Cody is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Park County, Wyoming Park County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 29,624. The county seat is Cody, Wyoming, Cody. Park County is a major tourism destination. The county has ove ...

, United States. It is named after Buffalo Bill Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,028 at the 2020 census, making Cody the eleventh-largest city in Wyoming by population. Cody is served by Yellowstone Regional Airport.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Cody's elevation is approximately above sea level. The main part of the city is split across three levels, separated by about . The Shoshone River flows through Cody in a canyon. There are four bridges over this river in the Cody vicinity, one at the north edge of town that allows travel to the north, and one about east of Cody that allows passage to Powell and the areas to the north and east. The other two are west of town; one allows access to the East Gate of

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

, and the other is used by fishermen in Shoshone Canyon and as access to the Buffalo Bill Dam. Cody is located at the western edge of the

Bighorn Basin The Bighorn Basin is a plateau region and intermontane basin, approximately 100 miles (160 km) wide, in north-central Wyoming in the United States. It is bounded by the Absaroka Range on the west, the Pryor Mountains on the north, the Bigho ...

, a depression surrounded by the Big Horn, Owl Creek, Bridger, and Absaroka ranges. At the western edge of Cody, a deep canyon formed by the Shoshone River provides the only passage to Yellowstone's Eastern Entrance. At its mouth and rising above Cody are Rattlesnake Mountain on the north side and Cedar Mountain on the south side. Much of Cody has views of Heart Mountain, whose peak is directly north of Cody, and the Carter Mountain massif, which forms a line with peaks above , some to the south.

Climate

Cody experiences a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BSk''), with highly variable conditions. Summers are warm, with some heat spells pushing temperatures above . Winters are cold, with frigid periods alternating with sometimes milder temperatures. Relative humidity is usually a fairly dry 30% or less. Precipitation averages annually, including of snow per season. Due to the aridity, snow cover is highly unreliable, with 29.4 days per season with or more on the ground. Cody enjoys about 300 days of sunshine per year, and is in USDA plant hardiness zone 5a (). Wind is an almost constant presence in the Cody area. Air flow in Cody area is turbulent, but during the winter most storms move in from the north-northwest. During the summer, it is not unusual to see storms move in from the southwest. Throughout a normal day, winds can be experienced as coming from almost any direction, mostly from the north and west, but sometimes from the south and east. The Canyon at the west end of Cody funnels rain and wind across the city from the west. The winds can be quite strong at and last for several days. Because of the dry climate, the entire area is laced with irrigation canals, holding ponds, laterals, and drops. The Buffalo Bill Dam between Rattlesnake and Cedar mountains forms a large

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

about to the west of Cody. This reservoir (among others) feeds the Shoshone Project, a large irrigation water distribution system. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in December to in July. An average of 16.2 days have highs of or higher and an average of 12.3 days have lows of or lower; the average window for freezing temperatures is September 30 through May 10 and for measurable (≥ snow, October 21 through April 21. The record high temperature was on July 14, 1925, and July 15, 1951, and the record low temperature was on February 8, 1936. The wettest calendar year has been 2014 with and the driest 1956 with . The most rainfall in one month was in June 1992. The most rainfall in 24 hours was on July 22, 1973. There are an average of 72.3 days with measurable precipitation. The most snow in one year was between July 1916 and June 1917. The most snow in one month was in February 2014.

Culture

Themes surrounding Cody's pioneer and Cowboy and Western history are common in the cultural events and activities in the area. The Buffalo Bill Center of the West is a large and modern facility located near the center of the city. It contains five museums in one, including the Draper Natural History Museum, the Plains Indian Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum and the Buffalo Bill Museum, which chronicles the life of William F. Cody, for whom the historical center is named. The historical center maintains large collections. It is a stopping point for tourists passing through the town, on their way to or from Yellowstone. Old Trail Town, a restoration of more than 25 historic Western buildings and artifacts, is located in Cody just off the Yellowstone Highway. Rodeo is important in the culture in Cody, which calls itself the "Rodeo Capital of the World". The Cody Nite Rodeo is an amateur

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

every night from June 1 through August 31. Cody is also host to the Cody Stampede Rodeo. The Stampede is a

Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is the largest rodeo organization in the world. It sanctions events in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with members from said countries, as well as others. Its championship event is the N ...

rodeo and is one of the largest rodeos in the nation. It is held over the Independence Day holiday. Many of the top cowboys in the country attend. The stampede has been held from July 1–4 every year since 1919. The weeklong series of events features several parades, rodeos, and fireworks. In 2019, the Cody Stampede celebrated its 100th year. The

Heart Mountain Relocation Center The Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, named after nearby Heart Mountain (Wyoming), Heart Mountain and located midway between the northwest Wyoming towns of Cody, Wyoming, Cody and Powell, Wyoming, Powell, was one of ten concentration camps ...

was a war relocation camp where 14,000 Japanese Americans were interned during World War II (

Internment of Japanese Americans United States home front during World War II, During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and Internment, incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese Americans, Japanese descent in ten #Terminology debate, concentration camps opera ...

). The Interpretive Center is approximately 17 miles east of town and includes surviving buildings from the camp, a war memorial, a walking trail, and a world-class museum.

Arts

Visual Arts are celebrated and displayed within the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Whitney Western Arts Museum as well as many other collective local/regional galleries around town such as the Cody Country Art League, By Western Hands and more. Many photographers, painters, sculptors, designers, and artists love to capture the surrounding natural wonder and western aesthetics. For nearly twenty years Cody has also been the home to the Rendezvous Royale art festival. The week-long festival includes the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale, a nationally renowned art show that features a wide range of interpretations of western art from emerging artists and contemporary masters. Rendezvous Royale features the art show sale, lectures, workshops, and a patrons ball. The live music scene in Cody is especially vibrant in the summer when the City of Cody hosts an annual Concert in the Park series, The Cody Cattle Company does a nightly show, Dan Miller's Cowboy Music Revue is up and running, and several bars in town host touring artists. Cody is also the home to several theatre and dance companies that promote community theatre and dance education from pre-k through high school. These companies produce many seasonal projects as well as annual productions. Throughout the year various dance recitals from the companies, as well as musical theatre and theatre productions from community members are produced and performed. The annual performing arts events in Cody are produced from The Rocky Mountain Dance Theatre. They have been doing

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

annually in December for 25 years, and The Wild West Spectacular Musical for seven seasons.

Education

Public education in the city of Cody is provided by Park County School District #6. Three elementary schools – Eastside, Glenn Livingston, and Sunset - serve students in grades kindergarten through five. The district's two secondary campuses are Cody Middle School (grades 6–8) and Cody High School (grades 9–12). Cody has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, a branch of the Park County Library System.

Industry

The primary industry in Cody is

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. Hotels, restaurants and shops cater to travelers coming to visit the West and Yellowstone Park. Cody has several art galleries, with some notable local painters and artists living in the area. Cody is fast becoming a hub for outdoor recreation. The Shoshone River runs through town, offering class I-V kayaking and whitewater rafting. Shoshone Canyon offers over 300 rock climbing routes, while Cedar Mountain boasts nearly 600 boulder problems. Cody hosts nearly 50 miles of single track, with a large amount of it accessible by bike from town. A bike park was recently completed with jump and drop lines as well as a pump track. Skiing, both downhill and cross-country are very popular sports in Cody, with the local

High School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

boasting competitive cross-country and downhill ski teams. Sleeping Giant Ski Area & Zipline, about an hour west of Cody, is a popular local downhill ski mountain, in close proximity to Yellowstone East Entrance. Another industry is western style

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

, with several small furniture makers producing custom pieces. The oil industry seems to wax and wane over the years in the Cody area.

Husky Energy Husky Energy Inc. was a Canadian company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It operated in Western and Atlantic Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region, with upstream and downstream bus ...

was founded in Cody in 1938 (as Husky Refining Company), when Glenn Nielson purchased the assets of Park Refining Company, started four years earlier by area oil developer Valentine M. Kirk. Husky operated as refinery until 1980s, the facility being demolished in the 1990s. Just to the south of Cody are large deposits of

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

. Park County School District #6 is another large employer in the area.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 10,066 people, and 4,401 households in the city. The population density was 981.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 93.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.6%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.6% Native American, 0.0% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, and 3.8% from two or more races. Those of

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino origin made up 7% of the population. 21.4% of the population were under 18, and 6.6% were under 5. People over 65 made up 19.4% of the population. The gender makeup was 49.9% female and 50.1% male. The median household income was $59,682, and the per capita income was $34,127. People under the poverty line made up 8.9% of the population.

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 9,520 people, 4,278 households, and 2,502 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 4,650 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.9%

, 0.2%

, 0.7% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1%

, 1.0% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races.

or Latino residents of any race were 3.1% of the population. There were 4,278 households, of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.5% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.82. The median age in the city was 42.4 years. 21.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.1% were from 25 to 44; 28.9% were from 45 to 64; and 18.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.2% male and 51.8% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 8,835 people, 3,791 households, and 2,403 families living in the city. The

was 952.3 people per square mile (367.6/km²). There were 4,113 housing units at an average density of 443.3 per square mile (171.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.90%

, 0.10%

, 0.42% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.05%

, 0.85% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races.

or Latino people of any race were 2.22% of the population. There were 3,791 households, out of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were

living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.86. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.8% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,450, and the median income for a family was $40,554. Males had a median income of $31,395 versus $19,947 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $17,813. About 9.4% of families and 13.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 19.3% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Cody is governed by a city council and a mayor. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote. The city council consists of six members who are elected from one of three wards. Each ward elects two members.

Media

;AM Radio *

KZMQ (AM) KZMQ (1140 AM) is a radio station broadcasting an oldies music format to the Greybull, Wyoming, United States, area. The station is owned by the Big Horn Radio Network, a division of Legend Communications of Wyoming, LLC. It features programmi ...

1140 (

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

), Big Horn Radio Network * KPOW 1260 (

), MGR Media LLC *

KODI Kodi may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * KODI, a radio station in Cody, Wyoming, USA * Kodi (film), ''Kodi'' (film), India, 2016 * Kodi, a dog in the 2004 film ''Balto III: Wings of Change'' Other uses * Kodi (software), an open sour ...

1400 (

News/Talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews ...

), Big Horn Radio Network ;FM Radio * KOFG 91.1 (Religious), Gospel Messengers * KUWP 90.1 ( Wyoming Public Radio and NPR),

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

* KTAG 97.9 (

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

), Big Horn Radio Network * KZMQ-FM 100.3 (

), Big Horn Radio Network * KROW 101.1 (

Contemporary Christian Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

), White Park Broadcasting * KBEN-FM 103.3 ( Classic Country), White Park Broadcasting * KCGL 104.1 ( Classic hits), Big Horn Radio Network * KWHO 107.1 (

Classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

), White Park Broadcasting ;Television *

KTVQ KTVQ (channel 2) is a television station in Billings, Montana, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, it is part of the Montana Television Network, a statewide network of CBS-affiliated stations. KTVQ's studi ...

( CBS) from Billings * KULR (

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

) from Billings * K19LM-D ( PBS) (translator for KCWC-DT in Lander) ;Newspaper The twice-weekly '' Cody Enterprise'' was founded by "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Col. John Peake in August 1899. The paper has a paid circulation of 7,050, and is owned by

SAGE Publishing Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American Independent business, independent Academic publishing, academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park, California, ...

of Cody.

Transportation

Highways

* - North Fork Highway Westbound / Greybull Highway eastbound *: U.S. 14, U.S. 16 and U.S. 20 run concurrently through Cody. * - Powell Highway * - Belfry highway northbound / Meeteetse highway southbound * - South Fork Road

Airport

The Yellowstone Regional Airport offers full passenger service. Flights are available through SkyWest (

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

), connecting through

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. Air cargo services are provided by

FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...

and UPS.

Ground transit

Cody has four local transportation companies: Phidippides Shuttle Service, Cody Town Taxi, and the Cody Shuttle. Phidippides is a full service transportation company with service to Cody,

, and airports in Cody, Jackson, and Billings. They also have courier and package service available. Cody Town Taxi and Cody Shuttle operate primarily in Cody.

Railroad

Cody is served by the Cody Branch of the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

, which runs south-west from Frannie for about . The branch terminates in Cody near where WY-120 crosses the Shoshone River.

Notable people

Persons born in Cody or with notable connections include: * Laura Bell, author, currently residing in Cody * Luke Bell (1990–2022), country musician, raised in Cody *

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Booker, professional wrestling booker, promoter, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Sen ...

(born 1955), former President of

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

* William Frederick Cody a.k.a. "Buffalo Bill", namesake of city * Larry Echo Hawk former

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

* Frank Tenney Johnson (1874–1939), western artist * John Linebaugh, gunsmith; cartridge inventor *

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...

(1912–1956),

abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

painter * Colin M. Simpson (born 1959), former Wyoming State Representative * Milward Simpson (1897–1993), former governor of Wyoming and U.S. senator * Pete Simpson (born 1930), historian; former administrator at the

* Mark Spragg (born 1952), author, born in Cody * Craig L. Thomas (1933–2007), former United States Senator from Wyoming

Sister cities

* Lanchkhuti, Georgia

References

^20 "Kanye, Out West: What is the Superstar doing out in Wyoming?" New York Times, Style section, February 23, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/23/style/kanye-west-cody-wyoming.html

External links

City website

Chamber of commerce

Park County Archives
{{Authority control Cities in Wyoming County seats in Wyoming Cities in Park County, Wyoming