Buffalo Bill's Grave - Butterflies and Beads

I was at the far west side of Denver today and on the way back stopped at Buffalo Bill's Grave. It was a beautiful day and I had never stopped there before.

Right near the grave there was a Swallowtail Butterfly sunning himself and I had to snap a few photos. Isn't he beautiful?

The site is on the top of Lookout Mountain which has great views in all directions. Some have changed since the burial in 1917 - I don't think there were nearly as many radio towers back then.

Others are probably unchanged - except for the trees. Pictures from 1917 showed no trees nearby.

Inside the museum was the history of Buffalo Bill and artifacts from his life and shows. The best part was the Indian Beadwork. Pouches, gloves, necklaces and shirts all covered with beads. There was even a "design your own beadwork" display.

It was a table of blocks, each side of the blocks a different color. You could rotate the blocks to form your own design. 70% of the design was how I found it, but I had to re-arrange some of the blocks. They even had small sheets with peyote graph paper so you could record your design.

What a great way to play with different designs. The display above was about 2 feet wide. Graph paper is so small and if you make a mistake you have to erase. Here you could just keep turning. I would love to have a set of blocks like this at home.

It's easy to drive by an interesting sign again and again. But sometime you should stop and see what's there. You might be surprised at what you find.

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