Formerly: Occidental Hotel
Buffalo, Wyoming · Founded 1880 · Building: early 1900s, with 1908 and 1910 additions
A Buffalo hotel and saloon with 1880 roots, restored after a 1986–1997 closure and now operated by David and Jackie Stewart.
The Occidental Hotel Saloon operates at 10 North Main Street in Buffalo, Wyoming. It traces its origins to an 1880 log hotel built by Charles Buell, which was replaced and expanded into a brick hotel complex in the early 20th century. The building closed in 1986 and was rescued from deterioration after Dawn Dawson Wexo and John Wexo bought it in 1997; David and Jackie Stewart later became the sole owners.
Charles Buell built the original Occidental Hotel as a log structure in Buffalo, Wyoming.
Source: Cowboy State Daily, "Buffalo's Occidental Hotel: A Western Wyoming Original"; The Historic Occidental Hotel, "History"
The original log hotel was replaced by a two-story brick building in the early 20th century; later additions followed in 1908 and 1910.
Source: Cowboy State Daily, "Buffalo's Occidental Hotel: A Western Wyoming Original"
The hotel says its original rough barroom was replaced by a more elaborate saloon.
Source: The Historic Occidental Hotel homepage
The Occidental's restoration history says cattlemen John and Al Smith won ownership of the hotel and saloon in a poker game, after which Margaret Smith managed it for decades. This account has not been independently verified in this review.
Source: The Historic Occidental Hotel, "Restoration"
The Occidental closed after a long decline and remained closed for roughly 11 years.
Source: Cowboy State Daily, "Buffalo's Occidental Hotel: A Western Wyoming Original"
Dawn Dawson Wexo and John Wexo purchased the closed building and began a long restoration process.
Source: Cowboy State Daily, "Buffalo's Occidental Hotel: A Western Wyoming Original"; Wyoming Cultural Trust, "Preservation Efforts for the Historic Occidental Hotel"
The Occidental's official history dates the Saloon's Famous Occidental Jam to 2006.
Source: The Historic Occidental Hotel, "History"
David and Jackie Stewart became sole owners of the Occidental and completed restoration of 19 hotel rooms.
Source: Wyoming Cultural Trust, "Preservation Efforts for the Historic Occidental Hotel"
The Historic Occidental Hotel continues to operate with lodging, dining, a saloon, and events in downtown Buffalo.
Source: The Historic Occidental Hotel website; The Historic Occidental Hotel, "Proprietors"
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The Occidental closed in 1986 and remained closed until its 1997 purchase and restoration. It has an 1880 origin and is operating today, but it did not maintain uninterrupted operation across that period.
The Occidental's own history names these figures among early guests and patrons, but this review did not locate guest-register entries, contemporary news reports, photographs, travel schedules, or other primary evidence confirming each individual visit. The stories remain part of the hotel's frontier lore rather than verified visits for every named figure.
The Occidental is frequently connected with Owen Wister and the frontier world of The Virginian, but this review did not locate Wister's correspondence, notes, published statements, or a scholarly source demonstrating that a particular scene was based on this hotel or saloon.
The building is associated with stories about bullet holes in its ceiling, but this review did not locate an architectural inspection, forensic assessment, contemporary report, or restoration record that dates the holes or attributes them to specific historic gunfights.
Modern haunted-tourism accounts describe reported apparitions and unexplained experiences at the hotel. The existence of a haunted reputation is documentable as modern folklore, but the alleged paranormal events cannot be historically or scientifically verified.
Wyoming Cultural Trust reports that the Stewarts became sole owners in 2013, and the hotel's current proprietor page identifies David and Jackie Stewart as owner-operators.
The Occidental Hotel and Saloon has operated continuously since 1880.
The Occidental originated in 1880 but closed in 1986 and remained closed until its 1997 purchase and restoration.
Source: Cowboy State Daily, "Buffalo's Occidental Hotel: A Western Wyoming Original"; The Historic Occidental Hotel, "History"
The current brick Occidental building was constructed in 1880 or in a single 1903 project.
The original 1880 hotel was a log building. It was replaced by brick construction in the early 1900s and expanded with additions in 1908 and 1910.
Source: Cowboy State Daily, "Buffalo's Occidental Hotel: A Western Wyoming Original"
Dawn Dawson and John Wold bought the Occidental in 1997.
Dawn Dawson Wexo and John Wexo purchased the deteriorated Occidental in 1997 and began its restoration.
Source: Cowboy State Daily, "Buffalo's Occidental Hotel: A Western Wyoming Original"; Wyoming Cultural Trust, "Preservation Efforts for the Historic Occidental Hotel"
Ghost Adventures investigated the Occidental Hotel in a 2012 episode.
This review did not locate reliable evidence for a Ghost Adventures episode or visit at the Occidental Hotel. The claim should not be published without a verifiable episode record.
Source: No reliable source located in this review
The Occidental survives because preservation-minded owners restored a deteriorated historic hotel rather than treating it as a relic of an unbroken Old West business. Its draw now combines overnight lodging, dining, the saloon, music, and a building full of frontier-era stories—some historically grounded, others still unverified folklore.
The Occidental Hotel Saloon in Buffalo, Wyoming, traces its origins to Charles Buell's 1880 log hotel. The log building was replaced and enlarged with brick construction in the early 1900s, but the hotel later declined and closed in 1986. Dawn Dawson Wexo and John Wexo purchased the closed building in 1997 for restoration, and David and Jackie Stewart became its sole owners in 2013.
No. The Occidental has roots in 1880, but it closed in 1986 and did not reopen until restoration began after a 1997 purchase. That documented interruption means it cannot be described as Wyoming's oldest continuously operating saloon, even though it is one of the state's important historic hotel-and-saloon sites.
The Occidental Hotel's own history says Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Theodore Roosevelt visited or patronized the property. This review did not locate primary records that independently confirm the individual visits, so the stories should be treated as plausible hotel lore rather than settled historical fact.
This review did not identify a reliable earliest published source dating the Occidental's haunted reputation. Modern ghost-tourism accounts document that the hotel is currently promoted as haunted and repeat stories of apparitions and unexplained events, but they do not establish when the stories first entered the public record.
10 N Main St, Buffalo, WY 82834
(307) 684-0451
The Occidental operates as a hotel, saloon, and dining destination in downtown Buffalo; confirm room availability, dining hours, and music schedules before visiting.