No More Snow in Sheridan, Cowboy Country to the Max

I’m not in Sheridan, a very nice little city in the north of Wyoming. The snow is melting, but check out the view I got on my way here:

There’s not much to do in this town (I hate to say it), except for looking at the scenery. Still, there’s a lot to love here. There are sculptures on nearly every street corner, as part of a city project to bring art to the masses. And there’s even a mural depicting the history of the town:

That’s a close-up of “Father Pierre Jean DeSmet, missionary-friend to Indians, 1801-1873.”

I spent part of the day at the Don King museum, which has hundreds upon hundreds of saddles and riding equipment, tucked next to a leather factory in an alley behind the main store. (It’s a bit weird to walk through an alley to get to a museum.)

Don King is a bit of a local legend in this town. In 1957, King devoted himself full time to saddle-making and leather tooling. Through this, he created the ornamental trophy saddles built for the Rodeo Cowboys Association, Cheyenne Frontier Days, Pendleton Roundup, Bill Eaton Days, Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Association, and world champion trick roper.

He developed his own style of tooling, “the Sheridan style,” characterized by wild roses arranged in complex, scroll-like patterns of interlocking circles on leather. King also used unusually deep stamping to give greater three-dimensional depth.

Since 1989, the town has had “Don King Days” in the summer, which feature classic equine events like polo, steer roping, bronc riding and wild cow milking. He died in 2007, and the store made the museum to honor his memory.

I don’t really know what to say about the place – it has too much to take in. But the memorabilia is amazing. There are photos of Miss Indian America pageants in the 1960s, posters of long-forgotten rodeos, and photographs of wranglers in action. And it has bears!

Anyhow, I’m tired, and this post isn’t going to well. I’m going to go to sleep, in my motel by the taxidermists: