Sunday, August 7, 2011

Buffalo Bill slept here

While traveling through eastern Wyoming we passed Pahaska Tepee Lodge, the 1904 hunting lodge built by Buffalo Bill Cody. The Lodge was mostly used as a stop over for people visiting Yellowstone National Park but also as a base for Cody's back country expeditions. The the main lodge is crafted using local Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) and has some very interesting construction features that occur when building material is plentiful.

Pahaska Tepee Lodge entrance, c. 2011
Pahaska Tepee Lodge, c.1940
On the side porch new tongue & groove flooring has been
added to the original half log decking. Hopefully this will be
restored to the appropriate deck at some point in the future.
Here, Cody stands on the same porch.
Under foot is the half  log decking minus
the applied modern tongue & groove.
Half log steps with a somewhat strange corner post repair.
A side door was very sturdily
built with sawn Ponderosa Pine.
I was very tempted to remove the
inappropriate sign.
The joints are dovetailed,
making a very permanent connection.

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About Me

I am a landscape designer based in Key West, Florida and Surry, Maine. I place much attention with the house, not as an adjunct to the garden but as an integral element. This symbiotic relationship will always produce the best and most natural environment. The best description for my views on the relationship between the garden and the house comes from the naturalist Charles Keeler, “landscape design with occasional rooms in case of rain”