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If you rebuild it, they will come.This Week in History: Wild Wild West
Happy Birthday Buffalo Bill! Born William Frederick Cody on February 26, 1846 near what is now Leclaire, Iowa, this little cowboy would grow up to capture the world’s imagination. Through his traveling “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” extravaganza, Cody brought both the mythologized and the actual Wild West to life. But Bill was more than just a showman, he was a hunter, conservationist, war hero, storyteller, a town builder and a businessman. He is quoted as saying about himself: “Wild Bill was a strange character…He was a Plains-man in every sense of the word.” Since that is sufficiently vague, let’s find out some more about him.
- Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872. It was revoked in 1917 due to new rules governing the award, but restored to him in 1989.
- He secured a contract with the Kansas Pacific Railroad to provide buffalo meat. Young Bill killed 4,280 buffalo in 18 months. That was enough to earn him the nickname, “Buffalo Bill”, which had belonged to another Bill before him.
- He made his stage debut in Chicago in 1872, but he didn’t found his famous “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” until 1883 in North Platte, Nebraska. Famous names from his show include Wild Bill Hickock, Annie Oakley, and even Sitting Bull was in the cast. While Bill did showcase the more militant side of the Plains Indians during the show, he asked that the Native American families of the performers set up their villages on the fairgrounds to show the peaceful side of their culture as well.
- Buffalo Bill was one of the founders of Cody, Wyoming, which is why it bears his name.
- He was a conservationist. His concerns about irrigation and water conservation surrounding the Shoshone River led to a partnership with the federal government. The Shoshone Project was one of the first federal water development projects undertaken. The Shoshone Dam was later named the Buffalo Bill Dam. Also, in spite of his nickname, Cody was an advocate of a hunting season and placing controls on bison killing.
- The K.A.A. Gent football team in Ghent, Belgium is nicknamed “De Buffalo’s.” This name started after Wild Bill’s show traveled through Europe in the early 1900s. The Buffalo Bills NFL team is also named after Cody.
So, where can you hunt down Buffalo Bill history in the present? Try these places:
- Golden, Colorado: Here is where Buffalo Bill is buried (there is some controversy surrounding the events that led to his burial here, but I feel like there is controversy surrounding most famous people’s graves). Lookout Mountain is not only a gravesite, but a museum as well. And, if you are in the area on March 1st, you can join in on the Buffalo Bill Birthday Celebration. You’d better believe there is going to be cake.
- North Platte, Nebraska: Cody Park Wild West Memorial features a statue given to the people of North Platte from the people of Great Britain in appreciation for the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West tour. However, the real draw here is Bill’s ranch, which he named Scout’s Rest Ranch, but is now known as Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park.
- Cody, Wyoming: The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody houses 5 different museums. The Buffalo Bill Museum shares this space with the Plains Indian Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum, the Draper Museum of Natural History, and the Whitney Gallery of Western Art. So, no matter your interests there is something there you’ll find interesting. Other top attractions include Old Trail Town, the Buffalo Bill Dam and Visitor Center, Tecumseh’s Miniature Village and Museum, and the Cody Murals. Here for details. But if you’re looking for a little extra excitement, head to the Irma Hotel (which Buffalo Bill built) for nightly gun shootout re-enactments. Also, Yellowstone National Park is nearby so you may as well go pay Old Faithful a visit while you are in the area.
- Chicago, Illinois: Buffalo Bill had asked to be included in the 1893 Columbian Exposition, but the fair committee turned him down. So, he did what any good businessman would do: he set up shop right next store. His Wild West show was a ranging success, sometimes enraging the fair organizers when visitors to the fair were drawn away. If you are in Chicago, you can still see some remnants of the fair. The Field Museum (which was originally named the Columbian Museum of Chicago when it was located on the fairgrounds, but later moved to the Museum Campus where it currently resides) and the Museum of Science and Industry are both identical to the same Fair building: the Palace of Fine Arts (the Field is a replica, while MSI is the renovated original). The Chicago History Museum has plenty of artifacts from the Fair as well.
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