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| Final approach to the Bighorn Medicine Wheel |
Buffalo, Wyoming
Just before the Denver trip, I read a book by Louis L'Amour called,
Bendigo Shafter. The book took place in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. Near the end of the book, the hero, Bendigo helped an elderly native man reach the Medicine Wheel, which was an ancient stone circle made by pre-historic native peoples. The wheel itself has been dated at over 3000 years old but archaeological evidence suggests that this has been a sacred site for over 7000 years.
When our plans changed in Denver, I looked up the Medicine Wheel and realized that with only a slight detour, we could visit there. I think we added an hour or maybe two to our trip to get to the site. The detour took us through Buffalo, Wyoming. We figured we would need to spend the night there. When I was looking up accommodations I saw that there was a quaint little cabin motel left over from that wonderful time of motor travel after World War II. Our country had spent a decade in The Great Depression and then half a decade in World War II. When the war ended, American industry had boomed during the war and an era of unprecedented prosperity for almost all Americans followed. Little cabin motels sprang up all over the west and especially near tourist sites.
The Blue Gables Motel was one of those.
When I was a boy, my parents bought a cabin motel in West Yellowstone, Montana called The Yelo-Pine Motel. For me, staying in an old cabin motel was nostalgic. The Hot Chick had never stayed in one before. We are an adventurous lot and enjoy unique experiences. If you like creature comforts and insist on staying in a five star hotel, then this is not for you. If you enjoy having unique experiences and don't mind a little rustic living, then you should try it out. As for me, I enjoyed the whole experience there.
We ate at The Bozeman Trail Steakhouse which felt pretty authentic, since this part of Wyoming was an historic area for cattle barons and rustlers and land wars of the old west. More on that later. After dinner, we went back to the motel and the proprietor had a fire going in the firepit in the common area. I sat out with other guests for awhile and enjoyed the fire and the company.
The room wasn't anything special, other than being a cabin motel. The floor was uneven and the bed was okay. The bathroom was small. And I was in nostalgia heaven. It hearkened back to a more relaxed time, both for me and the country. I would stay there again. Five Stars
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| The Blue Gables Motel. Motel stands for Motor Hotel. Didn't know if you knew that or not |
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| Pretty rustic |
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| And small. I love the knotty pine paneling. I had that same kind of paneling in my bedroom when I lived in the Yelo-Pine Motel |
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| The Hot Chick in front of our cabin |
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| They knew I was coming |
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| The half round knotty pine logs added to the ambiance |
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| It was really enjoyable. Virtually no creature comforts. DID NOT CARE. I really enjoyed staying there |
Johnson County War
From 1889 to 1893, Buffalo, Wyoming and the surrounding area was part of a legendary range war. In fact it was the last range war in the waning years of the old way, the old west. There were cattle barons and poor settlers. The cattle barons believed they had all the range rights and all the water rights. The settlers also had claims on the range and the water. The cattle barons decided that the settlers (squatters) were rustling their cattle. That was a hangin' offense in the old west. The barons hanged a man and a wife and accused them of thievery and prostitution. That sent shockwaves through the community.
The barons are referred to in history as the WSGA (Wyoming Stock Growers Association). The smaller ranchers formed their own organization called the NWFSGA (Northern Wyoming Farmers and Stock Growers Association.) Their leader was a man called Nate Champion. His story is the stuff of legend.
The WSGA identified about seventy people who needed to die and hired 45 or 50 gunmen from Texas and other places. Nate Champion was on the hitlist. The gunmen are known to history as "The Invaders." Champion had survived an assassination attempt five months earlier. He was the first target for the Invaders. Champion and three other men were holed up at the KC ranch when the invaders arrived. Two of the men were captured as they emerged to get water in the morning. The third was shot as he emerged and Champion dragged him back into the building. He died several hours later.
Champion kept a running diary of his ordeal that is poignant and sad. He couldn't cover every angle all the time, and the bullets hitting his cabin sounded like hail. One of his last entries mentioned that they were getting ready to fire the house. He put his diary in his pocket, and with the house engulfed in flames, ran out with a pistol in one hand and a rifle in the other. The invaders mercilessly gunned him down. They left a note pinned to his bullet riddled chest as a warning to the other people on the hitlist.
One of the other people on the hitlist had passed by the KC ranch and saw what was happening, was fired upon by the invaders and led some of them on a merry chase. When he got to Buffalo, he raised a posse of 200 men, most of whom were veterans of the United States Civil War or the more recent Indian Wars. These were not simple farmers who cowered in fear of flashy gunmen in silk shirts. These were hard men who had survived hard times. The posse cornered the Invaders and the WSGA at the TA Ranch. Those silk shirts didn't help The Invaders. Several of them decided that the hazard pay wasn't enough and tried to flee. They were shot to death as they did. A local blacksmith quickly made a bullet proof covering for a wagon, dubbed the "Ark of Safety", and they were preparing to roll the wagon close to the farmhouse and throw dynamite into it.
One of The Invaders escaped and went to the fort and wired the governor for help. The governor wired President Benjamin Harrison. President Harrison sent the sixth cavalry to end the siege. They arrived just in time because the "Ark of Safety" was just about to have it's maiden voyage. The cavalry negotiated an end to the siege and took The Invaders into custody. In the end, almost none of The Invaders nor any of the WSGA faced justice for their crimes.
As a side note, one of The Invaders dropped his gun from his bucking horse, and the rifle discharged, striking him in the leg. He made it to the safety of the fort but died a few days later from gangrene. Another of The Invaders died after his gun accidentally discharged and struck him in the groin. I'm pretty sure they don't let you into heaven if you die that way.
In Buffalo, Wyoming there is a local museum that has many artifacts from the range war. We went, and we enjoyed our time there, but I will not write a review, as they wouldn't allow pictures to be taken on the inside. It's worth seeing. It's interesting to spend a couple of hours reviewing the local history. Buffalo, Wyoming has had a colorful history. The TV series Longmire is set there. Less talk, more rock. Picture time. These are all the photos I was allowed to take.
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| Nate Champion |
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| Base of the statue |
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| Looks heroic like this |
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| On the museum grounds |
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| The old apothecary which became the museum |
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| Original school yard fence and gate from Buffalo, Wyoming. |
Medicine Wheel Passage Scenic Byway
Between Burgess Junction and Lovell, Wyoming is a 47 mile scenic byway. The byway travels up over mountain passes, and in the middle of the route is a turnoff for The Bighorn Medicine Wheel. I will talk about the road in this section and will devote the last section to the Medicine Wheel, since it is the main event. I will do it this way even though the Medicine Wheel is in the middle of the route.
There isn't much to say about the route except that it is quite pretty. The road follows traditional migration paths of the early Native Americans. The elevation of the road is between 9000 and 10,000 feet above sea level. The air is thin and the scenery is beautiful. I think I'm just going to show pictures and talk about them in the captions
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| Note the red rock layers in the center of the picture. I am pretty sure this is a syncline |
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| The road gained elevation rapidly with switchbacks |
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| More of the same |
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| This is close to the 9000 foot level |
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| Next time when we come, I think I'll hike up to that |
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| Up above the tree line, tundra |
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| The air was thin |
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| Cairns on the mountain |
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| I did hike over to these |
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| Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran |
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| Right at tree level |
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| Somewhere close to Medicine Wheel |
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| This is at a park past Medicine Wheel, heading west |
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| Close to the end of the scenic byway |
Bighorn Medicine Wheel
At about the halfway mark on the scenic byway, there is a dirt side road to a parking area for the
Bighorn Medicine Wheel. There is a small ranger station there. This site is administered by the USDA and the National Forest Service rather than the National Park Service. The site is sacred to many of the Native Tribes, especially the northern plains tribes. When you visit, there is a possibility that a Native American ceremony could be taking place. If that is the case, you are asked to stay back, to be respectful, and let the people worship and to not take photographs. This is a reasonable request.
The hike is about a mile and a half round trip. There is very little elevation gain, but if you are not acclimated to 9000 feet of elevation above sea level, it can be a little taxing. The air is thin at that elevation. When you get to the circle, you will see pits or quarries where the limestone was dug up for the creation of the circle. This is by far the most famous of the thousands of such circles all across the plains and the mountains of the west.
There is a fence all around the Medicine Circle and a paved walkway around that. There is access to the actual circle, but that is reserved for native peoples when they are worshiping. There is no access for other people. That is a good thing, because in the early part of the 20th century the circle was vandalized. The central hub of the circle had been about six feet tall at that time. Now it is about a foot to a foot and a half tall. Something that had stood in place for 3000 years knocked over and destroyed by stupid people. I guess you can tell how I feel about vandalism.
For me, at a site like this, I find it easy to feel reverent. Even though I do not share all the same beliefs with the native peoples, I respect them and honor those who understand their place in the cosmos. I hope other people would give me the same respect for my beliefs. We are asked not to disturb offerings that are left at these sacred sites. I have a friend who is a member of the Lakota tribe and I asked him once if it was okay to photograph the offerings left by the people in their worship. He said it was fine if I were to be respectful. I hope I have never broken that trust. Here are the photos.
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| Interpretive materials |
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| The trail over to the Medicine Wheel |
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| Rock formations along the way |
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| Looking out over the valley |
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| More rock formations |
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The Hot Chick at the final stop before the ascent to the Medicine Wheel. This is where you are asked to wait in the event
that people are performing ceremonies at the Bighorn Medicine Wheel |
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| My totem animal |
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| One of the quarries |
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| Another of the quarries |
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| The Medicine Wheel |
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| Smaller rings around the outside of the wheel with offerings inside |
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| Another small ring |
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| Another small ring |
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| This image gives the context of the smaller rings along the outside |
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| More offerings |
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| This place feels sacred to me |
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| Prayer offerings out on the edge of this rock outcropping. The drop is about a thousand feet on the other side |
I was thankful we took the northern route instead of the southern route on this trip. Seeing the Medicine Wheel was a very solemn experience for me. I felt the same reverence her that I feel when I visit a church of a different denomination than my own. I felt the same kind of sanctity here that I felt when I walked around the Via Dolorosa in a Catholic cathedral. People trying to be better people through belief. I have a hard time finding any fault with that.
We left the Medicine Wheel and headed to Lovell and then to Cody, and finally through Yellowstone to Highway 20 and ultimately to our home. We didn't stop after the scenic byway, it had been a long trip and we were anxious to be home to sleep in our own bed. We gauge our level of tired at the end of a trip by what it would take for us to stop and take pictures. I would have stopped for Bighorn Sheep butting heads. That's about it. This was a wonderful trip, from the beginning to the end. Epic.
August 2019: Epic Roadtrip Part I: Denver and The Rolling Stones
August 2019: Epic Roadtrip Part II: Rocky Mountain National Park
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