Art and history meet on the route from Bighorn Basin through Powder River Basin to Casper.

 

Master artists have long been drawn to the scenic beauty and cultural richness of Wyoming. In 1871 Thomas Moran took part in the survey expedition led by F. V. Hayden that explored the region that would become Yellowstone National Park.

Sketches and paintings by Moran plus photographs by William Henry Jackson were used to demonstrate to Congress the splendor and geological features of the area, leading to establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872.

Moran’s painting, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, in the style of the Hudson River School artists, is an idealized view of the spectacular canyon, but it certainly helped Congress understand the region and the importance of the natural area.

Congress bought that painting in 1872 for $10,000 (in 2025 money that is about $258,693) and displayed it in the U.S. Capitol. Since 1950 the painting has been part of the collection of the U.S. Department of Interior and is displayed at the department’s museum in Washington, D.C.

Albert Bierstadt, a contemporary of Moran and Hayden, another Hudson River School painter, also came to Wyoming and the West in the mid-1800s, later painting large landscapes that are known worldwide.

The Whitney Art Gallery at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody recently acquired Wind River Country, Wyoming, which Bierstadt painted in about 1860. It is part of a trio of works depicting the grandeur of Wyoming’s Wind River Mountain Range. It is similar in size and subject matter to Bierstadt’s Island Lake, Wind River Range, Wyoming, which is also a part of the Whitney Gallery collection.

This year the Whitney Gallery is also showing a recently acquired one-of-a-kind Andy Warhol serigraph portrait of General George Armstrong Custer. Additional pieces by Thom Ross and Kevin Red Star are part of the display of works by modern artists.

Paul Andrew Hutton has departed his position as emeritus professor of history at the University of New Mexico, culminating a 48-year college teaching career, to take over as the director of the Buffalo Bill Museum—finally making the move up to God’s Country—Cody, Wyoming!

With Paul, a longtime contributor to True West, at the helm, watch for a refresh of the Buffalo Bill Museum to strengthen it thematically, and for a pop culture exhibit about the quintessential showman himself—Buffalo Bill.

While in Cody learn about local history at the Cody Heritage Museum or do some shooting at the Cody Firearms Experience.

Art of a different type is on display at the Brinton Museum, located near Bighorn. In addition to sculptures and paintings, the museum has an extensive collection of Northern Plains items ranging from war shirts and bonnets to moccasins and cradleboards.

In nearby Sheridan, explore the cowboy roots and saddle-making traditions of the area at King Ropes and Kings Saddlery Museum or visit Trail End State Historic Site, the home of Wyoming Governor and Senator John B. Kendrick. The iconic Sheridan Inn once served as a headquarters for Buffalo Bill Cody to recruit riders for his Wild West show.

The Occidental Hotel in Buffalo is one of Wyoming’s oldest hotels. In addition to richly appointed lodging rooms, a Victorian parlor and lobby with a gift shop, the Occidental Bar is still the place to be on Thursday nights for a round-robin sharing of music that ranges from songs of the cowboys to the music of the Basques, who settled this area of Wyoming, and you might even hear some blues. It all depends who shows up to play on any given Thursday night.

Both ranch and Indian history dominate the region between Sheridan and Casper.

In the 1860s, about the time Bierstadt was painting Wind River Country, Red Cloud and the Lakotas with their Cheyenne and Arapaho allies fought to retain the Powder River Basin as their traditional lands. They deterred gold-seekers who followed the Bozeman Trail north into Montana and then repelled the military in what became known as the First Sioux War (or Red Cloud’s War) of 1866-68.

The Indians won most of the engagements, forcing the military to withdraw from Fort Phil Kearny (located just north of Buffalo) and two other forts that had been built along the trail. You can learn more about the events associated with the Indian War period by visiting the Jim Gatchell Museum in Buffalo, the recreated Fort Phil Kearny, north of Buffalo, and battle sites including the location of the Fetterman Massacre, not far from Fort Phil Kearny, and the Wagon Box Fight near Story.

Cattlemen had their own battles here in April 1892 during the Johnson County Invasion, when an armed brigade of Wyoming cowmen and their hired guns from Texas and Idaho rode north out of Casper, and encountered Nate Champion and Nick Ray at the KC Ranch.

Two other men safely escaped the attack by the cattlemen, before Ray was gunned down, leaving Champion alone in the cabin. He wrote in a small notebook, “Boys, I feel pretty lonesome just now. I wish there was someone here with me so we could watch all sides at once. They may fool around until I get a good shot before they leave.”

But as we know, Champion did not get his good shot and therefore died just outside the cabin.

After killing Ray and Champion, the cattlemen and their hired guns rode north, but made it only to the TA Ranch where they were under siege themselves after townspeople from Buffalo learned of the invasion and put up their own defensive force. It took the action of Wyoming Governor Amos Barber, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison, and the 9th Cavalry stationed at Fort McKinney (near Buffalo) to rescue the cattlemen and take them into custody. Although they were charged, none was ever tried for incidents associated with the invasion.

In Casper, visit the Nicolaysen Art Museum, which has contemporary art and rotating exhibits; Fort Caspar, which depicts military and Indian war history, or see the murals painted by World War II-era artists on the walls of the officers’ club that now serves as the Wyoming Veteran’s Memorial Museum.

There is plenty of both art and history on this route from the Bighorn Basin through the Powder River Basin to Casper.

Candy Moulton was the 2023 True Westerner. She makes her home in Wyoming.