b'an American Cowboy. Yes, it can be said that America hadpossibility of death as a bad joke, a comedy. In one instance not been too good to him, nor obviously to his first, long- of his disdain for death, Cody had just installed an ENV forgotten wife. But he had built up his reputation as beingengine on his Cody Mark II "Cathedral." As he finished an American Cowboy, he always took delight whenever hehe quipped to a friend nearby, "I can give you my epitaph, knew Americans were in town, whether they be a celebrityCody ENV RIP" (Jenkins, p. 199).like John Philip Souza, who had become a friend of Cody\'s or a troupe of Native Americans who came to see him andCody certainly had his superstitions, though. He sure did. He his aircraft (one of Cody\'s very last photos was taken of himabhorred and was frightened of the color green, refusing to at the controls of his plane with a visiting Mohawk chief,fly a plane that had a green fuselage - or was painted green about a year before his death). in any shade. His wife hurriedly shooed her son Vivian\'s fiance Eva out of the Cody home when she appeared Yet he chose, in the fall of 1909 to become a Britishwearing a bright green dress, urging her to "go home quickly citizen, which at the time meant renouncing his Americanand change into something else before the Colonel sees you" citizenship. He had been away from his native country(Ibid., Gould Lee, p. 199). On one other occasion, not long for nearly twenty years, never even returning to visitingbefore his death, Cody had been involved in a crash landing his family. He knew, however, that if he had returned heof his prototype monoplane Cody IV "Cathedral" during would be facing some very pointed questions about Mauda trial flight when its engine cut out, Cody had seconds to Lee and why he had abandoned her, if not serious legalglide it in, smashing into a cow and killing it as the plane hit consequences. He had built his life around his Britishthe ground, throwing Cody clear out of the cockpit. Dazed, family, his work was in Britain, and he was adored by thehe crawled out of the wreckage, looked back at the ruined British public from the common man up to King Edwardplane, and to his horror noticed that the labels on the plane\'s VII, the Prince of Wales and soon-to-be King George V,seats were colored a bright green (Gould Lee, p. 229). When both of whom he knew personally. There was no pointhis son Vivian bought a suit at a store in Aldershot, Cody, to return to America except for his love of the plains, theinspecting it closely saw a green thread running through the prairies and some pangs over leaving a land he loved - andjacket - that put paid to that particular suit (Ibid.,p.248).up to the point had always been faithful to, even with almost 20 years of residing on British soil. Cody also refused to fly on or begin a new project on a Friday, especially a Friday the 13th. He kept a black cat, Cody may have fibbed a bit when he filled out the formskept a horseshoe nailed to his front door, and knowing for his allegiance to the King. He gave his date of birth asall too well the high fatality rate of early aviators, hoped 1862, his place of birth Birdville, Texas, NOT Davenport,that his number would never be called up. But as he Iowa, that he was married (not exactly) and his parentstold another friend, a newspaper columnist and aviation were Samuel Franklin Cody Sr. and Phoebe Cody,notenthusiast by the name of Harry Harper, "When my time Franklin Samuel and Phoebe Cowdery, otherwise though,comes, I hope my death will also be swift and sudden, it was, according to witnesses including his erstwhile frienddeath from one of my own aeroplanes." (Ibid., p. 247).Colonel Capper, a "beautiful" ceremony that took place at his shed in the middle of Doncaster Racetrack - with CodyFAREWELL, COLONEL . . .standing ramrod straight as he recited his allegiance toThe morning of Thursday, August 7, 1913, dawned bright "King and Country;" the Stars and Stripes flying alongsideand sunny over Aldershot. Back in America, the other the Union Jack, the band performing both "God Save themore famous Cody, Pahaska, was still doing Wild West Queen" and the "Star-Spangled Banner."And Cody wasshows but was not his own man, working feverishly to get brutally honest about one thing - as he confided to a friendout of his contract with the crooked former bartender, that he made the citizenship change to further his careerHenry Tammen. In England on this Thursday morningthe (Ibid., pp. 195-196; Kuntz, p. 154). cowboy-turned-aviation pioneer Cody was now preparing flight trials for the latest craft in the "Cathedral" series,a His second decision was to sign up for the airplane racingseaplane that he hoped with further development would circuit. There was a lot of money to be had by the winner,capable of flying across the Atlantic. The parts of this new easy money if one knew what he or she was doing andCathedral were all brand new, including the floats that Cody played it safe. Cody won his first Michelin Prize in 1910had recently installed. Apparently, Cody had not checked out with a flight in his new Cody II "Flying Cathedral" (athe weight of the floats carefully, or if they could put a strain biplane with "kinked" wings that could be consideredon the fabric structure of his craft. He also failed to look Cody\'s masterpiece) that lasted four hours and 47 minutescarefully at the socks of his passenger, Hampshire Cricket at a distance of over 185 miles. He stunned the air worldCaptain W.H.B. Evans. They were green.the following year, 1911, when flying the new "Cathedral"on yT P- the Cody Mark III. He won a Michelin prize for coveringThe plane took off, climbed to a reasonable altitude, 125 miles in three hours and six and a half minutes, thenand disappeared for a time over a group of trees. Then itehwinning the original Michelin once more the followingappeared again, descending to an altitude of 300 feet. Then month, again flying the Cody Mark III for a long distancesuddenly, as in the case of his fellow Americans Will Rogers of 261 1/2 miles (Kuntz, p. 155 p. 157). His further fameand Wiley Post 22 years later, the seaplane stiffened, then2nd Hand Storewas cemented, or shall it be said, waxed when Madamestaggered briefly as if it had been hit with something hard, Tussaud\'s Wax Museum commissioned a waxwork ofthe wings arching high as the plane\'s fuselage tore itself apart. Britain\'s most famous American aviator. Then, as his sons Leon and Frank watched with horror, theWe Collect & Deliver figures of Cody, clad in his white duster, and his passenger TRAIL\'S END Evans with his green socks plummeted straight down to theYour MerchandiseSamuel Cody at 43 was no longer the lean Cowboy he onceground. For Cody, his premonition, his hope for a swift andFREE LOCAL DELIVERY AVAILABLEwas - years of relatively easy living had put paid to that.sudden death in his own craft came true, his passenger Evans But he was still the same driven, determined, ambitioustoo dying instantly (Flanagan, Mike, Out West, p. 76). 662 W. Wickenburg Way man he was when he first rode the plains or strode acrossWickenburgOpen MondaySaturdaythe stage. Higher, faster, better - those might have been hisFour days later, as Cody\'s remains were being laid to rest atthepony2ndhandstore.comwatchwords. He was like Icarus, wanting to soar as highthe military cemetery in Aldershot, a scene unprecedented as the sun, no matter what. He knew the risks of flyingin British history took place as over 50,000 Britons,928-231-2730928-232-2019undeveloped aircraft at fast speeds; he had seen friends fallincluding all of the airmen of the newly established RoyalWe Carry Quality 2nd Hand to their deaths when their aircraft collapsed in mid-air. HeFlying Corps, marched solemnly behind the casket of& New Merchandisehad been through at least a half-dozen crashes, two of theman American Cowboy, who chose Britain as his adoptive serious ones, before the final one that took his life. country, was instrumental in the development of Britain asYour Home Furniture Supplies Storean aviation superpower, a man who accomplished almostSpecializing in AppliancesLela, who in 1909 became the first woman to fly the Englishall he had set out to do in life, was laid to rest on BritishJane and Peter Kibbleskies in one of her husband\'s flights, was now becomingsoil, not the fertile Iowa prairie where his parents were more and more apprehensive, shuddering almost every timeburied, nor the Texas plains that he loved so much whenpony2ndhandstore@outlook.com Cody took to the air. Yet the American Cowboy himself,he was a Cowboy. But he took Britain to heart, and the like so many other aviators and adventurers, treated theBritish took Samuel Franklin Cody as their own, despite continued on page 20ArizonaRealCountry.com October 2021 19'