WLM Summer 2014 | Page 15

WLM | legend C olonel Tim McCoy was a legend of Old Hollywood Westerns, and a lover of Wyoming life. While Tim McCoy wasn’t born in Wyoming, he got here as fast as he could. One of McCoy’s most memorable experiences as a child occurred on July 16, 1898, when he first met Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody at a Wild West Show in McCoy’s hometown of Saginaw, Michigan. McCoy’s father, as Saginaw Chief of Police, arranged for the imaginative young McCoy to meet Cody. The fantastic spectacle left a lasting impact on the seven year old youngster. McCoy recounted in his biography, written with his son Ron McCoy, Tim McCoy Remembers the West: “What a thrill that was! Cody was the most impressive man I had ever seen, unmatched either before or since.” As a young man, McCoy rode horses and hung around the Saginaw freight yards where a railroad agent imported half-bro