There are many reasons why William F. Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill, gave the American West its name.  William Cody was a Pony Express rider, buffalo hunter, Indian fighter, army scout, and an international showman.  In his lifetime Cody was a living example of rugged Americanism.

William Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa, in 1846.  When his mother moved to Kansas after his father’s death in 1857, Cody worked for a wagon freight company as mounted messenger, and wrangler.
Are you aware that in 1859 he quit this job and went to prospect gold in Pikes Peak, Colorado.  William did not have much luck at this so the following year at age fourteen he started work for the Pony Express.
It is said that Cody set a record that was unsurpassable.  He did this by riding three hundred and twenty-two miles in twenty-one hours and thirty minutes.  He did this while using just twenty-two horses en route.
During the Civil War he served as a Union scout in campaigns against the Kiowa and Comanche tribes
After the Civil War in 1863 Cody enlisted in the seventh cavalry, which fought in Tennessee and Missouri.  In St. Louis on one expedition, Cody met a girl named Louisa Frederici.  He later on married her.
Historically in 1867 Cody started work for the crews on the Kansas Pacific Railroads by giving and providing buffalo meat.  Cody killed four thousand two hundred and eighty buffalo in seventeen months.  It is said that he got the name ‘’Buffalo Bill’’ by winning a shoot-out on a buffalo campaign with William Comstock.  Whoever killed the most buffalo got the name.  



Interestingly enough in 1868 Cody rejoined the army.  He was chief of scouts for the Fifth Cavalry.  Altogether he fought in sixteen battles one of them was the Cheyenne defeat at Summit Sprin Interestingly enough in 1868 Cody rejoined the army.  He was chief of scouts for the Fifth Cavalry.  Altogether he fought in sixteen battles one of them was the Cheyenne defeat at Summit Springs in 1869.gs in 1869.
In 1872 Cody was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during a campaign with the Indians and for all the years he spent in the U.S. army.  Years later, he had to return the medal when the Congress said the recipients must be members of the U.S. army not civilians.
 In my experience Buffalo Bill Cody was known as the best Buffalo hunter on the Great Plains there ever was.  So the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia at age nineteen came to ask Buffalo Bill to take him on a buffalo hunt in 1872.  It was planned that Cody would lead the wagon train.  Buffalo Bill Cody knew several famous Indians and convinced a famous Sioux Indian named Spotted Tail and his followers to join in the hunt.  When explained to Spotted Tail about the hunting expedition he said, ’’Great White man wants a big hunt with the Indians.’’ Cody Also asked the Indians to entertain the Duke.  They agreed and the Duke had a great time especially when they went on a crazy stagecoach ride behind six wild horses with Cody holding the reins.

Altogether that was the best and most famous buffalo hunt ever.  Today though, only a few of the woodland bison live and twenty thousand plains bison live today.  Buffalo Bill has gone down in history as the best buffalo hunter of all time.  He will also be known as the one of many that almost put the buffalo into extinction.
It’s hard to believe but in 1890 William Cody was called to join the army ounce again.  His orders were to restore order with the Indian nations and their uprisings.  He did this with little trouble at all, that was the last time he was in the army.
 Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show

Buffalo Bill's ''Wild West Show''

Buffalo Bill had an adventurous life, but that’s not all that made him famous.  In fact, show business made him famous all around the world.
E.Z.C. Judson, who went by the name of Ned Buntline, was a western writer that sold dime novels (short books that cost ten cents).  Buffalo Bill and Ned Buntline met one day and made Cody a hero in many books.
On a visit in New York City, he saw a play based on his adventures.
Later on at his home in Nebraska Cody decided to go into show business.  So Ned Buntline out together a play and they produced a show, ’’The Scouts of the Plains.’’  People praised Cody for his real life experience put in a play.  Some critics, however, thought it was ridiculous.
Actually in 1883 Cody came up with a knew show called Buffalo Bill’s ‘’Wild West Show.’’  It was an outdoor theme designed to educate and entertain.
For the ‘’Wild West Show’’ Cody got some of his own troop of actors and started the show.  Cody said those were the ‘’Buffalo Bill Combination.’’
When Buffalo Bill’s ‘’Wild West Show’’, came to town people went crazy in order to see it.  Before the show, there was a parade, which included cowboys, Indians, soldiers on horseback, and horse-drawn carriages.

Are you aware that the biggest show ever happened in 1887 when they preformed at Madison Square Garden in New York City, that included one hundred Indians, Annie Oakley (a famous sharp-shooter), trick riders, ropers, shooters, and many different kinds of animals.
Some people thought Buffalo Bill Cody died of an epidemic poisoning, others think he died of just loneliness.  No one really knows how he died but he did die broke and in debt.  Cody died on January 10, 1917.

Its true that in 1885 buffalo bill and some investors from Buffalo, New York, formed the Shoshone Land and the Irrigation Company.  They started to plan a town named Cody.  In 1896 they succeeded and built and named the town Cody.
It is amazing to think about how many great Americans there were in our history.  George Washington, our first president and famous war general, Thomas Jefferson, the great inventor and former U.S. president, and many others.  Many people do not realize that Buffalo Bill did not just kill buffalos; he was the one that gave American West its name.
David Roth
Rossville Junior High
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