 1978.

Belle Drewry “Woman in Blue” was murdered in Arland in 1897 and was reburied in Old Trail Town in 1986.

How did two outlaws and a murdered woman come to be reburied in Old Trail Town? It is an interesting story that involves all three.

In the late 1970’s, there was some construction work going on near Meeteetse Creek. Work was going along smoothly until the bulldozer operator hit what he thought was an old dynamite box, but soon realized it was longer, possibly the length of a coffin. Work stopped immediately and Bob Edgar was called in. He was busy working on building up more of Old Trail Town and was the local historian and archaeologist for all old graves and artifacts found in the area.

He found the remains of a man with some skin still intact. This man was about 6’4” tall and had a big mustache and long brown hair, and Bob Edgar knew immediately who the skeleton was. He didn’t need the usual proof to know as he had done history in this area all his adult life and knew the stories about the area.

He was perplexed however, because he knew there should be another body right by this body. He searched and searched, and was about to give up when part of the original hole gave way and another coffin was found. This coffin contained the remains of a man that was short, stocky and had a patch over his left eye.

After the discovery of the second body, Edgar knew without a doubt that he had found the remains of William A. Gallagher and Blind Bill Hoolihan. They were outlaws that would frequently ambush travelers and were involved in the original “soap opera” of the 19^th century.

Blind Bill and William Gallagher were good friends and outlaws together. When they came to the area, William Gallagher had brought a woman with him, Belle Drewry, otherwise known as the “Woman in Blue”. William Gallagher was described as a “mean, vicious and savage man” and this was evident when a new traveler came to town named Bill Weaton.

There wouldn’t have been any drama with this new arrival, but for the fact that he took a liking to Belle Drewry and William Gallagher saw red. He instantly became jealous and enraged with the cavorting of his Belle and this newcomer. To make matters worse, Belle seemed to want the advances and made moves back at Bill Weaton.

In March 1894, outside the post office in Arland, William Gallagher beat Belle severely, threw her to the ground, and kicked in several of her ribs. She was furious with him for this behavior and she conspired with Bill Weaton to get rid of William. She had Blind Bill get her a 6-Shooter and called a meeting with Bill Weaton and William. 

At the meeting, William continued to fight with Belle, and then proceeded to hold the two of them hostage with his own gun for two hours. Afterwards, he told Bill Weaton to come outside with him and as Weaton got up to leave, Belle slipped him her gun.

As William and Weaton were climbing a hill to go talk, Weaton, who was behind William, pulled out Belle’s gun and fired a shot into William’s head killing him instantly. When Blind Bill heard of this, he was so heart broken and angry that he was going to avenge the death of his fallen friend. He had written a letter to his father to let him know what was going on in case he didn’t make it back and he left his home. 

Just as he stepped out of his door, he was shot in the back by an unknown assailant. He was still alive and was able to crawl back into his cabin and pen another letter saying his goodbye’s.

After William Gallagher and Blind Bill’s murders, Bill Weaton was sentenced to prison. He was released from prison after serving four years and went looking for Belle. To his dismay, Belle had died a year before his release from prison. 

It turns out that Bell, who was a “lady of the night” for the town Madame, Rose Williams, had intervened with a rowdy saloon patron where she was working and she ended up shooting and killing him in self-defense. That same night, the dead saloon patron’s friend returned to Arland and murdered Belle Drewry.

It was a very tragic story, but so it was in the old west. 

This is the remarkable history of trail town that has been brought together for all to see and feel. This is a true piece of what the old west was and contrary to movies, it tells the tale of how living in that time was. From the mysteries of the town of Marquette to the murders of William Gallagher, Blind Bill Hoolihan and Belle Drewry, there is an essence of intrigue. There have also been reports of supernatural activity at Old Trail Town. What edifice that is more than 100 years old doesn’t have ghost stories?

There have been those that have investigated the potential hauntings of Old Trail Town and have video and audio evidence of shadow people, thudding on walls of various buildings, electronic voice phenomena, and people being touched.

Are the ghosts of the old west still roaming the boardwalks of Old Trail Town? I will let you be the judge of that as this goes down into the annals of History’s Mysteries.

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.