Vintage Postcard: Buffalo Bill Reservoir & Cody Road to

Historical Context & Overview

Stretching westward from Cody, Wyoming, toward the East Entrance of Yellowstone National Park, US Highway 14/16/20—historically celebrated as the Cody Road—has long been hailed as one of the most picturesque drives in the American West. Theodore Roosevelt famously declared it "the fifty most beautiful miles in America." This vintage mid-century "Plastichrome" postcard captures a dramatic bend of Lake Shore Drive where steep, sun-baked sandstone cliffs plunge down to the deep turquoise waters of the Buffalo Bill Reservoir, complete with a dark road tunnel carved directly through the rocky spur.

Conquering the Shoshone Canyon

The history of Cody Road is inextricably bound to the visionary exploits of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and the pioneering engineering of the U.S. Reclamation Service (now the Bureau of Reclamation). In the late 1890s, Buffalo Bill envisioned turning the arid Big Horn Basin into a thriving agricultural and tourist destination. Recognizing that reliable water storage and direct transportation were essential to the region's future, work began on constructing a massive masonry arch dam across the Shoshone River canyon.

Completed in 1910, the Shoshone Dam stood at an astounding height of 325 feet, making it the tallest dam in the world at the time of its completion. Renamed the Buffalo Bill Dam in 1946 in honor of the legendary showman on the centennial of his birth, the structure impounded the Shoshone River to form the vast Buffalo Bill Reservoir. To give motorists access through the sheer granite and basalt walls of the canyon, road builders blasted a series of tunnels and narrow shelf roads directly along the reservoir's rugged perimeter.

Mid-Century Road Trips and Local Photography

Following World War II, America entered a golden age of automobile tourism. Armed with reliable family sedans, road atlases, and cameras, millions of vacationers set out to explore the National Parks. Highway routes like Cody Road became iconic corridors of western adventure, offering travelers breathtaking views around every winding curve.

Local studios captured these natural marvels for eager tourists looking to mail memories home. This vibrant image was photographed on Kodak Ektachrome film by Sturm Studio, a prominent local photography business based in Cody, Wyoming. Printed by Boston-based Colourpicture under their registered "Plastichrome" trademark, the postcard displays the rich color saturation and high-gloss finish that defined post-war vintage ephemera. Today, postcard views like this stand as timeless souvenirs of Western exploration and 20th-century American highway heritage.