Buffalo Bill, scout, entrepreneur, showman dies this month in 1917

A poster about the Wild West Show in England on display at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody.

On January 10, 1917, the world lost one of the most celebrated men in the West, if not the entire world.

In The Worland Grit newspaper, January 12, 1917 this article appeared. Col.W.F. Cody Passed Away: Denver, Colo., Jan. 10.— Colonel William Frederick Cody, “Buffalo Bill,” soldier, hunter, scout and the idol of juvenile America, died at 12:03 p.m. today at the home of his sister here. With Colonel Cody when death came were his wife (Lousia) and daughter (Irma), who hurried from Cody, Wyoming, the family home, to be at his bedside, and his sister, Mrs. L. E. Decker of Denver. The colonel had been in coma since this morning. He fought death as he has often opposed it on the plains in the days when he was young.

“You cannot kill an old scout,” he would tell his physicians whenever his condition showed improvement. When the doctor told him that his life was ebbing, the colonel accepted his fate like a stoic.

William Frederick Cody was born in Scott county, lowa, on February 20, 1846. His parents moved west and took up a claim near Leavenworth, Kansas, then a frontier Indian post, when Cody was five years old.

When Cody was ten, his father was killed and Cody began to work to help support his family. His first employment was as a courier between the freight wagon trains operated between the Missouri river and the Rocky Mountains.

At 14, he was too young to enlist as a soldier in the Union Army, so he began carrying messages on horseback for the freighting firm  Waddell & Russell, who later merged with Alexander Major’s firm and started the Pony Express in 1860. Cody continued to ride for the firm.

In Cody’s Northern Wyoming Herald in December 1921 there is this article about the pony express.……Wm. F. Cody, a mere lad of 14 was one of these (Pony Express) riders, his first relay being a short one of only 45 miles in Nebraska, but as he made good there he was given at his request a much longer and lonely one from the Red Buttes on the North Platte to the Three Crossings of the Sweetwater a distance of 116 miles…there he broke the record for the longest Pony Express ride. One day galloping into Three Crossings he found the rider who was to go on had been killed, so was himself forced to proceed to Rocky Ridge; the next station, 85 miles away. On he went making the round trip of 384 miles without stops except to change horses and eat one meal.

In 1863, at age 17, Cody enlisted as a teamster and was a private in Company H in the 7th Kansas Cavalry, and served until discharged in 1865. His qualities for scouting and leadership brought him to the attention of Lieutenant Phil Sheridan, General Crook, General Custer and others. In 1866, he reunited with his old friend Wild Bill Hickock, in Kansas, who was then serving as a scout. Cody enlisted as a scout himself and began working with various commanders, including George Custer.

During the construction of the Kansas-Pacific railroad,. Cody took a contract to supply fresh buffalo meat for the track laying crews. For a certain period, and under one contract he killed 4,280 buffaloes, giving him the name of “Buffalo Bill.”

In the Cheyenne Daily Leader, June 10, 1876, a note from the Inter Ocean Hotel had this interesting tidbit: William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, arrived here yesterday, and will accompany the Fifth Cavalry on their northern trip.

Luckily, Cody missed the Custer fight on June 25, but three weeks later, Cody killed the noted Cheyenne Chief Yellow Hand in the presence of Indians and troops, and brandished his bloody trophy yelling “The first scalp for Custer!”

In 1866 he had married Miss Louisa Frederick they had four children, a son and three daughters. Their son Kit Carson Cody, died at age 6. Only his youngest daughter, Irma, survived her famous father. The Irma Hotel in Cody bears her name.

Dime novels had a hand in making Cody famous. In 1869, the writer Ned Buntline went to interview Wild Bill Hickok who shooed him away at gunpoint. Buntline saw Cody, who had fought alongside Hickok against the Sioux and Cheyenne. There, Buffalo Bill: King of the Bordermen was born. This dime novel was a publishing sensation and made a household name out of “Buffalo Bill” Cody.

With the advance of civilization, finding his occupations on the western plains gone, Cody went on the stage playing leading parts in dramas depicting life on the frontier. Later, in association with Nate Salsbury, he organized his wild west show. The show toured from coast to coast in the U.S, and made eight tours of Europe, four tours between 1887 and 1892, and four from 1902 to 1906. In Europe, he was warmly received and entertained by royalty.

In The Cody Enterprise, February 7, 1901: Col. Cody And The Queen. The Great Scout Entertained the Late Queen Victoria In London. From the Omaha Bee: A Nebraskan it was who gave Queen Victoria the only glimpse she ever had of that phase of American life which existed in such abundance during much if her reign… It was on a June day in 1887 less than week prior to the celebration of her Golden Jubilee, that England’sforemost woman… was the guest of Colonel William K. Cody -Nebraska’s ‘Buffalo Bill,’ and the Wild Went show…. On leaving the box the queen had her carriage driven directly to Colonel Cody’s tent, and she thanked him personally it had been a pleasure she said, and one that she would not soon forget.

She did not forget. As well as other gifts, Queen Victoria shipped a Cherrywood Bar to Buffalo Bill which he installed in the dining room of the Irma Hotel, and it can still be seen today.

In the Cheyenne Daily leader July 19, 1902, this ad appeared, giving one an idea of what all went into Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show Extravaganza.ONE AFTERNOON PERFORMANCE ONLY

CHEYENNE, SATURDAY, AUG. 9. “Au Revoir, but not Good-Bye.” Will positively go to Europe this Fall. But This year Will Tour The American Continent. From Ocean To Ocean. Visiting the Principal Cities and Greater Railway Centers Only, as a Parting Salute to the great Nation which gave it birth. And congress of rough riders of the world, now in the zenith of its overwhelming and triumphant success, presenting a program of marvelous merit, and introducing the world’s mounted warriors such as Indians, soldiers of the American, English, German. Russian and Cuban Armies, fully equipped and ready for war an exhibition that teaches but does not imitate. These are the Men Who Do and Dare and these are the events in the action: a grand review of all nations. a race of races, in which Cowboys. Cossacks, Mexicans, Gauchos, and American Indians participate. Artillery drill by veterans. a round-up on the plains, with incidental events. Pony Express riding. Groups of Mexican horsemen and lasso experts. celebrated crack shots and noted marksmen. Real Arabian horsemen and athletes. Life-saving drill by veteran members of U. S. Life-Saving Service. Genuine Cossacks from the Caucasus of Russia. Indian boys in favorite pastimes. Cowboy fun with the bucking broncos. U. S Cavalry drills and military exercises. The famous Deadwood Stage Coach attack, repulse. victory. Moments with the bolas throwers. rough riders and native gauchos, Colonel W. F. Cody “Buffalo Bill” in feats of marksmanship. A buffalo hunt as it was in the far west. A herd of real buffalo, the last of the race. Grand military maneuvers. episodes of camp life, with its humor and hardships. the bivouac at night. assembly of the allied armies, incidental drill and action. Realistic scenes “on the firing line.” all the exciting elements of warfare and battle, in which “Old Glory” always waves triumphant. See it while you may. Enjoy it while you can. Grand review of the Rough Riders in street cavalcade at 9am on date of exhibition. The whole culminating with The great military spectacle, The Battle of San Juan Hill.

Admission 50c Children under 9 years 25c Reserved Seats (Including admission) $1.00, on sale at Palace Pharmacy.

As well as a showman, Cody was an entrepreneur. Near the town of Cody, Buffalo Bill established three hotels, The Irma, Pahaska Teepee, and Wapiti Inn, as well as the Sheridan Inn in Sheridan, Wyoming.

He also had a ranch, Scouts Rest, near North Platte, Nebraska, where he raised cattle and purebred horses .Although Buffalo Bill spent much of his life in the town that now bears his name, Cody, Wyoming, he was also instrumental in the construction of the Sheridan Inn in Sheridan. An article in the May 10, 1894 Sheridan Post reads: Cody (Buffalo Bill) and Mr. Sherman Cantfield have become interested financially with Mr. Geo. Canfield in the Sheridan Inn, and they are making extensive preparations for the summer tourist trade….

Cody was interested in politics, and was elected to the Nebraska legislature in 1872. He was a member of the staff of Governor Kendrick of Wyoming.

Upon his death, the flag at the Wyoming State Capitol flew at half mast. Several tributes were made by such dignitaries as King George V; Kaiser Wilhelm II, and President Woodrow Wilson. Governor John B. Kendrick led the funeral procession to the cemetery.

The people of Cody felt that Buffalo Bill should be buried in the town he founded. But his wife, Louisa and his daughter, Irma, said that he had always said he wanted to be buried on Lookout Mountain, near Denver, where his grave is today.

Even though “Buffalo Bill’ Cody passed away 105 years ago this month, his outstanding legacy lives on.