The evolution of government and of civilization, and the adaptation of one to the other, are interesting to the student of history; but particularly fascinating is the story of the reclamation of the Great West and the supplanting of the wild savages that from primeval days were lords of the country but are now become wards of the Government, whose guardianship they were forced to recognize. This story is one well calculated to inspire a feeling of pride even in the breasts of those whose sentimentality impels to commiserate the hard lot of the poor Indian; for, rising above the formerly neglected prairies of the West are innumerable monuments of thrift, industry, intelligence, and all the contributory comforts and luxuries of a peaceful and God-fearing civilization; those evidences that proclaim to a wondering world the march of the Anglo-Saxon race towards the attainment of perfect citizenship and liberal, free and stable government. For the small part I have taken in redeeming the West from savagery, I am indebted to circumstances rather than to a natural, inborn inclination for the strife inseparable from the life I was almost forced to choose. But to especially good fortune must I make my acknowledgments, which protected me or preserved my life a hundred times when the very hand of vengeful fate appeared to lower its grasp above my head, and hope seemed a mockery that I had turned my back upon. Good fortune has also stood ever responsive to my call since I first came before the public, and to the generous American and English peoples, as well as to kind fortune, I here pour out a full measure of profound thanks and hearty appreciation, and shall hold them gratefully in my memory as a remembrance of old friends, until the drum taps "lights out" at the close of the evening of my eventful life.
Sincerely Yours,
W. F. Cody
Buffalo Bill |
William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody was born just west of the Mississippi River near LeClaire, Iowa on February 26, 1846. At the age of 12, he worked for a wagon train going to Fort Laramie; one year later he participated in the gold rush to Colorado; at age 15, he rode for the Pony Express. By the end of his life, Buffalo Bill had come to symbolize the American frontier itself.
Cody served as a scout for the Union's 7th Kansas Cavalry during the last years of the Civil War. On March 6, 1866, Will married Louisa Frederici (1843-1921) in St. Louis. They had four children: Arta Lucille (1866-1904), Kit Carson (1870-1876), Orra Maude (1872-1883) and Irma Louise (1883-1918). In 1867, Cody began hunting buffalo for Kansas Pacific work crews, earning his moniker "Buffalo Bill" and his reputation as an expert shot. The next year, Cody was employed by the U.S. Army as a civilian scout and guide for the Fifth Cavalry. His experience and skills as a plainsman made him an invaluable tracker and fighter. In 1872, Cody became one of only four civilian scouts to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars for valor in action.
General Phillip Sheridan saw in Cody a combination of charisma and frontier know-how - a natural public relations windfall for the Army of the West, which was in need of some good publicity. Under the protection of the Army, visiting dignitaries - such as the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia - took lavish hunting expeditions with Buffalo Bill as their guide and accompanied by General Sheridan and Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer. These excursions were full-scale media events, glamorizing both the military and Cody.
The pulp industry romanticized the exploits of the heroes and villains who roamed the plains, and Buffalo Bill was a central figure of these inflated truths. In 1872, Cody was persuaded by dime novel writer Ned Buntline to take to the stage, portraying himself. The show business bug hit, and led to the formation of Cody's own "combination" troupe in 1873. The group included James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok and Texas Jack Omohundro - being authentic Western characters they gave some credence to the melodrama.
During the height of the Plains Indians resistance to white settlement, Cody returned to the prairies in the summer to scout for the Fifth Army. On July 17, 1876, just three weeks after Custer and the Seventh Cavalry were defeated at Little Big Horn, Cody's regiment intercepted a band of Cheyenne warriors. When Buffalo Bill, in his stage clothing, killed and scalped a Cheyenne warrior named Yellow Hair (often mis-translated as "Yellow Hand"), he reportedly cried out "First scalp for Custer!" Buffalo Bill the frontiersman had proven that Buffalo Bill the character was no mere actor.
In 1883, Cody created what would become Buffalo Bill's Wild West, a vehicle that propelled him to fortune and worldwide fame. The Wild West would run - in one form or another- for 30 years, charming crowds throughout the United States and Europe. In Europe, Cody was called "Nature's Nobleman" because he was someone who had grown up on the frontier yet represented all of those best aspects of civilization.
Despite his characterization as a figure from the past, Buffalo Bill always looked to the future. As a businessman, he invested in projects that he hoped might bring economic growth to the West. With his earnings he invested in an Arizona mine, hotels in Sheridan and Cody, Wyoming, stock breeding, ranching, coal and oil development, film making, town building, tourism, and publishing. In 1899, he established his own newspaper, the Cody Enterprise, which is still the main source of information for the town of Cody today. Taking advantage of his celebrity status, Cody was an early advocate of women's suffrage and the just treatment of American Indians.
By the turn of the 20th century, William F. Cody was probably the most famous American in the world. No one symbolized the West for Americans and Europeans better than Buffalo Bill. He was consulted on Western matters by every American president from Ulysses S. Grant to Woodrow Wilson. He counted among his friends such artists and writers as Frederic Remington and Mark Twain. He was honored by royalty, praised by military leaders, and feted by business tycoons. Cody was America's ideal man: a courtly, chivalrous, self-made fellow who could shoot a gun and charm a crowd. Yet as Annie Oakley put it - he was the simplest of men, as comfortable with cowboys as with kings.
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