Top 10 True Western Towns, two in Wyoming +1 to watch (Cheyenne: real estate, hotel)

[CptnRn]

TOP 10

True western towns

True West magazine named these towns as ones that have done a great job of preserving their western heritage:

1. Pendleton, Ore.

2. Dubois, Wyo.

3. Prescott, Ariz.

4. Coulterville, Calif.

5. Durango, Colo.

6. The Dalles, Ore.

7. Buffalo, Wyo.

8. Dodge City, Kan.

9. Virginia City, Nev.

10. Llano, Texas

Also, Lander is named as a Towns to Watch.

Top 10 True Western Towns of 2010 | True West Magazine - Preserving the American West

[ElkHunter]

Sheridan won a few years back as #1 Western town in the US. Didn't Cheyenne win last year or the year before?

I'm not familiar with Dubois or Lander, but I am NOT surpised Buffalo is right up there. I like that little town.

[Brian_M]

Lander was rated #5 best small town in America back in the late 80's? (ish, might have been early 90's). I remember everyone putting bumper stickers on their cars. :P

Lander WAS the "end of the trails, start of the rails" in the beginning (for getting cattle back east), it's not much of a cattle community now. Lander is Decidedly Government biased in its employment with a healthy population of artists. A great small town, but not too much on its roots.

Dubois is fairly unchanged (except for the muti-million dollar homes that radiate out from the town), but there's no reason for it to change either. I loved visiting Dubois (got up there twice a month with my library job), but I'd never want to live there. Too small for even me, a Lander native.

[NDak15]

I haven't been to Dubois but I agree with Buffalo. I think Sheridan is also a true western town.

[ElkHunter]

I used to live about 10 miles from The Dalles Oregon. I have no clue why that town is on the list.

[Ltdumbear]

To my dying-day, I will never forget the sheer number of locals gathered in the center of town (Dubois) as I drove through, on my way back to my final two weeks of cowcamp (north-east of town), the night of 9/11.

Definately a Patriotic, Conservative 'Western' town if ever I've seen one.

[gaduchman]

DuBois was a sleepy lil town when I was growing up near there. When I was there the largest home belonged to Gerry Spence the flamboyant attorney on the East branch of the Wind. Not now - multilevel gazzillion dollar mansions dot the area along with their private airplanes.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by gaduchman

DuBois was a sleepy lil town when I was growing up near there. When I was there the largest home belonged to Gerry Spence the flamboyant attorney on the East branch of the Wind. Not now - multilevel gazzillion dollar mansions dot the area along with their private airplanes.

My first visits to the Dubois area were in the late 1970's ...

Where I found out that this was one of those areas that the Eastern Money set had already bought up to a great extent and had pushed the price points up to exclusive levels. Much like some other hidden gems in the West, I'd recently discovered the same thing in Pecos, NM ... quietly bought up by the same folk many years ago.

I was interested in buying a small cabin on 2 acres down by the river; when I inquired about the price, it was in the low 7 figures ... in 1980. More expensive than real estate I'd bought in Vail, CO ... and with a cabin, not a large house, on the river.

The benchmark for me was that on a typical summer weekend, the runway at the airstrip was littered with the latest in new high dollar singles and medium twins ... almost to the point of me being embarrased flying my little ole' single with the tatty paint job and interior to the place and parking next to them.

While the core community of the town was gov't/county workers, ranchers, miners ... friendly folk that I met ... I'd hardly describe the place as being a "western" town compared to so many others in the region that are farming/ranching/mining communities. In comparison, Dubois was pretty dependent upon the big bucks brought in by those out of area investors and the steady tourist traffic on the way to/from YNP, or the tourist fishermen/hunters.

[Happy in Wyoming]

Cody should have been somewhere on that list. Yes, it was founded as a tourist town. But Buffalo Bill founded it. He built the Irma Hotel as a social center of the city; it still is. He made it the gateway city to Yellowstone; it still is. We have a major museum dedicated to the West. I could go on and on.

But I won't just mention my hometown. Here are some others.

Council Grove, Kansas. Back in the days of the Santa Fe Trail, that's where folks started for Santa Fe. There are thirteen sites in the National Historic Register. Settled in 1847 and incorporated in 1858, it's one of the oldest places in Kansas, much older than the cattle towns.

Central City and Blackhawk, Colorado. These were the big mining towns in the Colorado gold rush. They still look like old mining towns.

Creede, Colorado. This was the last of the Colorado silver boom towns; it still looks great today. It was once the home of Soapy Smith and the last home of Bob Ford, who owned Bob Ford's Tent Saloon. I've read several "eye witness accounts" of the death of Bob Ford. They sound like different events.

What about Kaycee, Wyoming near the Hole in the Wall? Or Leadville, Colorado, a city that once rivaled Denver?

True West did a great job, as they always do; but there's plenty more.

What are some of your favorites, particularly the lesser known places?

[WyoNewk]

A couple decades ago I'd have said Deadwood, SD. It was a great little town before South Dakota gave thumbs up for gambling casinos. I remember taking a tour with my kids to the "secret" underground opium dens there -- really interesting stuff. It was said that the caverns ran under much of the downtown area. Of course that's all gone now, dug up for foundations to hold the big casinos, and gone with it are most of the other historic downtown buildings, and those that weren't demolished were remodeled to the point that they may as well have been torn down.

And on the other end of a short winding canyon road is Sturgis, SD. Before the interstate came through there, it was a sleepy little town that had it's roots deep in the Old West. Now it's become a refueling spot for busy truckers and vacationers and Party Town USA for bikers across the country. Sad.

Lead, SD has missed most of that growth for various reasons beyond its control and still has much of its charm. Sadly its charm never really matched that of Deadwood, but I'd likely include it somewhere on the list of best 100.

I agree that Cody has done a good job, and so has Sheridan. I wholeheartedly agree that Buffalo belongs high on the list. I've been to most of those towns on the list, and I'd place it above any of them.