Buffalo+Bill's+Wild+West+Show



= __Background__ = In the 19th century, the West was the topic of societies most romantic and thrilling stories,due to the rise of the Cattle Kingdom. Books, such as //Roughing it// (1872), //The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)//, by emerging authors, like Mark Twain, portrayed the West as a free open land were one might escape from the constraints of organized society. At the same time artists, like Frederic Remington, created iconic figures for the West, such as the cowboy as a natural aristocrat. This idea of the cowboy differed sharply from reality, the cowboys were low paid laborers,was so popular and widely excepted that it and all the other romantic ideas of the West still exist today.

= __**The** Wild West Show__ = The wild west show came about as a combination of many earlier entertainment traditions. In the 1940s P.T.Barnum began popularizing the "wild west" when he staged a buffalo hunt for spectators in New York. Around this time cowboys began performing versions of the modern rodeo when their herds passed near towns. However the first true wild west show was in Omaha, Nebraska in 1883. It was organized by William F. Cody.(Buffalo Bill)

= __ Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show __ = Cody's show began in 1883 and had dozens of imitators. The shows included fake Indian attacks, with real Indians Stage coaches and wagons, portrayals of the pony express, shooting, riding, and roping exhibitions. There was also a finale which was known as " A Grand Hunt on the Plains" it contained wild horses, mountain sheep, buffalo, deer. elk, and longhorn cattle. Cody added both a reenactment of Custer's last stand, and stagings of heroics from the Spanish-American War, but the romance of the old west was always at the center.

= __Performers__ =

William F. Cody[[image:http://ahc.uwyo.edu/images/edu_outreach/citizen/cody1.JPG width="225" height="157" align="right" caption="William F. Cody"]]
Born in Iowa in 1846, Cody held many jobs throughout his life including a trapper. bullwhacker, miner, wagon master, stagecoach driver, Civil War soldier, and a hotel manager. He also worked as a buffalo meat supplier which was where he gained his nickname. He was always the star performer in his show using the skills he acquired through his various jobs.

Annie Oakley[[image:http://webs.rps205.com/curriculum/ssandvoc/images/E4DD076EA031443BB57947BB447BEABA.jpg width="153" height="216" align="right" caption="Annie Oakley"]]
Annie joined the show in 1885, after being vaudeville and circus entertainer. She weighed less than 100pounds and was less than five feet tall, but her shooting and equestrian exports gave her the reputation of a woman with great skill. She was famous for her shooting acts including one in which she would throw a card into the air and shoot it in the center.

Native Americans were an integral part of the wild west shows, hundreds participated displaying exotic costumes, customs, and martial skills. Most notably the great Sioux leader Sitting Bull and the famous Chiricahua Apache warrior Geronimo toured with them.

= __The Success and End of the Show__ = Buffalo Bill's show was immediately successful and quickly began touring the nation and Europe. It was viewed by General William T. Sherman, P.T. Barnum, Mark Twain, and members of the royal family, all of whom praised it. The shows ended shortly after World War 1 but lives on circuses, rodeo, television shows, and theme parks. The popularity of the show into the 19th showed the American eagerness to remember a west which had never really been. Buffalo Bill confirmed the popular romantic image of the west.

= __Links__ = [] [] [|http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/BuffaloBill/home.html] []

= __Sources__ = http://www.askart.com/AskART/images/interest/illustrators/4FredericRemington.jpg http://www.americanwest.com/pages/buffbill.htm http://webs.rps205.com/curriculum/ssandvoc/images/E4DD076EA031443BB57947BB447BEABA.jpg http://www.civfanatics.com/gallery/files/1/SittingBull.jpg http://www.buffalobill.com/

= __Buffalo bill__ =

= __Buffalo Bills__ =