Buffalo Bill's 1902 Hotel at the Gateway to Yellowstone
1192 Sheridan Ave, Cody, WY 82414
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Room rates vary by season; restaurant entrees mid-range; summer prime rib buffet offered nightly.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved sidewalks, some interior stairs to historic rooms
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1902 · Buffalo Bill Cody Heritage · Yellowstone Gateway · National Register of Historic Places
Cody, Wyoming was founded in 1896 by William Frederick Cody, the showman known internationally as Buffalo Bill, alongside a group of investors who saw the Bighorn Basin as a future tourism gateway to the newly established Yellowstone National Park. The Burlington Railroad reached Cody in 1901, and Cody began construction on the hotel that same year.
The Irma Hotel opened on November 1, 1902, at the prominent corner of Sheridan Avenue and 12th Street. The construction cost was reported at approximately $80,000 in 1902 dollars, financed largely by Cody himself. He named the hotel for his youngest daughter, Irma Louise Cody Garlow, who was eighteen at the time.
The hotel's most distinctive interior feature is the back bar in the main dining room, made of carved cherry wood. The bar was reportedly a gift from Queen Victoria of England in recognition of Cody's command performance of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show during her Golden Jubilee. The bar was shipped from England, transported by rail and wagon, and installed in the hotel.
Cody used the hotel as a personal residence and a base of operations for his Yellowstone tourism enterprises until his death in 1917. The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and remains in operation under independent ownership. The original 1902 building has been expanded but the historic suites, dining room, and Buffalo Bill Bar remain in their original configuration.
Sources
The hotel's paranormal lore is unusually well-documented for a small Wyoming property, in part because both staff and the local Cody Yellowstone tourism office have collected and published accounts.
Buffalo Bill himself is the most frequently reported figure. Employees describe the unmistakable sound of spurs jingling at the cherry-wood bar before the dining room opens, when the building is empty. A separate account describes loud knocking at guest-room doors in the early hours, attributed to Cody's known habit of personally knocking on doors to deliver wake-up calls when he managed the hotel.
Irma Cody Garlow, the hotel's namesake, is reported on the second floor in the suite that bears her name. Guests have described her seated in a rocking chair and have reported the chair rocking on its own. She is described in staff folklore as a hospitable presence rather than an unsettling one.
Room 35 is the most consistently cited location for guest-reported activity. A guest interviewed by Cowboy State Daily described an overnight stay in which activity continued throughout the night. The Original Report describes a soldier in nineteenth-century uniform near the cherry-wood bar and an aggressive presence in the kitchen, which broadly aligns with staff accounts of unexplained noises in the back-of-house spaces.
The hotel does not run formal ghost tours or paranormal investigations. The reputation operates as folklore layered onto an active commercial restaurant and hotel.
Notable Entities
Stay in one of the original 1902 suites named for figures in Buffalo Bill's circle, or request Room 35, where multiple guests have reported overnight activity. The cherry-wood back bar in the dining room was reportedly a gift to Cody from Queen Victoria.
Dine beneath the cherry-wood bar reportedly gifted by Queen Victoria. The summer prime rib buffet is a Cody tradition. Staff have reported the sound of jingling spurs in the empty dining room before opening.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Yellowstone National Park, WY
The Old Faithful Inn opened in 1904 as the first of the great national park lodges, designed by 29-year-old architect Robert Reamer in a rustic style that defined a century of park architecture. The seven-story log structure stands within sight of Old Faithful Geyser and remains in continuous operation under Xanterra Travel Collection.
Sheridan, WY
The Sheridan Inn opened on May 27, 1893, and was hailed as the finest hotel between Chicago and San Francisco. Buffalo Bill Cody, who held a part interest in the property, made it the auditioning headquarters for his Wild West Show, hiring riders, ropers, and trick shooters from the Inn's broad front porch.
Medicine Bow, WY
The Virginian Hotel in Medicine Bow, Wyoming opened in 1911, built by August Grimm, the town's first mayor, and his partner George Plummer. Upon completion it was the largest hotel between Denver and Salt Lake City. It takes its name from Owen Wister's 1902 novel 'The Virginian,' set partly in Medicine Bow, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.