Gold was discovered at Kirwin in 1885. Kirwin is situated on a mountain side at 9,000 feet in elevation. By 1894, the Shoshone River Mining Company had been formed. Finally, the first ore had been shipped out of Kirwin in 1897. By this time, Kirwin had a population of 200 people. It had 38 buildings including boarding houses, sawmill, hotel, stores, post office and many houses. It had no brothels, saloons or cemetary.
Due to its location (elevation) Kirwin suffered from isolation and nature at its worst. In 1907, over an eight day period, a snowstorm blasted Kirwin with 50 to 100 feet of snow. An avalanche swept down the mountain and killed three people. The townspeople had to wait for the weather to clear up so they could clear the roads and notify the people below in Meeteetse of the deaths. The town of Kirwin died short thereafter.
In the 1930's, a man named Carl Dunrud bought the townsite and surrounding area and built the Double D Dude ranch. Emilia Earhart and her husband George Putnam were some of his first guests. Earhart was having Dunrud build her a cabin where she planned to come after her flight around the world. In 1937, she disappeared on her flight around the world. Her cabin construction was stopped. Her cabin was four logs high, and can be seen by hiking about a mile past Kirwin. Many other buildings still remain. Kirwin is located west of Highway 120. At Meeteese (30 miles south of Cody), take Highway 290 west and south to Sunshine. Kirwin is located a few miles beyond Sunshine.
Cody was started in 1895 as a land development vision by Buffalo Bill Cody and some of his friends. They were looking for a suitable place to start a town. They thought it would be favorable to name it after Cody. The year of 1902 was good year for the town. In this year a Burlington Northern Railroad spur was built to Cody. A road was also built to Yellowstone and the town was incorporated. Also, in 1902, Buffalo Bill built his famous Irma Hotel.
To ensure the success of the town, Buffalo Bill convinced his friend, President Teddy Roosevelt to start the first national forest and ranger station nearby, start the Bureau of Land Reclamation, and build a nearby reservoir. The reservoir guaranteed a constant flow of irrigation water and electricity to the town.
The real sight to see an this area is Old Trail Town. It is a conglomeration of many old historic buildings from Wyoming towns. They have been moved here and restored to look like they did in their heyday. Many even are stocked with artifacts from this era. Here is the final resting place of a cabin hideout from Butch Casidy and the Sundance Kid and the Rivers Saloon with bullet holes still in the door from west of Meeteese. Another Meeteese area cabin that was built by Victor Arland was moved in from the town of Arland (named after its founder). Besides the Old Trail Town buildings, there are couple of good building to see in Cody. The Irma Hotel still stands as does a hunting lodge built by Buffalo Bill named Pahaska. Old Trail Town is located right outside Cody
