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day. Intent on making his town the most
popular gateway to Yellowstone, Cody built
Pahaska Tepee near the East entrance to
the park. Pahaska is a shortened version of
the Lakota name for Buffalo Bill, meaning
Long Hair. Tepee is Lakota for lodge and
not a misspelling of the word teepee. Thus,
the name means Long Hair’s Lodge.
The two-story log lodge served as a
tourism hotel in the summers and a get-
away and hunting lodge for Bill and friends
from all over the world. Pahaska was never
Bill’s full-time home, though he had a pri-
vate suite upstairs. It’s still a working re-
sort today, with several cabins scattered
around forested grounds.
I met Ron Pierce at the lodge during my
daylong Buffalo Bill education, and was im-
pressed by his gaunt visage, scraggly beard
and long hair all Buffalo Bill. As we toured

170 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2024