Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave

Our Mission:
The Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, a facility owned and operated by the City and County of Denver, exists to preserve the memory of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. To this end it maintains the Cody gravesite and related structures on Lookout Mountain Park; collects, cares for and interprets artifacts associated with "Buffalo Bill" Cody's life and times between 1846 and 1917; and records Cody's ongoing influence on American culture.

Our History:
William F. Cody died in 1917 and was buried in Lookout Mountain Park. According to Mrs. Cody and other close friends, he had asked to be buried on the mountain overlooking the Great Plains where he had spent so much of his life. In 1921 Johnny Baker opened the Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum near the grave. The artifacts in the Museum were items he had collected over the years and had gathered from the many friends who had performed with him in the Wild West. Mrs. Cody also provided objects, although she died and was buried next to her husband shortly before the Museum opened. The City of Denver owned the property but the Bakers owned the artifacts and ran the museum and shop. They called the building "Pahaska Tepee" after Cody's hunting lodge of the same name outside of Yellowstone Park.

After Johnny Baker's death in 1931, his wife Olive continued to operate Pahaska Tepee until her own death in 1956. At that point, under an earlier agreement, the collection became the property of the City. The Museum is now operated by the City and County of Denver. We are part of Denver Mountain Parks division of Denver Parks and Recreation.