Buffalo Bill

This coming week marks 173 years since the birth of the man who became a symbol of the early days of the west, William F. Cody.

He was known best by his nick name, Buffalo Bill, and was perhaps one of the most colorful figures of the American Old West. Joy and I took an RV trip around some of the states in 2008, and one of the places we stayed (and which was my favorite), was the town of Cody - named after William F. Cody himself.

Bill was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory on 26th February 1846, but his childhood was spent in Kansas, where his family had moved some time later.

Before the Civil War, Bill's father was strongly opposed to slavery, and during an impassioned speech at the local trading post, he angered the crowd. A man jumped up and stabbed him twice with a Bowie knife, and although his injuries weren't fatal, he never fully recovered from them.

After his father's death, the family suffered financially, and so at just eleven years old, Bill managed to find work. By 1860, when he was fourteen years old, news of the gold rush reached the west. Bill was struck by gold fever and decided to head out to the gold fields to make his fortune. 

Along the way he met an agent for the Pony Express, a mail service delivering messages, newspapers and mail, and was convinced to take a job. It's likely that his adventures in the Wild West began right there.

During the American Civil War, he served the Union from 1863 to the end of the war in 1865, and later served as a civilian scout for the UK Army during the Indian Wars. 

He received the Medal of Honor in 1872, but this was revoked when Congress changed the rules during World War I, which meant the honor could only be bestowed upon officers or enlisted personnel. As a civilian scout, Bill was neither an officer or enlisted personnel, and so the honor given to him and five other scouts was officially rescinded in 1917. This was petitioned many times over the years, and the decision was finally overturned in 1989, with the names of Bill and several other scouts being restored to the Medal of Honor roll.

In December 1872, Bill traveled to Chicago, and began performing in shows which displayed cowboy themes and episodes from the frontier and Indian Wars. He founded Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1883, which was a circus-like attraction, and his growing company toured the United States, and then in 1887, to Great Britain and Europe.

In 1893, he changed the title to Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World, and as well as there being parades including cowboys, American Indians, and performers from all over the world in their different traditional costumes, there were also historical western figures who participated in the show -  with Sitting Bull appearing in one show, with a band of twenty braves.

You can listen to several shows about Buffalo Bill's life and his adventures through the great old west on RUSC.

Click here to listen now.

He had a life that was part legend and part myth, and he embodied the spirit of the West, giving us the stories of Frontier life which still live on today.

Happy listening my friends,