The Sheridan Inn opened in 1893, advertised as "the finest hotel between Chicago and San Francisco." Under the managership of George and Lucy Canfield, the Sheridan Inn rapidly became the social hub for the region. Area residents even kept some of their fancy clothes at the hotel in readiness for the next festivity. Early room rates were $1/day; meal prices were 25¢ for breakfast, 50¢ for lunch and dinner.

From the outset, William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was involved with the Inn and invested in its future. Iowa-born Cody spent his teenage and early adult years in a various endeavors, including horse wrangler, gold prospector, Pony Express rider, buffalo hunter, and army scout. He began his entertainment entrepreneurship in 1883 touring with a troupe of cowboys and Indians. Eventually, "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" extravaganza featured live buffalo stampedes, stagecoach robberies, bronco riding, roping exhibitions, and sharpshooting acts. The performances typically ended with a historical melodrama such as Custer's "Last Stand" (in which Cody himself portrayed the slain commander of the Seventh Cavalry). Always, the Wild West's cowboys were spotless and the Indians adorned with war bonnets and colorful paint, a practice premonitory to Hollywood movies of later years. In 1893, "and Congress of Rough Riders of the World" was added to the title to address the show's impressive cavalcade of mounted militia from around the globe—Gauchos, Cossacks, Mongols, Arabs, Turks, Scots, Canadians, and others.

Buffalo Bill's rowdy road expositions blended just the right amounts of sentimentalism, showmanship, and sensationalism. Original admission prices were 25¢ for adults and 10¢ for children. Reserved seats were available for 50¢. Early profits enabled Cody to purchase a 4,000-acre ranch near North Platte, Nebraska, in 1886. During its most lucrative year, the show netted nearly $1 million. The most renowned member of the show, besides Buffalo Bill himself of course, was Phoebe Anne "Annie Oakley" Moses, whose trick shooting feats were truly phenomenal. She joined the show in 1885 and remained until 1901, reportedly earning $1,000 per week. Sitting Bull was also part of the consortium, although the Sioux chief's enthusiasm for acting lasted just four months. Buffalo Bill retired in 1916.

Cody purchased the Sheridan Inn's interior furnishings in 1894, though not the building itself, and retained the Canfields as general managers. Across from the Inn at the railroad depot, the W. F. Cody Transportation Company operated a stagecoach to Deadwood, South Dakota, some 250 miles away. Tickets were $7, which included 21 meals. Buffalo Bill sponsored many dances in the dining room for his traveling Wild West entourage. Cody lived at the Inn whenever he was in town from his show, frequently holding auditions while seated in one of the green rocking chairs on the massive front porch (it measures 116 feet long and 14 feet wide). Today the old chairs can be found in the hotel lobby. The Inn houses the original bar where Cody preferred to perch on the third stool from the left.

While at the Inn, Buffalo Bill planned the city of Cody (founded in 1896), including the town's Irma Hotel, naming it after his youngest daughter. Once the hotel was finished, he and his family took up residence there but visited the Sheridan Inn often. Some unfortunate episodes in Cody's life transpired at the Sheridan Inn. In 1901, he filed for divorce, although the legalities were never completed. His son-in-law, Horton Boals, husband of his daughter Arta, killed himself in a third-floor room of the hotel. A copy of his suicide note is displayed at the Inn.

In 1901, 22-year-old Catherine Arnold accompanied her parents to Sheridan from Virginia. She soon became employed as a seamstress at the Sheridan Inn. Over the ensuing 64 years, "Miss Kate" worked also as desk clerk, housekeeper, hostess, and sitter for the many children who stayed at the Inn with their families. She kept a garden behind the Inn, placing fresh flowers on the dining room tables almost every day. In 1965, Arnold was forced to leave the Inn when it was sold to a developer who planned to raze the structure and use the land for other purposes. However, in 1967, a woman named Neltje Kings purchased the Inn and over the next two decades maintained the first floor as a restaurant and dance hall.

When Miss Kate passed away in 1968, her last request was to return to the Sheridan Inn, her home for those many years. Her remains were cremated, then distributed within the wall in a room she periodically occupied on the third floor. Today, the room has been fully restored by the Preceptor Tau Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. It is said that Miss Kate is the spectral guardian of the Inn. Her presence is felt on a routine basis—turning lights off and on, opening and closing doors, pulling and drawing drapes, and other activities that mysteriously happen from time to time.

The architect of the Sheridan Inn is Thomas Kimball. In 1891, his Boston firm opened a branch office in Omaha. When completed, the Sheridan Inn had full electrical power generated by a coal-fired threshing machine engine. At midnight, a whistle would sound as the reminder to turn off the Inn's 200 lights! Kimball's unique plan was cited in Ripley's Believe It or Not! of 1949 as the "House of 69 Gables." Other noteworthy Kimball-designed buildings are the Omaha Public Library, St. Cecilia’s Cathedral in Omaha, and the Hall County Courthouse in Grand Island.

Many luminaries have stayed at the Sheridan Inn through the years. Among them are U.S. Army generals John J. "Black Jack" Pershing and Leonard Wood, author Ernest Hemingway, President Herbert Hoover, Vice-President Charles G. Dawes, politicians Thomas Dewey and Wendell Wilkie, humorist and social commentator Will Rogers, American West artist Charles Russell, actor and comedian Bob Hope, and numerous others.

The Sheridan Inn is located on the corner section at 856 North Broadway Street, one mile west on Fifth Street off I-90 at Exit 23. Guided tours of all three floors are available. The building is one of 17 Wyoming landmarks listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The structure and grounds are administered by the Sheridan Heritage Center, which purchased the Inn for $200,000 in 1990, saving it from destruction. In 2008, a massive renovation project commenced resulting in the opening of 20+ rooms for lodging. Each suite is named for one of Cody's associates from his Wild West show.

This activity culminates the second day of the Little Bighorn Battlefield excursion. A guided tour of the Sheridan Inn will be followed by supper in the dining room. Completion of this study guide is optional. Students who answer all questions correctly will receive 25 general bonus points. Please click here for additional information about the Sheridan Inn.