Dubois and Buffalo are True West Towns

Two Wyoming towns, Dubois and Buffalo, are in True West magazine's rankings of the top ten true western towns of 2011.  Both towns are featured in the January/February 2011 issue of the magazine in newsstands now.

True West magazine ranks towns based on how each town preserves its history through historic buildings, museums, events and promotions of historic resources.

Dubois placed second in the rankings.  The magazine article commends the way Dubois regularly preserves its local heritage through annual events, like the Swedish Smorgasbord and and the Circle-Up Chuckwagon Dinner Show. The True West editors also really like the fact the town decided to stand up to the people from Washington who forced them to rename the town Dubois, by purposefully mispronouncing it, "dew-boyz".  This small town of 962 manages to double its population thanks to the excellent hunting and fishing and the rugged Rocky Mountain territory which surrounds the town is home to one of the largest herds of bighorn sheep.

The town of Buffalo was ranked seventh by True West. The article highlights the historic buildings which line Buffalo's main street, including the Occidental hotel.  Built in 1880, its' past visitors include Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Buffalo Bill Cody, Tom Horn, Theodore Roosevelt and Calamity Jane.  Apparently, bullet holes from those wild west days are still visible in the fully operational business.  Just outside the town the sites of many battles can be found, the least of which is the Fetterman Battlefield, a national Historic Site.