She was planning to retire there after completing her trip around the world. The crumbling remains of a cabin stand in the Shoshone Forest near the ghost town of Kirwin. The cabin was going to be Amelia Earhart’s getaway. She and her husband, George Putnam, honeymooned in the remote Absaroka mountains and stayed at the Double D ranch in 1934. While there, she stayed in a ranch overlooking a mountain stream.

James Dunrud, the son of ranch owner Carl Dunrud, said, “Dad said one of the things she really liked was the restful sound of the stream.” Earhart became good friends with ranch owner Carl Dunrud. She adored his children.

Buffalo Bill Museum Curator Dr. John Rumm said, “When Amelia Earhart made plans for her round the world flight, which was her last flight, she began sending possessions back to Dunrud, who was building a cabin for her and George Putnam, because the two of them loved Wyoming so much, they decided they were gong to retire there.”

So, how did those items end up in Cody, at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center? On her attempt to be the first person to fly solo around the world, Amelia was lost forever, over the Pacific.

Rumm reasoned, “George Putnam was distraught told Dunrud not to do any more work on the cabin, and Dunrud was left with these items belonging to Amelia Earhart which he then donated to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in 1966, 1968.”

What are the items? One is a flight jacket of course. Rumm thinks it came from Earhart’s early flying career. “To me it looks like the style of the 1920’s, and it may be from her first solo flight.” John Rumm says another coat came from the 1870’s. “It was a coat that had been presented to Amelia Earhart by William S. Hart”.

Hart was a famous movie actor of the time; the buffalo skin coat a historic artifact from the Indian Wars. The buffalo coat is on display in the Buffalo Bill Museum. The flight jacket is hidden in the stacks of the museum basement in Cody. And a few locals know where to find the remains of Earhart’s mountain cabin outside of Meeteetse about 50 miles away.

Dunrud wrote a book about his adventures, including his relationship with Earhart. It’s entitled “Let’s Go.”