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From: "Jean Rice" <>
Subject: [Irish-American] William F. CODY (1846-1917) - Rugged Frontiersman/Showman "Buffalo Bill" -- (BURKE)
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 17:42:37 -0700
SNIPPET: The legend and career of rugged frontiersman William Frederick
CODY began on 25 Nov 1869, when the "New York Weekly" published the first
installment of a new series, "Buffalo Bill, King of the Border Men." Author
Ned BUNTLINE had gone west in search of an authentic hero and found him the
person of Cody, a 24-year-old Irish-American (roots in Co. Tipperary?). It
was the beginning of an American legend and a career that would span more
than 30 years.
CODY was born in Scott Co., IA, on Feb. 18. 1846. When he was eight the
family moved to KS. After his father died, he left school and tried his
hand a a fur trapper, gold prospector, and a Pony Express rider on a mail
route in 1860. During the Civil war Cody joined a "Jayhawk" (antislavery)
organization and later served as a Union scout. After the war his ventures
included the operation of a KS hotel. When that venture failed he started a
freighting business but Indians captured his wagon and horses. After
speculating in land and doing railroad construction work, he became a
buffalo hunter supplying meat to the Kansas Pacific RR workmen; his amazing
skill with the rifle (he killed over 4,000 buffalo) earned him the nickname
"Buffalo Bill." Subsequent service with the Fifth Cavalry as a civilian
scout brought him to many violent encounters with Sioux and Cheyenne
warriors, including one in which he shot and killed the Cheyenne chief Tall
Bull. From 1868 to 1872, Cody served as a civilian scout military forces
fighting Indians. Between campaigns he served as a guide for several
parties of buffalo hunters. Cody was awarded the Congressional Medal of
honor for gallantry with a fight with Indians on the Platte River in 1872.
(Congress revoked the award in 1917 because Cody was not a member of the
military at the time the award was made).
In 1872, William CODY began his long career as a showman. He appeared first
in "Wild West" shows in theaters He took the leading role in a play,
"Scouts of the Prairies, " which co-starred "Texas Jack" OMOHUNDRO, and
later, James Butler ("Wild Bill") HICKOK. Cody also made several trips
back to the plains during this time to scout and to raise cattle. In 1876,
he took part in a skirmish with Cheyenne Indians in which he was said to
have killed and scalped a young chief, Yellow Hand.
Ned BUNTLINE's original stories created a national mania over Buffalo Bill"
and made CODY a celebrity. Dozens of writers would eventually churn out
more than 3,000 "Buffalo Bill" dime novels. Cody's "The Wild West,"
combined theater, circus, and rodeo for audiences starved for the legends
and lore of the fast-disappearing West and had debuted in Omaha, NE in May
1883. It proved a huge hit and Cody took it on the road and town after
town brought out capacity crowds. It grew more elaborate every year,
eventually comprising 400 horses and 650 cowboys, Indians, musicians and
support staff. They thrilled audiences with huge re-enactments of cattle
drives and clashes between Indians and cowboy. Over time Cody added big
name stars like sharp-shooter Annie OAKLEY, and Sitting Bull.
Cody, himself, attributed much of his success to the work of his PR man and
fellow Irish-American, John M. BURKE. At the height of his career, Cody was
an international media superstar, earning an estimated one million dollars a
year from ticket sales and endorsements for products such as Winchester
rifles and Stetson hats. Unfortunately, Cody blew every penny on high
living and poor investments and dire financial straits forced him to keep
performing long after his own shooting skills and popularity had faded until
shortly before his death. After 1894, Cody lived on a ranch in the Bighorn
Basin in northwest WY. He died in Colorado in 1917 at the age of 72. His
grave is located on Lookout Mtn, near the town of Golden, CO.
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