Kirwin, Wyoming

The former mining town of Kirwin, Wyo., lies 38 miles southwest of Meeteetse at the headwaters of the Wood River and at the end of Forest Service Road 200, in the Shoshone National Forest. The town was a gold- and silver-mining camp beginning in the 1880s, peaked around 1905 and was mostly abandoned after a 1907 avalanche killed three people. In the 1930s, the Dunrud family established a dude ranch nearby, where aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her husband, George Putnam, were having a cabin built at the time of her disappearance in 1937. The trip is best made in dry weather with a four-wheel-drive vehicle. For directions and likely road conditions, inquire at the Meeteetse Museums or phone the U.S. Forest Service office in Cody, Wyo. at (307) 527-6241.