The Wild, Wild West- A Trade Post

More booty from the great 2008 A&G tradeaway keeps rollin in. Reader Allan contacted me shortly after the post had gone up stating that he was in need, but that he didn't have much in the way of Orioles to send back in return. Allan has recently gotten back into collecting, so it sounded like he didn't have a huge reserve to be able to trade away. That was just fine with me, since I wasn't looking for a lot. Mainly, I just wanted to unload the 2 boxes of doubles that were accumulated while building this set.

Allan had mentioned in his first email that he had recently opened a box of American Heritage and was wondering if there were any cards I would be interested in. Well, there is only 1 card from that set that I really want, and it's the Buffalo Bill Cody refractor. I knew it was a long shot, but I responded, and let Allan know that there was really only 1 card I wanted. As fate would have it, the one and ONLY refractor he pulled from his box was indeed of none other than Buffalo Bill. I sent Allan 100+ A&G cards from his want list last week, and today, this arrived in the mailbox:

2009 Topps American Heritage #C18 Buffalo Bill Cody Refractor #26/76
Believe it or not, Buffalo Bill holds a very special place in my heart. In the fall of 2006 I was lucky enough to travel to Yellowstone for a week, and spent a few nights in the town of Cody, which was founded by and named after the infamous Buffalo Bill. Cody is a really cool little town, and Yellowstone is by far the most amazing and beautiful place I have ever been.

There really isn't much in Cody, I mean it is in northwestern Wyoming, but aside from it's rustic western charm, the next best thing about it is the Buffalo Bill Museum. It's actually like 4 museums in one since in the same building there is also a Firearms Museum, Native American Art Museum & Western Life Museum. Anyway, I hardly knew anything about Buffalo Bill prior to my trip out west, and I must say that I was pretty impressed with all that he accomplished and stood for. He is most famous for his traveling Wild West Show, which featured sharp shooter Annie Oakley (of Allen & Ginter fame), but you may be surprised to know that he was also a devout conservationist, and supporter of Native American rights. At the turn of the 20th century Buffalo Bill Cody was one of the most recognizable and famous people in the world (what a strange and different place that must have been). He was also a rider for the fabled "Pony Express", and server as a scout for the U.S. Army during the late 1860's, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in 1872.

Anyway, enough with the history lesson. I figured this would be an ideal post to show off some of the photos I snapped on my trip to Cody & Yellowstone.

This is the Irma Hotel in downtown Cody. The hotel is one of the original building constructed by Buffalo Bill himself. Pretty cool to think he may have drank his Sarsaparilla and gambled in this very structure.

Next up is a hilarious traveling cowboy hat shop. This thing was set-up just off the main drag outside of Cody proper.

Next up, the first of several images from Yellowstone itself. The first is pretty iconic, and if you don't know what it is, you definitely didn't pay attention in school. Shame on you! I don't know who the people are in this picture (I swear!) They were sitting in front of me, and I thought the composition looked cool. That guy's ponytail might be more impressive than Old Faithful on this day.

This was actually in the Grand Tetons, which is right below Yellowstone. It doesn't matter, I'm sure Buffalo Bill was still there, or at least close by at some point. Jenny Lake is the happy place I take my mind to when times are tough.

The river behind the flowers is called the Boiling River. Trust me, it's called that for good reason. There was a swimming hole nearby, where the boiling Boiling River flows into the freezing cold Gardner River. We took a dip, it was awesome! As for the flowers, what can I say, I'm a sensitive guy.
Lastly, we have 2 wildlife pics. This first one screams wild west in my opinion.

I don't have a zoom lens on my digital camera, so we were literally 5 feet from this monster bull elk. He didn't seem to mind, thankfully. If you click on the image to view it full sized, you can see the water dripping from this beasts mouth.

Oh, Alan also sent me this card, which is the last one needed for my Orioles team set. The floating heads are way creepy, but everyone has already commented on that.

Thanks Alan! The Buffalo Bill refractor means more to me than you'll ever know.