From Childhood
to Fame William
F. "Buffalo
Bill" Cody
was born in LeClaire,
Iowa in 1846. While
he was still a child,
his family moved
to Leavenworth,
Kansas. Cody left
home at the young
age of eleven to
herd cattle and
work as a driver
on a wagon train,
crossing the Great
Plains several times.
He went on to fur
trapping and gold
mining, then joined
the Pony Express
in 1860. After the
Civil War, Cody
scouted for the
Army and gained
the nickname "Buffalo
Bill" as a
hunter. Cody’s
life in the West
offered the stuff
from which legends
were made and he
soon was popularized
in newspaper accounts
and dime novels.
Buffalo
Bill on Stage Buffalo
Bill’s show
business career
began on December
17, 1872 in Chicago;
he was age twenty-six.
"Scouts of
the Prairie"
was a drama created
by dime novelist
Ned Buntline, who
appeared in it with
Cody and another
well-known scout,
"Texas Jack"
Omohundro. The show
was a success, despite
one critic’s
characterization
of Cody as "a
good-looking fellow,
tall and straight
as an arrow, but
ridiculous as an
actor." Other
critics noted Cody’s
manner of charming
the audience and
the realism he brought
to his performance.
Actor or not, Buffalo
Bill was a showman.
The “Combination” The following
season Cody organized
his own troupe,
the Buffalo Bill
Combination. The
troupe’s show
"Scouts of
the Plains"
included Buffalo
Bill, Texas Jack,
and Cody’s
old friend "Wild
Bill" Hickok.
Wild Bill and Texas
Jack eventually
left the show, but
Cody continued staging
a variety of plays
until 1882. That
year the Wild West
show was conceived.
It was an outdoor
spectacle, designed
to both educate
and entertain, using
a cast of hundreds
as well as live
buffalo, elk, cattle,
and other animals.
Buffalo
Bill and the Cowboys "Buffalo
Bill’s Wild
West" used
real cow-boys and
cow-girls, recruited
from ranches in
the West. At first,
few people shared
Cody's admiration
of the cow-boys.
Most people regarded
them as coarse cattle
drivers and used
the term "cow-boy"
as an insult. By
the end of the 19th
century, the cow-boy
became the much
more popular "cowboy,"
thanks in large
part to the Buffalo
Bill Wild West shows.
The shows demonstrated
bronco riding, roping,
and other skills
that would later
become part of public
rodeos.
The Wild
West in Britain The Wild
West was invited
to England in 1887
to be the main American
contribution to
Queen Victoria’s
Golden Jubilee celebration.
"Buffalo Bill’s
Wild West"
was the hit of the
celebration, visited
by nobility, commoners,
and by Queen Victoria
herself. The show
was credited with
improving British
and American relations.
"Buffalo Bill’s
Wild West"
rose to international
fame and returned
two years later
to tour the European
Continent.
The Americans Today there
is a lot of confusion
about the relationship
between Buffalo
Bill and the Indians.
Cody treated his
former foes with
great respect and
dignity, giving
them an opportunity
to leave the reservation
and represent their
culture when many
were trying to destroy
it. Wild West show
posters frequently
portrayed the Indian
as "The American."
Buffalo Bill stated
in 1885 that "The
defeat of Custer
was not a massacre.
The Indians were
being pursued by
skilled fighters
with orders to kill.
For centuries they
had been hounded
from the Atlantic
to the Pacific and
back again. They
had their wives
and little ones
to protect and they
were fighting for
their existence."
These are not the
words of an arrogant
and bloodthirsty
Indian killer, a
manner in which
he is sometime incorrectly
portrayed.
Fair Play
in the Wild West Buffalo
Bill had a great
love and concern
for people, particularly
children. Many free
passes were distributed
to orphanages when
the Wild West show
came to town. He
also was a champion
of women’s
rights, advocating
equal pay and voting
rights for women.
The women in his
show received comparable
pay for comparable
work to the men
in the show. In
fact, the women
in the Wild West
often out-rode and
out-gunned the men.
Certainly the most
famous was Annie
Oakley, nicknamed
Little Sure Shot
by Sitting Bull.
Buffalo
Bill and Denver In spring
of 1859 Buffalo
Bill made his first
trip to Colorado
as part of the Pikes
Peak Gold Rush.
He passed through
the new town of
Denver on his way
to the gold fields
near Black Hawk
where he searched
for gold for two
months, meeting
with little success.
On his return to
Kansas he stopped
in Julesburg, Colorado,
where he was recruited
to ride in the Pony
Express. Most of
his time with the
Pony Express was
spent in Kansas,
although occasionally
he traveled across
northeast Colorado.
The Pony Express
route did not go
to Denver but cut
north into Nebraska
and Wyoming.
Cody visited Denver
in the 1870s to
perform in a local
opera house with
the Buffalo Bill
Combination. He
continued to tour
through Colorado,
performing at the
Central City Opera
(still in operation)
and at another opera
house in Georgetown.
After Buffalo Bill
organized his Wild
West show, he visited
Denver and Colorado
many times. Altogether,
Buffalo Bill performed
35 times in Colorado
between 1886 and
1916.
End of
the Wild West In 1913
Buffalo Bill borrowed
money from Denver
businessman Harry
Tammen, not realizing
the loan would be
used to force him
to appear in Tammen’s
Sells Floto Circus.
Cody fell behind
in payment of the
loan and, when the
Wild West stopped
in Denver to do
a show that July,
Tammen had the show
seized. The Wild
West was sold off
at auction in Denver’s
Overland Park and
Cody was forced
to join the Sells
Floto Circus. Eventually
he got out of that
contract but was
never able to re-build
his Wild West.
Death in
Denver In 1917
Buffalo Bill died
while visiting his
sister’s home
in Denver. According
to his wife Louisa
it was his choice
that he be buried
on Lookout Mountain
overlooking Denver
and the Plains.
Despite the claims
of the citizens
of Cody, Wyoming
that he really wanted
to be buried near
Cody, close friends
like Goldie Griffith
and Johnny Baker,
as well as the priest
who administered
last rites, affirmed
that Lookout Mountain
was indeed his choice.
On June 3, 1917,
Buffalo Bill was
buried on Lookout
Mountain, a promontory
with spectacular
views of both the
mountains and plains,
places where he
had spent the happiest
times of his life.
The Museum Louisa,
who had married
Buffalo Bill back
before he became
famous, was buried
next to her husband
four years later.
That year, 1921,
the Buffalo Bill
Memorial Museum
was begun by Johnny
Baker, close friend
and unofficial foster
son to Buffalo Bill.
Just as millions
of people saw Buffalo
Bill in his Wild
West shows during
his life, millions
of persons have
visited Buffalo
Bill’s grave
in the years since
1917. Today it is
one of the top visitor
attractions in Denver
and Colorado.
Did
Buffalo Bill Visit
Your Town?
During the course
of his acting and
showman carrier,
Cody performed in
over 1400 communities
in North America
and Europe. Did
he visit your town?
Could your relatives
have attended a
Wild West performance?
Click here for a
full listing of
Cody’s performance
sites and dates.
“Did Buffalo
Bill Visit Your
Town?”
WAYMARK
IT!
Do you have a camera
and GPS locater?
Help the Museum
document Cody’s
travels by Waymarking
sites he has visited,
monuments placed
in his honor, or
any other Cody related
business or attraction.
Visit
the online Buffalo
Bill Waymarking
category here.
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archives
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