An authentic 1880 frontier hotel in Buffalo, beautifully restored with its original saloon, bullet-pocked tin ceilings, and guest rooms once occupied by Butch Cassidy and Calamity Jane.
The Occidental Hotel in Buffalo, Wyoming, began in 1879 as a simple canvas tent pitched along Clear Creek by Wisconsin traveler Charles Buell. By 1880, Buell and his partner A.J. McCray replaced the tent with a permanent log structure, establishing a crucial outpost along the Bozeman Trail. Over the decades, the property expanded into a grand brick hotel that hosted some of the most famous figures of the American frontier. Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, and Teddy Roosevelt booked rooms here, while outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid famously requested a room with a view of the sheriff's office across the street. The hotel also served as a literary incubator: Owen Wister drafted portions of his landmark Western novel, *The Virginian*, while staying in a balcony room overlooking Main Street, ultimately staging his book's climactic shootout directly outside the hotel saloon.
The preservation of the Occidental is largely credited to Margaret Smith, who managed the hotel for 55 years until her death in 1976. Naturally frugal, Smith refused to discard old furnishings or destroy historic features. Instead of ripping out the ornate tin ceilings, she simply covered them with false ceilings or fresh coats of paint, effectively sealing the frontier era in a time capsule. In 1997, Dawn Dawson purchased the dilapidated building just weeks before its scheduled demolition, initiating a massive, decade-long restoration. Current owners David and Jackie Stewart, who took full ownership in 2015, completed the restoration of the 18 guest rooms and suites. Each room is individually decorated with original antiques salvaged from Smith’s decades of storage, offering guests authentic brass beds and Victorian-era dressers alongside modern private bathrooms and air conditioning.
Downstairs, the hotel's public spaces remain remarkably intact. The 1908 Historic Saloon features its original hand-struck tin ceiling, complete with historic bullet holes from long-ago disputes, and a magnificent backbar crafted by Charles Rennie Mackintosh that was imported from Glasgow, Scotland. Dining options on the property include the Busy Bee Cafe, a local breakfast and lunch fixture since 1927 that overlooks Clear Creek, and the upscale Virginian Restaurant, which serves fine dining in an opulent late-nineteenth-century setting. On Thursday nights, the saloon hosts the famous Occidental Jam, a live acoustic music tradition started by David Stewart in 2006 that continues to draw musicians and travelers from across the West.
Book a balcony room overlooking Main Street to stay where Owen Wister drafted portions of The Virginian, then head down to the saloon to find the bullet holes in the original 1908 tin ceiling.
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