As we leave Yellowstone, this is the view looking across the lake.  The smoke is so bad from Idaho fires, there is no view.  We are glad to leave the smoke, but not the beautiful park.

CODY, WYOMING

We arrived in Cody, staying for 3 days in order to see this museum completely.  It takes at least 2 days to go through the extensive collections covering Buffalo Bill, Plains Indians, Western Art, and Firearms exhibits.

VIRGINIA CITY

 From Butte, we drove south along the Ruby River to Virginia City and Nevada City.  The air quality south of Whitefish, all the way down, has been super bad due to huge fires in Idaho that are still burning out of control.
Anyway, we camped here for 2 nights, and took the day to stroll up and down main street.  Virginia City is usually bustling in the summer, with all the shops and stores open, train rides, and dance hall performances. We hit the end of the season, so things were winding down....but it was nice, and they had neat museums. 
Virginia and Nevada Cities sprang up in the 1860's when gold was discovered, and the boom was on.
A Montana couple began buying the buildings and keeping them from destruction, and now the Montana Heritage Commission oversees the sites.

 Since we arrived in September, the season is winding down, and a lot of the stores were closed....so, we peeked in and got some shots.

This doesn't look like easy walking to me, but it looks to be about my size (I have big feet).

 Most of these buildings and artifacts are original to the town, kept in a sort of arrested decay. 

Boot Hill, where 5 "road agents" are buried after being hanged together on Main street, from the beam of an unfinished building.

This train depot was moved to Virginia City in 1964, as a reminder of the lack of rail connections that could have changed the city's future. 

 Passenger car

 Caboose

 Old steam engine, probably used as a little yard switcher.

This is the Alder Gulch train that runs in the summer from Virginia City to Nevada City

BUTTE, MONTANA, AND THE WORLD MUSEUM OF MINING

 On our way (slowly) south, we were told by Gail and Darrell to see Butte, because it is a historical mining town.  We had no idea.  This museum sits on the site of the Orphan Girl Mine, one of many mines in Butte. This mine ran from 1875 to 1956, and produced mostly silver and zinc.  The site overlooks the area of the 1864 gold strike.  Butte's population swelled to 100,000 during the heyday of precious ore mining.

The 44 acre  museum contains thousands of artifacts, including buildings brought to the site and restored as a town called Hell Roaring Gulch.