In honor of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley: In Search of America, I am keeping my eyes open for clues about America’s gun cultures as Sandy and I travel from our home in North Carolina to Yellowstone National Park and back. My inaugural post on this series can be found here.

Day 5 of my Travels with Sandy took us from Henderson, Nebraska to Laramie, Wyoming. This was a long haul, but fortunately we only had to leave Interstate 80 for food, bathrooms, and fuel. Shortly after we arrived and unhooked our trailer, we were greeted by a hail storm. In typical Wyoming fashion, that soon passed and the sun came out. So, we headed to the interesting old downtown area for some food and browsing. Just as the shops were closing at 6:00pm, we hit the sidewalks and were again pelted by even heavier and larger hail. When we woke up the next morning, the skies were clear and the sun shone brightly.

Our first stop was the Wyoming Territorial Prison, which was open from 1872 to 1903. The entire history is fascinating, but the prison really plays up the fact that Butch Cassidy spent time there.

Not surprisingly, guns have a presence in the prison. The lawmen are represented by Nathaniel Kimball “N.K.” Boswell, the first warden of the territorial prison, as well as first sheriff of Albany County, “an Indian fighter,” deputy U.S. Marshall, and friend of Buffalo Bill Cody — according to the museum’s description. His 44 Colt revolver was on display.

The gun was displayed alongside a belt and holster made by the “renowned saddle maker Francis A. Meanea out of Cheyenne,” circa 1870s.

On the other side of the law, we find various prisoners who did time for firearms offenses, especially homicides. One I found notable was Ta Toit Se, an 80-year-old American Indian who shot and killed his 70-year-old wife (allegedly) because she broke his rifle and he could not go hunting. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Unexpectedly, we passed through a corridor that had a large collection of Winchester rifles on display. It seemed out of place with no direct connection to the prison itself. With all of the Winchester branding on the cases, it seemed like a sponsored advertisement for the company.

Only when I got to the end did I find the plaque indicating that the rifle collection was donated and the Cody Firearms Museum (where I will be heading on this trip) helped with the exhibit.

The explanatory text was interesting, highlighting the fact that firearms were essential tools on the frontier (along with the plow and the ax), but also that Winchester’s “The Gun That Won The West” slogan was more marketing than reality.

At $9 per person for a 90 minute guided tour (plus as much longer as you want to stay), this was a good value and good, informative use of our time with some unexpected gun finds.

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