"Buffalo Bill"
A Western Legend
William F. Cody a.k.a "Buffalo Bill"
Growing Up With Adventure
"Buffalo Bill" , who's real name is William Fredrick Cody , was born in 1846 in Scott County , Iowa. He was an American guide , scout , and a showman who was also a "Western Legend."
When the American Civil War began in 1861, Cody served as a scout and a guide for the Union Army. At the close of the war,in 1865, Cody worked with the Kansas Pacific Railroad to furnish buffalo meat to the workers. He claimed of killing more than 4,000 buffalo in less than 18 months. This earned him thr nickmane of "Buffalo Bill".
In 1883, Cody organized his Wild Wild West Show usually acting the part of himself. Native American leader, Sitting Bull and his sharpshooter, Annie Oakley, were also stars in the act. Just as the show was about to open in Springfield, Massachusetts on April 20, 1876, Cody recieved a telegram with a tragiv note. It said that his only son , fove year old Kit Carson Cody, was very ill with scarlet fever. Cody caught a nine o' clock train back home to Rochester, unfortunately, Kit died that night. Six weeks after Kit's death, Cody lost interest in acting and closed the show.
In 1876, Cody killed the Cheyenne chief, Yellow Hair. There, he led a group of soldiers against the Cheyenne and fought his famous duel with Yellow Hair or Yellow Hand. He later used the battle as a theme in one of his perfomances . The theme shows him reenacting the scalping of Yellow Hair.
On Janurary 10, 1917, Cody died at the age of seventy. He was buried on June 3, 1917 on Lookout Mountain in Colorado. His wife, Louisa, insisted that he be buried there. His funeral was as large as some of his Wild Wild West shows, something that he probably would have enjoyed