Editing Buffalo Bill (section)

== Life in Cody, Wyoming ==
[[File:BUFFALO BILL.JPG|thumb|Playing card signed by Buffalo Bill]]
In 1895, Cody was instrumental in the founding of the town of [[Cody, Wyoming|Cody]], the seat of [[Park County, Wyoming|Park County]], in northwestern [[Wyoming]]. Today the Old Trail Town museum is at the center of the community and commemorates the traditions of Western life. Cody first passed through the region in the 1870s. He was so impressed by the development possibilities from irrigation, rich soil, grand scenery, hunting, and proximity to [[Yellowstone Park]] that he returned in the mid-1890s to start a town. Streets in the town were named after his associates: Beck, Alger, Rumsey, Bleistein, and Salsbury. The town was incorporated in 1901.

In November 1902, Cody opened the [[Irma Hotel]], named after his daughter. He envisioned a growing number of tourists coming to Cody on the recently opened Burlington rail line. He expected that they would proceed up Cody Road, along the north fork of the Shoshone River, to visit Yellowstone Park. To accommodate travelers, Cody completed the construction of the Wapiti Inn and [[Pahaska Tepee]] in 1905 along Cody Road<ref>[[Kensel, W. Hudson]] (1987). ''Pahaska Tepee, Buffalo Bill's Old Hunting Lodge and Hotel, A History, 1901–1946''. Buffalo Bill Historical Center.</ref> with the assistance of the artist and rancher [[Abraham Archibald Anderson]].

Cody established the [[T E Ranch Headquarters|TE Ranch]], located on the south fork of the Shoshone River about thirty-five miles from Cody. When he acquired the TE property, he stocked it with cattle sent from Nebraska and South Dakota. The new herd carried the TE brand. The late 1890s were relatively prosperous years for the ''Wild West'' show, and he bought more land to add to the ranch. He eventually held about eight thousand acres ({{frac|12|1|2}} square miles; 32 square kilometers) of private land for grazing operations and ran about a thousand head of cattle. He operated a [[dude ranch]], pack-horse camping trips, and big-game hunting business at and from the TE Ranch. In his spacious ranch house, he entertained notable guests from Europe and America.

Cody founded the local newspaper, ''[[The Cody Enterprise]]'', in 1899 with Col. John Peake.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.codyenterprise.com/site/about.html/ |website=The Cody Enterprise |access-date=July 25, 2022}}</ref>

Cody published his autobiography, ''The Life and Adventures of Buffalo Bill'', in 1879.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.nypl.org/branch/staten/index2.cfm?Trg=1&d1=1391 |title= Staten Island on the Web: Famous Staten Islanders| website= NYPL.org| publisher= [[New York Public Library]]| date= | access-date= }}</ref> Another autobiography, ''The Great West That Was: "Buffalo Bill's" Life Story'', was serialized in ''[[Hearst's International Magazine]]'' from August 1916 to July 1917.<ref name= Russell-Lives /> and ghostwritten by [[James J. Montague]].<ref>{{cite book| first= Richard H. |last= Montague| title= Memory Street| year= 1962| publisher= | isbn= }}</ref> It contained several errors, in part because it was completed after Cody's death in January 1917.<ref name= Russell-Lives /> It was accompanied by illustrations by [[N. C. Wyeth]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Brandywine Heritage |date=1971 |publisher=The Brandywine River Museum |isbn=978-0912416014 |location=Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania |page=45}}</ref>

=== Irrigation ===
[[Larry McMurtry]], along with historians such as R. L. Wilson, asserted that at the turn of the 20th century, Cody was the most recognizable celebrity on Earth.<ref name="Wilson" /> While Cody's show brought an appreciation for the Western and American Indian cultures, he saw the [[American West]] change dramatically during his life. Bison herds, which had once numbered in the millions, were threatened with extinction. Railroads crossed the plains, [[barbed wire]], and other types of fences divided the land for farmers and ranchers, and the once-threatening Indian tribes were confined to reservations. [[Wyoming]]'s coal, [[Petroleum|oil]] and natural gas were beginning to be exploited toward the end of his life.<ref name="Wilson" />

The [[Shoshone River]] was dammed for [[hydroelectric power]] and [[irrigation]]. In 1897 and 1899, Cody and his associates acquired from the State of Wyoming the right to take water from the Shoshone River to irrigate about {{convert|169000|acre|km2|-1|abbr=on}} of land in the [[Big Horn Basin]]. They began developing a canal to carry water diverted from the river, but their plans did not include a water storage reservoir. Cody and his associates were unable to raise sufficient capital to complete their plan. Early in 1903, they joined with the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners in urging the federal government to step in and help with irrigation in the valley.

The [[Shoshone Project]] became one of the first federal water development projects undertaken by the newly formed Reclamation Service, later known as the [[Bureau of Reclamation]]. After Reclamation took over the project in 1903, investigating engineers recommended constructing a dam on the Shoshone River in the canyon west of Cody. Construction of the Shoshone Dam started in 1905, a year after the Shoshone Project was authorized. When it was completed in 1910, it was the tallest dam in the world. Almost three decades after its construction, the name of the dam and reservoir was changed to [[Buffalo Bill Dam]] by an act of Congress.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbdvc.com/Buffalo_Bill_Dam_History.php|title=Buffalo Bill Dam History|access-date=March 7, 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110707214856/http://www.bbdvc.com/Buffalo_Bill_Dam_History.php|archive-date=July 7, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>