|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Made famous in Owen Wister’s classic western novel as the town
where Wister’s cowboy hero, the Virginian, faced off with
Trampas over a card game. Trampas calls the Virginian a
“son-of-a-bitch” to which the Virginian responds by drawing his
pistol and uttering one of the most famous lines in American folklore,
“When you call me that, smile!”
|
Population: 265
Elevation: 6563 feet
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Medicine Bow was founded in 1868 as a Union Pacific
watering station along the Medicine Bow river. Watering
stations like this were important places in a time when
steam locomotives used thousands of gallons of water
just to go relatively short distances. These stations often
became local supply depots and trading posts. Built in
1909, the three-story Virginian Hotel was the largest
hotel between Denver and Salt Lake City at the time.
It was also a regular gathering place for travelers, local ranchers ,and railroad men. |
|
Not only does this marvelous building still stand nearly a century after being built, but it is
also still a working hotel and has one of the finest old-time western bars in Wyoming.
Down the street from the Virginian stands the Diplodocus Bar, more commonly know as
The Dip. Within The Dip you will discover a fine collection of intricate woodcarvings and the
only hand-painted dance floor west of the Mississippi. But the most striking feature here is a
bar made of solid jade! This 40-foot long bar was carved from a single four-and-a-half ton jade
boulder that was discovered in nearby Lander, and is the largest jade bar in the world.
Just north of Medicine Bow you will find the vast Shirley Basin. With panoramic views of
ranch lands, cottonwood lined creeks, and rolling hills, this basin is one of the most diverse
areas in Carbon County and home to a variety of wildlife including antelope and deer. Not far
from Medicine Bow rises a long, low ridge that holds a fossil record going back tens-of-millions
of years. Como Bluff has the distinction of being one of the most significant locations in
paleontology. Remains of 247 of the 250 known Jurassic-era mammals of North America have
been found here, as well as some of the oldest, and largest, dinosaurs ever discovered. Fossils
from Como Bluff are among the collections of museums as renowned as Yale’s Peabody
Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the New York Museum of Natural History, and the
National Museum in Washington, D.C. Goto Medicine Bow Website
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Old Dip Bar & Diner
307-379-2312
202 Lincoln Hwy
The world's largest Jade
Bar is located in the Dip
Bar. Proprietor William
Bennett, local woodcarver
and artist, has adorned the
Bar and diner with paintings
on the ceiling, floor, walls,
and tables. Authentic
Ranch artifacts add flavor
to the bar and diner. Check
out his intricate carvings
done by pocket knife on
display in the restaurant.
The Virginian
Eating House
307-379-2377
404 Lincoln Hwy.
A full menu for eating
delight. Serving breakfast,
lunch, and dinner. People
drive from miles around
to visit and dine in
the Eating House.
Old West Bar
307-379-2240 |
|
JB's Stop-N-Shop
307-379-2250
604 Lincoln Hwy.
Fast Food, Gas, Groceries,
Hunting and Fishing
Licenses, ATM Machine
Bow Market
307-379-2262
Crazy Nana's Quilts
307-379-2509
P J's Dream Boutique
302 Sage St.
in the Village Square
Western Wood Products
307-379-2234
Wind Country Feed
307-379-2351 |
|
Como Bluff
Dinosaur Sight
National Register of
Historic Places. Como
Bluffs is one of the largest
and most renowned fossil
beds ever discovered.
Seven miles east of
Medicine Bow stands the
Como Bluff Museum
Building, made entirely out
of dinosaur bones and was
featured in Ripley’s as the
“Oldest Building in
America” The Como Bluff
dig site is currently
closed to the public.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fossil Cabin Museum
Fossil Cabin Museum is open during the summer months and still houses
a collection of dinosaur bones, petrified sealife and many other curios of
interest to rockhounds and dinophiles. The buildings sit on the back of
a ridge, which is encrusted with shark's teeth, petrified clams and other
unusual fossils. Permission from the owner is required to enter the
nearby private property to do any fossil prospecting in the area. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
                
"Town, as they called
it, pleased me the
less, the longer I saw
it. But until our
language stretches
itself and takes in
a new word or closer
fit, town will have to
do for the name of
such a place as
Medicine Bow."
–From Owen Wister's,
The Virginian
|
