Buffalo Bill Dam & Visitor's Center

One of the many legacies of Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody is the Buffalo Bill Dam. Cody spent years promoting and attempting to raise money for his dream of irrigating thousands of arid acres east of Cody from the Shoshone River. Buffalo Bill Dam was the realization of his vision.

In 1897 and 1899 Cody and his associates acquired the rights from the State of Wyoming to irrigate about 169,000 acres of land in the Big Horn Basin. At the time their plans did not include a reservoir, only the diversion of water from the river through a canal. They were unable to raise the capital necessary to complete the plan. In 1903 they united with the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners urging the federal government to become involved with irrigation development in the valley.

In 1903, the newly formed Reclamation Service (later to become the Bureau of Reclamation) began the Shoshone project. At that time, Service engineers recommended building a dam on the Shoshone River in the canyon just west of Cody. The dam was one of the first three major dams built by the Bureau of Reclamation.

Construction began on October 19, 1905 and was completed January 15, 1910. Building the dam at this location was a difficult project. Because of the remote area, it was difficult to recruit and keep workers. The steep granite canyon was a challenge. Excavation of the dam abutments required workers to hang from “spider lines” that were connected to cableway towers. To handle concrete, a riveted steel bridge was built across the canyon.

The Shoshone River itself was unpredictable with its flows. During one year, almost half of the annual runoff of the river occurred within a 30-day period, almost halting construction entirely.

A lack of natural sand and gravel deposits near the site forced the project to create it from the granite. Clean pieces of granite were hand-placed in the concrete. The boulders, weighing between 25 and 200 pounds each, make up approximately 25 percent of the masonry in the dam.

The total cost of the dam in 1910 dollars was $929, 658. It was the first high concrete arch dam built by the Bureau of Reclamation. At completion, the dam was the highest in the world at 325 feet. Its length at the base is 70 feet and 200 feet at its crest. It was 10 feet wide at the top and 108 feet wide at its base. Before raising the dam, it held about 400,000 acre feet of water.

Completed in 1993, an eight-year modification project raised the dam height by 25 feet to a total of 353 feet. This expansion increased the water storage capacity by about 250,000 acre feet. The project also added 25.5 megawatts of power generation capacity; the result of the addition of two new power plants about one mile below the dam. Refurbishments were also made to the old Shoshone power plant visible just below the dam.

The reservoir provides irrigation and drinking water for Cody and much of the Big Horn Basin. Because of its historical significance, the dam was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The visitor center opened in May 1993 as a combination visitor center and Wyoming highway rest area. Inside the center are a number of exhibits and a gift shop.