Cody Wyoming onto the Saskatchewan
It was years ago, as a Purdue grad student yearning for the clear waters of Yellowstone, that I often drove through Cody on my way to fly fish the Madison River. I remembered Cody as a dusty and windy town at the base of the eastern or leeward side of the Yellowstone Plateau. Nothing had changed in Cody except for the expansion of the Buffalo Bill Museum. As I climb eastward up the ancient crater Yellowstone Lake past our trailhead to Clear Creek, past memories of wonderful trout fishing days swelled and I was back to those earlier days when nothing could go wrong. My son, Nick now 24, was baptized in Clear Creek. My wife Ellen with our fathers hiked into the stream after Ellen gave birth 3 weeks before. She was a new mother but fly fishing was a passion and she would not be denies but she had forgotten diapers for Nicholas. My father in law, a wonderful man a fly fishing nut, Ph.D. educated and out of West Point whom I continual sought his approval for marrying his eldest daughter accepted me after I guided him there to witness thousand of 18” cutthroats willing to grab and dry fly especially huge yellow humpies. It as the golden era of trout fishing before lightweight module rods created a multitude of choice. When Helen Shaw and Dale Clemens and Charlie Brooks were the gurus of fly tying, rod building and western stream fly fishing respectively. But that was then and I was heading up to Canada to participate in another golden time.
The new highway carries me up to the east entrance with towering peaks that transport me back to the Southern Alp Fjorlands of New Zealand for the briefest of moments. I like it when I transport in geography from my global travels.
I needed a provenance letter for my Duck Model Winchester Model 21. The Model 21 Duck is an exceptional handling weapon during the waterfowl season. There is a feel to the gun that exudes confidence to its handler and it is difficult to explain how well it feels in the hand. It swings like there is not weight to the weapon yet can handle heavy load without a care. This Winchester was commissioned by to General Omar Bradley in 1947 who supplied the timber from root stocks taken from French Walnuts near Normandy after the D-day invasion. I wanted the info about date of order and delivery.
I parked on a back alley in Cody. I am an expert on urban camping and by 7:30 I was falling asleep to the “Tom Clancy’s “The Hunt for the Red October” starring Sean Connery. “The Hunt,” a movie I must have watched over a 1,000 times puts me to sleep. And within minutes of playing, I and my dogs are asleep. I am awakening around 3 am with the howling of the winds and the Lance is rocking back and forth like a schooner tacking around the Horn. I turn on the “The Hunt” and within minute I am asleep.
Morning comes quickly again with the winds and I located an espresso shop where I’m informed the Rockies might make it to the playoff. How could this be and the Latte triple shot latte was just right and life is good very good. Cruised over to the Sierra Trading Post and nothing of interest as it has morph into a REI without gear. Across the street is the Buffalo Museum and within minute after asking for the gun records I was escorted down to the basement where a woman with an earphone was busy handling a request scrolling through microfiche on her computer. She repeats the information for a model 1897, and with in minute she has my information. There is no charge and I learn that indeed the “duck” was made as a bespoke gun for Omar Bradley in 1947 who supplied the wood in 1946 that Winchester air dried. It had Fleur de leys pattering with grade B checkering. It was ordered in June of 1946 and delivered in March of 1947
The rest of the Museum was a combination of 4 themes. There were many Winchester models 21 and almost all makes of weapons. I did notice that I was the only person without too many gray hairs. It was comforting to see many couple enjoying the Cody museum many in their 70’s drinking soda pop, high carb foods and even s desert of two. I thought the Museum was way to simplistic esp. about the natives, but enjoyed the tribute to Buffalo Bill but I needed fresh air and was on the road heading to Billing and up to Malta and Saskatchewan. I had to move on and get up to the pure lands of Saskatchewan where I would work with the Canadian Nature Conservancy and witness the fall migration truly an event of epic portions
