Born William Frederick Cody in LeClaire, Iowa in 1846. From a young age he became a child of the Wild West.
He grew up in the frontier that made him a legend. At 12 years old he was a messenger between wagon trains and
at 13 took the longest ride in history as rider for the Pony Express.  Cody was a horse rustler, a bullwacker on
wagon trains, beaver trapper, joined the gold rush at Pike's Peak, he was a volunteer with the calvary, and was
given the name "Buffalo Bill"  by the railroad, who hired him to kill buffalo for meat to feed the railroad workers
that were laying track as the nation headed West, the year is 1867.

Buffalo Bill would later speak out for the rights of the Indians and he would become a Justice of the Peace.  He
was always on the cutting edge of the advance of time and the western movement of a new Nation.  In 1873,
he joins a stage play and works with Ned Buntline, who persuaded Buffalo Bill to appear in a dramatized version
of one of his novels, whose hero had been inspired by Cody himself.  In 1882, Cody organizes "Old Glory
Blowout," which some historians say could have been the first rodeo.  His reputation was growing faster than
his exploits.

In 1883, Buffalo Bill Cody produced Buffalo Bill's Wild West.  This was a outdoor dramatizing the Wild West
that he had grown up in.  Legend has it Cody drove a Concord stagecoach full speed, revolvers blazing into the
show arena.  The "Buffalo Bill" coach as a three-quarter scale version of the nine passenger mail coaches used
by Wells Fargo.  He also would reenact the Pony Express ride, Indian battles and other scenes that "city folks"
and the crowds of Europe were dying to see.  Cody was showing the new evolving country and the people of
Europe a look at what once was the West.  It was during these same years that this country was seeing the
end of a way of life.  With the harnessing of steam, barbed wire, and the railroad cutting the edge of time we
were seeing the end of the West
 

E. S. Sutton, who as a young man met Cody, recalls  a conversation  in which  Cody said, "I did not fire a shot in the Yellow Hand affair. I never scalped an Indian... those were all tall tales... We  never believed them and never expected anyone else to. Then along came Buntline...; the public clamored for such tales; ...and now they are embalmed in history. ...anyway, they were good advertising for the show!"

He takes his Wild West show to Paris and tours Europe for four years, where he performs at Queen Victoria's
Golden Jubilee.  Historians give Cody the distinction of being instrumental in spreading the image of the cowboy
to the civilized world of the East and to Europe.  His show took the image of the West to the city folks with acts
like Sitting Bull and Annie Oakley.  The Show included scouts, Buffalo, stagecoaches, bucking horses, trick riders,
cowboys, Mexican Vasqueros and various animals from the West.  In 1908, Cody merged his show with Pawnee
Bill. In 1913, he formed a film company to produce a film on Indian wars.  Back at the turn of the century he was
said to have been the most famous person in the world.

He also used his fame to speak for conservation of the Buffalo and the rights of Indians and women.  In 1879, he
said, "to never make a single promise to the Indians that is not fulfilled.  All frontier scouts respected the Indians."
Every Indian outbreak I have ever known has resulted from broken promises and broken treaties by the
government...America was the Indian's heritage, and the Indian had only fought for what was his."  In Wyoming
and Colorado he worked to establish game preserves and limited hunting seasons."

He died there on January 10, 1917. He is buried on top of Lookout Mountain near Cody, Wyoming.  Near the
end of this life he was said to have written, "All my interests are still with the West, the modern West."
 

We would love your help continuing this story...if you have any important dates or
information that helps us tell the story of the evolution of  the music and
entertainment business send them to us and we will add to KICKING UP DUST