Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody, Wyoming

The last time we were in Cody, Wyoming in 2018 to see the Buffalo Bill Museum our visit got cut short, though I did do a blog post on William Cody himself. This time I picked up on some other exhibits that I don't recall seeing last time. There's not a lot of exhibits, but I wanted to highlight them anyway.  

Sheep Wagon, ca. 1910

This was used on the Two Dot Ranch north of Cody through the 1950s. Equipped with everything from a bed to a stove and more, the sheepherder lived a comfortable but solitary life on the range.

Oil Drilling Rig "band wheel" ca. 1915

Energy in the Earth ~~ As early as 1884, oil-drilling began on the eastern side of the Bighorn Basin. In 1902, William Cody and other investors founded Cody Oil and Development Corporation and made the first attempt to drill for oil on the Basin's west side. Their effort failed. Within ten years, however, the first oil was drilled in a more productive field -- Oregon Basin, southeast of Cody.

Connected to a steam engine, the band wheel powered the rocking beam on an oil drilling rig. Such rigs were widely used in the Oregon Basin. The band wheel from this drilling rig was salvaged and brought to the Buffalo Bill Museum in 2012 after vandals topped the rig. It is shown here in its original location, on the Wind River Reservation, on property leased by Marathon Oil.

William Cody helped organize and invested heavily in several firms that drilled oil and natural gas wells in the Bighorn Basin. Here, Cody (dark hat, center right) and other associates inspect oil samples from a rig just east of the town of Cody.

A Vast Mineral Storehouse ~~ Even if William Cody's hopes for the Bighorn Basin's mineral resources were overly optimistic, the region truly offers a vast geological storehouse. Its fields of oil, natural gas, and coal were first worked in the 1880s and early 1900s. Cody himself held interests in several coal mines and oil companies, but his investments never produced major returns. Fossil fuels remain economically important today.

I know a spot, sir, where there are gold mines, silver mines, lead mines, iron mines, platinum mines, mica mines, coal mines, marble quarries, granite quarries, limestone beds, asphalt beds, a whole mountain of sulphur, pottery clay, with tracts of strewn thick with onyx, sapphires, amethysts and crystals. That spot is situated right in the heart of the continent -- in [the Bighorn Region of] Wyoming -- and I've got an option on it. ~~ William F. Cody, quoted in "Buffalo Bill's Eden," Boston Daily Globe, November 1, 1896

Another Cody Enterprise ~~ In 1893, William Cody bought this printing press to help his sister Helen Cody Wetmore and her husband, Hugh, start a newspaper business. Their Duluth (Minnesota) Press folded in 1896. Three years later, Cody shipped the press to Wyoming so that he and Col. John Peake, an acquaintance from Washington, D.C., could launch the Cody Enterprise. Cody sold his interest around 1905. The newspaper is still published today.

Brothers of the press, we had everything in Cody that was necessary, except a daily paper. In two weeks' time, The Cody Enterprise will make its bow to the people, and then, boys, I'll be one of you, because I will be an editor. ~~ William F. Cody, quoted in "Old Plainsmen Meet." The Milwaukee Sentinel, August 29, 1899

 

Railroads and American Bison ~~ During the late 1860s, work progressed on transcontinental railroad lines linking East and West. The Union Pacific ran through central Nebraska. The Kansas Pacific (later acquired by the Union Pacific) ran across Kansas. Railroad construction triggered a great demand for bison meat to feed workers. Railroads also enabled rapid shipments of bison meat and hides to market. By the late 1870s, millions of bison had been slaughtered. Their carcasses covered the prairies.

The Kansas Pacific Railway, traversing as it does one of the favorite and formerly most populous portions of the range of the great Southern [bison] Herd, has given opportunity, since it opened, for the destruction of hundreds of thousands of buffaloes. After two or three years the results of this wholesale slaughter began to be apparent in the thinning of the herds and in their erratic movements. ~~ Joel Asaph Allen, History of the American Bison, Washington, 1877

This miniature Gold Spike commemorated the joining of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads at Promontory Point, Utah, May 10, 1869. It honors the first transcontinental railroad line.

William F. Cody presented this photo of himself 
in his scouting outfit, taken around 1869, to his wife, Louisa

Why Scouts Grew Their Hair ~~ "Scouts grow their hair long as a rule. Our business is in the open, rain or shine, and we have found from experience that the greatest protection to the eyes and ears is long hair. Those who [are] prejudiced against long hair have suffered the consequences of sore eyes, pains in the head, and loud ringing in the ears. We who wear our hair long let nature have her way in the matter, and profit by it." ~~ Buffalo Bill, Interviewed, Otago [New Zealand] Witness, August 5, 1887

The depiction of various peoples in these dime novels clearly reflect the beliefs and prejudices of the era. If you review the imagery from covers you can also observe some of the mainstream distortion of minority groups in the past.

"Killing the Cheyenne Chief Yellow [Hair] at War Bonnet Creek Dakota July 17, 1876." Hon. W.F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill," Chief of Scouts and Guide for the U.S. Army, ca. 1877.

During the theatrical season of 1876-1877, Cody displayed Yellow Hair's scalp and possessions, causing widespread public outcry.

Blurring Fact and Drama ~~ Cody's Duel with Yellow Hair. William Cody's theatrical company ended its season in June 1876. He then began scouting again with the Fifth Cavalry. During a skirmish on July 17, 1876, at Warbonnet Creek in Nebraska, Cody shot and killed a warrior named Yellow Hair. He scalped him and allegedly held it up and yelled, "the first scalp for [General George Armstrong] Custer." Soon after, Cody starred in a play about the incident. Highly publicized, Cody's "duel with Yellow Hair," linked him and his "Buffalo Bill" persona.

"We've had a fight. I killed Yellow [Hair] a Cheyenne Chief in a single-handed fight. You will no doubt hear of it through the paper.[I] sent the war bonnet, shield, [bridle], whip, arms and his scalp to [Moses] Kernwood to put up in his window." ~~ W.F. Cody to Louisa F. Cody, July 18, 1876

Buffalo Bill's travels as a scout and performer separated him from Louisa for long periods. She occasionally visited him during his acting tours but disliked the celebrity lifestyle. Buffalo Bill had many affectionate fans and costars which also added tension to the marriage. Bill's frequent absence from significant family events such as births and weddings likely contributed to the couple drifting apart.

Buffalo Bill eventually filed for divorce. Testimony from the case made his extramarital affairs and heavy drinking front-page news. Despite Buffalo Bill's accusations that Louisa attempted to poison him, the judge refused to grant him a divorce. Eventually, Bill and Louisa reconciled in 1912 and would remain together until his death in 1917. Louisa had outlived all four children and her husband when she passed away in 1921.

U.S. Mail Coach, ca. 1889

Capturing the imagination with an authentic icon of the Old West ~~ The centerpiece of each performance was an authentic Concord stagecoach that had once transported passengers and mail. Buffalo Bill's Wild West offered realism, adventure, a multi-sensory experience, and most of all, entertainment. By presenting iconic images of the Old West to the world, Copy hoped people would embrace its romance and honor its history.

William Cody & players in front of the Deadwood Stagecoach

William F. Cody stands with three coaches at his TE Ranch, including Abbot Downing coach no. 204 in the center. The Deadwood Stagecoach originally carried railway passengers over New England mountains and was later used by a New Hampshire hotel. It would eventually tour the world with Buffalo Bill's Wild West and carry passengers on Cody's TE Ranch.

The Attack on the Stagecoach ~~ One of the most popular features of Buffalo Bill's Wild West was an act dramatizing an attack on a stagecoach. Loaded with local celebrities, the stagecoach raced around the arena, pursued by Lakota performers. When the stagecoach seemed doomed, Cody rode into the arena with cowboys and vaqueros to "save the day." 

Historically, Indigenous peoples rarely threatened stagecoaches. If an "Indian War" broke out, stagecoach companies usually moved or suspended their traffic until federal troops intervened. Due to the popularity of this Wild West act, many assumed Indigenous people frequently attacked stagecoaches -- a myth perpetrated in countless Hollywood movies and TV westerns.

On the stagecoach -- the original Deadwood stagecoach. The most famous vehicle in History, ca 1893.

Deadwood Stagecoach being held up during Buffalo Bill's Wild West 1840

On rare occasions, Buffalo Bill's Wild West depicted white bandits. A newspaper article once noted that some Wild West cowboys playing "bandits" in the famed Deadwood Stagecoach act attempted to keep the audience members' belongings. Cody may have decided that passengers' belongings were safer when Lakota performers "attacked" the stage.

 

William F. Cody posed for this portrait in his private tent when Buffalo Bill's Wild West visited Bodmin, England on June 2, 1904.

William Cody's private tent is a place where he could be himself. He used tents like this when traveling with the Wild West show. He used larger tents when the Wild West stayed in one place for a season. He used smaller ones when the Wild West spent its season on the road. Inside his tent, Cody wrote letters, greeted visitors, or rested between performances. He could shed his "Buffalo Bill" persona and be himself. Cody furnished his tents with personal items and reminders of loved ones. This display incorporates his belongings and other items that are similar to what he might have at home.

"The tent was divided by a canvas partition. In the rear was a bed, with an old time quilt on it. In front was what Bill said said was his office ... Sitting there in his tent he was a contradiction. There wasn't a gun in sight. Not a pistol peeped from his pocket. Not a saddle hung over a chair. He wore rubbers and ordinary shoes ... There was only a kindly man peering out of a pair of eyeglasses, satisfied with life." ~~ "Buffalo Bill: The Man" Baltimore Sun, April 20, 1911

Watch and Fob, ca 1890

This gold watch and gold and amethyst fob were given to William Cody by King Edward VII. Engraved on one side is a depiction of Buffalo Bill hunting bison and on the opposite, the initials WFC.

King Victor Emmanuel of Italy supposedly presented this watch to Buffalo Bill. Or did he?

Newspapers reported the King presented Buffalo Bill with a cigarette case adorned with the royal monogram. Buffalo Bill, who preferred cigars, stated, "I will have to go to smoking cigarettes." Years later, Buffalo Bill claimed the King gave him an ornately jeweled pocket watch. Likely, Buffalo Bill removed the monogram from the cigarette case and applied it to an object which would serve him better, such as this ordinary pocket watch.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West appeared before many sovereigns from nations across the globe, from the Queen of England to the Shah of Persia. 

Cody's TE Ranch

William Cody owned several ranches in northwest Wyoming. His largest was also his favorite -- the TE, which he purchased in 1895. Its 2,000 acres fronted the South Fork of the Shoshone River in a spectacular mountain setting, 30 miles southwest of Cody, Wyoming. Cody loved the TE, but his touring schedule meant he only saw it during the fall and winter. The Wild West's bankruptcy in July 1913 let him spend more time there.

"I am about to go home for a well-earned rest. Out in the west I have my horses, my buffaloes, my [ranch] and my green fields -- but I never see them green. When my season is over, the hillsides and meadows have been blighted by a wintery frost and the sere and yellow leaves cover the ground. I want to see nature in its prime, to enjoy a rest from active life." ~~ William F. Cody's Farewell Address, May 14, 1910 

Mary Jester Allen, Jane Garlow (1909-1987) (holding the collection box from the Irma Hotel), George Walliker (1914-1993), Bill Garlow (1913-1992), Geneva Walliker (1883-1964) and Fred Garlow, Jr. (1911-1985) sit on logs at construction site of the original Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming. The Walliker Family cared for the Garlow children after the death of their grandmother, Louisa Cody (1843-1921). Carter Mountain and Cedar (Spirit) Mountain in the background.

After the death of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody on January 10, 1917, residents of Cody, Wyoming formed the Buffalo Bill Memorial Association to create a lasting monument to Buffalo Bill. World War I interrupted their initial efforts, and the association considered creating a military academy in place of the memorial.