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Bed & Breakfast Inns and Ranches of Wyoming |
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Cowboys & Cattle Kings |
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Ride the range with
Wyoming’s small time cowboys and experience the grandeur of ranching’s glory
days. Start your road trip in Cheyenne, once home to the European
aristocrats who owned Wyoming’s big ranches. Stops in Douglas, Kaycee,
Buffalo, and Sheridan highlight the realities that led to the Johnson County
War of 1892 – pitting Cheyenne’s cattle kings against little ranchers trying
to make a start. The suggested itinerary has you on the road no more than four hours each day, leaving you time to explore each of the sites. |
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| Day 1:
Cheyenne to Douglas Influences of the monied European aristocrats who called Cheyenne home during the 1880's can be glimpsed throughout the city. The Wyoming Capitol building boasts lovely cherry staircases and stained glass ceilings by Tiffany. Nagle Warren mansion takes you back to the opulent lifestyle of one prominent Wyoming family. If you have time, admire some of the historic buildings downtown - St. Mark's Episcopal Church, First United Methodist Church, and the old Union Pacific Depot. The road north takes you past sleepy Chugwater, once headquarters of the enormous Swan Land and Cattle Company which stretched over nearly a million acres of land and ran 110,000 head of cattle. |
Capitol Building Capitol Avenue & 24th Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00 307.777.7220
Nagle Warren Mansion B&B
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
First United Methodist Church
Union Pacific Depot |
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| Day 2:
Douglas to Buffalo Before leaving Douglas, visit the excellent displays at the Wyoming Pioneer Museum and stop by the Morton Mansion, home to another Wyoming cattle baron. Be sure to plan for some time at Kaycee’s Hoofprints of the Past Museum displaying artifacts from early settlers, outlaws, and the Johnson County War. Stop just south of Kaycee at the site of the KC Ranch where rancher / rustler Nate Champion held off the massed Johnson County War invaders for most of a day. |
Wyoming Pioneer
Museum Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00 Sat 1:00-5:00 summer only 307.358.9288
Morton Mansion B&B
Hoofprints of the Past Museum |
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Day 3: Buffalo to Sheridan Buffalo was the unofficial headquarters of the small rancher faction. Start your day at the Jim Gatchell Museum of the West, a wonderful place to immerse yourself in Johnson County War memorabilia. Many of the informative exhibits still contain under-currents of local sentiment. The bronze ranchers on Main Street capture the drama of this era. Your next stop takes you to the other corner of the ring - Sheridan. |
Jim Gatchell Museum Fort & Main Mon-Fri 9:00-4:00 May - November 307.684.9331 |
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Day 4: Sheridan Sheridan was born during the cattle boom, a town brought to life by aristocratic cattle barons. Remnants of this upper class heritage can be found at the Kendrick mansion, preserved as the Trail End Historic Center, and in the wonderful architecture of the historic Sheridan Inn, whose prominent guests included Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Hoover. The present Bradford Brinton Memorial Museum in the nearby hamlet of Big Horn was built by the aristocratic Scottish brothers William and Malcolm Moncreiffe as headquarters for their Quarter Circle A Ranch. Bradford Brinton, a wealthy gentleman from Chicago, bought the Moncreiffe ranch in the 1920's, enlarged it and filled it to overflowing with a spectacular collection of Western art. You might also want to tour the King Saddlery Museum featuring over 500 saddles and other western, cowboy, and Native American artifacts. If time permits, drive a few miles north to Ranchester and visit the Historic Old Stone House B&B. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, this large 1899 stone house was built for cattle baron and Wyoming Senator Samuel H. Hardin on ten acres of his most scenic ranch land overlooking the beautiful Tongue River valley. |
Trail End
Historic Center 400 Clarendon Ave 9:00-6:00 summer various winter hours 307.674.4589
Sheridan Inn
Bradford Brinton Museum
King Saddlery Museum
Historic Old Stone House |
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