Cody Gunfighters

Here, the story of the Wild West isn’t just something you find in museums—it’s right out on the street. On your right, take a look at the mural painted directly onto the brick wall. It shows a cowboy roping a longhorn, a scene straight out of ranch life, which is still an essential part of Wyoming today. A little further along, you’ll see riders crossing wide-open pastures, with the Absaroka Mountains rising in the background, the range that stretches west of Cody on the road to Yellowstone. But the story really comes to life here in the evening, with a show that’s become a local tradition. From June through September, you can catch the Cody Gunfighters right here on the street. This open-air performance takes place in front of the porch of the historic Irma Hotel, and it feels like stepping back into the 19th century. A group of volunteer actors reenacts classic Wild West scenes : street disputes, rough arrests, and of course, the famous revolver duels. Each show lasts about thirty minutes, and the storylines change throughout the summer. There’s often a bit of improvisation too, which makes every performance slightly different. The highlight, as you might expect, is the final shootout, complete with blank gunfire. The atmosphere is friendly, family-oriented, and the show is completely free. On some evenings, more than five hundred people gather here, turning Cody’s main street into a real Wild West stage. And this isn’t just entertainment, it also echoes the story of Buffalo Bill himself, who is best remembered as a showman. In 1883, he created Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, a large traveling spectacle that recreated some of the most famous scenes from the conquest of the West. Audiences could watch buffalo hunts with real animals, Pony Express demonstrations, stagecoach attacks, and reenactments of battles. The show brought together cowboys, riders, animals, and members of Indigenous nations in a production that fascinated crowds. One of its biggest stars was Annie Oakley, a sharpshooter known for her incredible accuracy, and even the Lakota leader Sitting Bull took part in a North American tour in 1885. The show was hugely successful, drawing millions of spectators and even touring across Europe. In London, Buffalo Bill performed before Queen Victoria, and in Paris, during the 1889 World’s Fair, millions of visitors came to see the show at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Through this spectacle, Buffalo Bill played a major role in shaping the image of the Wild West as we still imagine it today : cowboys, bandanas, wide-brimmed hats, and street duels, all the elements that later inspired novels and, eventually, cinema. And that legacy is still very much alive here in Cody. The Gunfighters may be a staged performance, but for a few moments, they give you a real taste of that legendary atmosphere, right here in the town Buffalo Bill founded. If you’re here in the late afternoon, around 6 p.m., it’s well worth stopping to watch, the show is about to begin, and the Wild West might feel a little closer than you’d expect.