The Mystique of Cedar Mountain

On a recent trail run on Cedar Mountain, local endurance runner Jeff Rode came face to face with a full-sized mountain lion.

“It kinda spooked me,” Rode said. “I’d just finished my break in my usual spot, and as I ran around the corner, a mountain lion was standing there looking at me.” Tawny and muscular, the mountain lion immediately darted into the forest and Rode did not see it again.

For years, locals have shared tales of elusive mountain lions on Cedar, along with the lore surrounding this special mountain. Cedar Mountain and its partner, Rattlesnake Mountain, stand just west of Cody near the convergence of the North and South Forks of the Shoshone River (a spot under the Buffalo Bill Reservoir since 1910). Over millions of years, the river cut a narrow gorge between the two mountains, eventually creating steep scree fields and forbidding cliffs on Cedar Mountain’s north-facing slope. Leaving Cody by vehicle today, the route between the mountains forms a gateway to Yellowstone. Once on the other side of the North Fork Highway tunnels, travelers often feel as if they have reached an entirely different place. The Apsáalooke (Crow) even had a name for the route between Cedar and Rattlesnake. They called it “Bilialiche” or “Like a Tepee Door.”

Early Maps of Cedar Mountain

 

Frost did not have a lantern with him and quickly got stuck in the pitch-black darkness, so he exited the cave with the light of a few matches. He returned a few days later to explore the cave properly with lanterns, ropes, and a team of friends. Buffalo Bill Cody joined the group and was impressed, so he used his connections in Washington DC to convince President Taft to designate the cave as “Shoshone Cavern National Monument” later that same year. The cave was managed by the National Park Service for about forty years, during which time the rugged dirt road and switchbacks were built by the Civil Works Administration in the 1930s. Heavy rock work was required for the road construction and the grade is steep, with an incline of 14% in some sections.

In 1954, the City of Cody lobbied for local control of the cave and attempted to develop it for tourism. However, the endeavor was too expensive and the road was too rough, as it is today. Claud Brown, a local investor and contractor, also made some improvements but found the cave site difficult to develop. The federal government resumed management of the cave in 1977. Today, the entirety of the cave system is still unexplored, but geologists believe the tunnels reach at least 4,000 feet below the cave entrance.

White Buffalo Statue

Unknown to many modern-day locals is a white buffalo statue on Cedar Mountain. Overlooking the Shoshone River at about 7,500 feet is a memorial to William F. Cody. Before his death, Buffalo Bill Cody had expressed his wish to be buried on Cedar, a mountain that was special to him and that overlooked the town he had helped build. But when he died in Colorado in 1917, he was buried on Lookout Mountain near Golden, Colorado. This was a controversial choice at the time, and Cody’s local friends and supporters long lamented it. In 1968, a four-day memorial celebration at both Lookout Mountain and Cedar Mountain commemorated the symbolic return of Buffalo Bill’s body to his desired burial spot on Cedar Mountain. A life-size buffalo statue, delivered by helicopter, now overlooks the city of Cody. Over the years since then, people have shot the statue and vandalized it, but several locals are currently restoring the buffalo as a charitable gesture for the community of Cody.

Cedar Mountain is a place of mystery, history, and beauty. Overlooking the city of Cody from its earliest beginnings, Cedar Mountain is intertwined with the stories of those who have explored its slopes for centuries.

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