b'Buffalo BillsWild WestShowPART 1 By Alan RockmanBut the West of the old times, with its strong characters, its stern battles, and its tremendous stretches of loneliness can never be blotted from my mindBuffalo Bill CodyT he man and the show were bigger than Elvis, biggername: Edward Judson) came into his life and changed than the Beatles, bigger than Barnum & Bailey,American history. And even Buntline\'s arrival on the bigger than any other entertainment festival orscene - and "discovering" Buffalo Bill may have been a tour of its time. And of course, it inspired more recentfluke. Another scout named Luther North insisted thatinsisted Buntline had approached him), (Ibid., p. Wild West festivals including the Santa Clarita Cowboyhis brother and fellow scout Frank had also fought at141) was a close friend of his fellow Scout Cody, and Festival and the sadly defunct Dr. Buck\'s Wild WestSummit Springs and had been also highly regarded forsubsequently helped him form the Wild West show. Festival (time to resurrect it and bring it back, Buck), andhis exploits in the brief yet bloody battle.According toMajor North rode in the show for ayear until his the Scottsdale Festival of the West. the brother Luther, Frank North, resting near a campfireuntimely death from injuries suffered when he fellthe evening after the fight, had first been approachedfrom his horse.It remained the biggest - and arguably the best Americanby Buntline, who had arrived from the East just after entertainment extravaganza for most of its 33-year runthat battle to cover the campaign against the Cheyenne.It has also been inferred that Buntline, having heard of that commenced on the Western Plains May 19, 1883,Buntline was looking to create a Western hero - and wasWild Bill Hickok, originally sought him out first as the on the North Platte River in Omaha, Nebraska andsaid to have considered Frank North to be his "man" forheroic subject for his dime-novels, but when Hickok ended on the Atlantic Coast in Portsmouth, Virginia onthe series of "dime-novels" he had planned to write. bluntly said no and drew his pistols to emphasize his November 11, 1916, just two months before its masterrefusal, it is said that Buntline took the hint, and sought showman rode off into the heavenly sunset. "Having read the newspaper accounts of the battle ofout Bill Cody instead. Whatever the truth was, Buntline Summit Springs, Buntline sought out the hero of thehad settled on the young, long-haired scout as the hero The man was William F. "Buffalo Bill Cody" and the showbattle, Major Frank North. North declined the honorof his "dime novels" and as a potential "superstar" on the was his extravagant, colossal, stupendous, inspiring - andand pointed to Cody, who was lying asleep under aboards of New York theaters and venues. But did Ned yes, awesome Wild West show that captivated, enthralled,wagon, saying "there\'s your hero." Buntline woke theBuntline come up with the moniker "Buffalo Bill" Cody? and thrilled thousands all over America and throughoutyoung scout, according to Luther, and dubbed himAccording to Robert Carter\'s excellent biography of the the world (mainly Europe) during its three-decade run."Buffalo Bill" (Carter, Robert A., Buffalo Bill Cody - thefamed scout-turned-thespian-turned beloved American This is not just another Buffalo Bill or Wild West showMan Behind the Legend, Castle Books, Edison, Newicon, Buffalo Bill had already been referred to as Buffalo story - as that would require adding another book toJersey, 2000, p. 140). Bill for his hunting experience in the killing of scores the scores of those that are out there. Rather, this is aof buffalo at least two years before Buntline had ever celebration of the Wild West show and Cody, his storiedMajor North, (who had already left the area, goinglaid eyes on him (Ibid., p. 96)But it was Buntline who background even before he toyed with the concept of ahome to Colorado at the same time his brotherwrote the legend, sensed that Buffalo Bill Cody was a Wild West festival and how he became synonymous withcharismatic, marketable commodity who would be a Wild West shows and their concept. sensation in the East, someone who despite his limited There is no need to do an extensive retelling of Cody\'seducation was articulate and savvy enough to woo New background, except that he was already noted for beingYork theater-going crowds.a Pony Express rider (there is some controversy whetherThus Buntline encouraged him, Hickok (who by then or not he was an actual rider but it is quite clear he washad a settled into a more friendly relationship with indeed directly involved with the company), a buffalothe writer), and Texas Jack Omohundro to seek out a hunter, a trusted scout, a Union Army soldier, and athespian career - and more importantly, a couple of trusted Indian fighter. And a showman to boot. years later, to form a theatrical troupe that would bring THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? OR THE ROLE OFthe Wild West to the theaters and venues of New York A CONTROVERSIAL "DIME-NOVEL" WRITERand other Eastern cities. While the 1872-73 shows were BY THE NAME OF NED BUNTLINE WHOindeed a sensation, Wild Bill Hickok knew with his ENCOURAGED A YOUNG, LONG-HAIRED ARMYfailing eyesight and his squeaky voice that he wasn\'t cut SCOUT (ALREADY NAMED BUFFALO BILL) TOout for an acting career. He high-tailed it back to the BECOME A THESPIAN. plains and a date with destiny at the Nuttal & Mann\'s Cody\'s skills as a rider, a buffalo hunter - he hadNo.10 Saloon in Deadwood a couple of years later. Texas already killed thousands of the soon-to-be endangeredJack Omohundro would tour briefly with Cody, branch bison - and as an army scout was already noted byout to do his own theatrical show with his wife, but sadly many others throughout the plains. Then during thedied from pneumonia a decade later. spring 1869 campaign, that culminated in the BattleAnd Ned Buntline himself, contrary to the narrative of Summit Springs and his killing of the Cheyenneor the Buntline role played by Thomas Mitchell in the Chief Tall Bull fate, or chance, in the form of a portly1944 film, Buffalo Bill (Cody being portrayed by Joel former navy officer who deserted his ship to becomeMcCrea), would never be a part of what would become one of the founders of the notorious "Know-Nothing"the Buffalo Bill Wild West shows. For as Cody\'s star Party, a demagogic rabble-rouser but skilled novelistNed Buntline rose, Buntline\'s gradually disappeared, and he was soon in his own right, a man named Ned Buntline (real 44 May 2021'