Home to 1,500+ costumes from the early west

Over the years, the extensive 1890’s period costume collection of the Cheyenne Frontier Days™ WHEELS  has grown to include more than 1,500+ pieces, ranging from women’s and men’s authentic apparel and hats, to vintage bicycles and saddles.

After more than seven moves over the course of four decades—and temporary locations including the basement of a dry-cleaning business and an abandoned gas station—these treasured relics of the American West finally have a home.

Thanks to a generous gift from Louise and Frank Cole (both associated with the Cheyenne Frontier Days™ Grand Parades for much of their lives), the historic costume collection now resides year-round in a temperature-controlled space, tucked inside the Marietta Dinneen Carriage Barn.

In addition to storing the collection, the Cole Costume Room includes dressing rooms, a workspace to maintain the costumes, and office space to facilitate checking costumes in and out for use in the parades—all of which come in particularly handy for the busy WHEELS. Not only do they manage the care and maintenance of the entire costume collection, the WHEELS also recruit (and outfit) riders for every historic vehicle in the Cheyenne Frontier Days™ parades, as well as wash hundreds of historic wagons and carriages in advance of the event.