Page 26 - joa-november-23

Places of Interest
A Buffalo Bill toy set from 1903.
tents during long stands or slept in railroad
sleeping cars when the show moved daily.
Besides performers and staff, hundreds of
show and draft horses—and as many as thirty
buffalo—needed to be transported. The show
also carried grandstand seating for twenty
thousand spectators along with the acres of
canvas necessary to cover them. Expenses ran
as high as $4,000 per day! Yet the public
demand kept Cody’s Wild West show on the
road through the first decade of the 20th
century and made Cody one of the wealthiest
and most famous entertainers in the world.
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Congress of Rough Riders of
the World program
24 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles
In 1887, the Wild West was invited to
England to participate in the American
Exhibition, the same year as Queen
Victoria’s Golden Jubilee celebration.
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West was a hit, visited
by nobility, commoners, and Queen
Victoria herself. The show was credited
with improving British and American
relations. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West rose to
international fame and returned two years
later to tour the European continent.
The Wild West also played at the 1893
Columbia Exposition in Chicago to great
acclaim. On a city block adjacent to the
fair, Cody staged the latest incarnation of
his show, billed by that point as “Buffalo
Bill’s Wild West and Congress of Rough
Riders of the World.” There were “450
horses of all countries,” trumpeted across
the ads, flyers, and posters.
It was called “the greatest equestrian
exhibition of the century,” gushed the
Chicago Tribune. “In addition to Indians,
cowboys, Mexicans, Cossacks, Arabs, and
Tartars are detachments from the Sixth
United States Cavalry, French chasseurs,
German Pottsdammer reds, and English
lancers. These representatives of trained
mounted soldiery are fully as hardy as the
barbarous riders, and many of the feats
they performed were quite as wonderful.” Buffalo Bill Picture Stories #1 The Promise Collection
From April 26 to October 31—a Pedigree (Street & Smith, 1949)
longer run than the Columbian CGC NM 9.4 White pages. Doug Wildey and Bob Powell art.
Sold for $960 at Heritage Auctions.
Exposition itself by one day—Cody and
his company performed before packed grandstands. Despite the
marvels of the White City, visitors couldn’t claim to have seen
the fair if they didn’t also attend the “Wild West.” Cody
personally made sure everyone had the opportunity to
attend: On July 27, he treated 6,000 poor children to a
downtown parade, a picnic, all the ice cream they could eat,
and a visit to the Western spectacle at Stony Island Avenue
and 63rd Street, reported the Tribune.
The Decline of the Wild West
In the 1890s, according to Fees, Wild West began to add
sideshows and other circus elements in an effort to bolster
ticket sales. “If the West seemed too familiar, ‘Far East’ acts William Frederick
such as Arabian acrobats or dancing elephants and thrill acts Cody, aka “Buffalo
such as bicyclists and high divers might inject sufficient novelty to Bill,” in 1911
draw new spectators.” New performances dramatizing such
historical epics as the Charge at San Juan Hill and the creation of the
Congress of Rough Riders of the World were also added to the program; however, despite Cody’s
best efforts to keep the show fresh and exciting, ticket sales declined in the first decade of the 20th
century as the publics’ interests changed and Europe and America braced for war.
According to Fees, Americans’ interest in the Wild West could now be experienced in other
ways and venues. “Motion pictures captivated public attention – the West could seem more real
on the screen than in the arena. Shooting declined as a spectator sport while the popularity of
sports including baseball and football soared. Riding and roping could be better showcased in
rodeos, which were considerably less expensive to produce than Wild West shows. The old western
stars were fading as well—even Buffalo Bill seemed like a relic—and Indian people appeared to be
quietly confined to reservations. The “old West” was no longer so exotic nor, at the same time, so
relevant to a world of heavy industry and mechanized warfare.”
In 1913, Buffalo Bill borrowed money from Denver businessman Harry Tammen to keep his
show afloat, not realizing the loan would be used to force him to appear in Tammen’s Sells Floto
Circus. Cody fell behind in payment of the loan and when the Wild West stopped in Denver to
do a show that July, Tammen had the show seized. The Wild West was sold off at auction in
Denver’s Overland Park and Cody was forced to join the Sells Floto Circus. Eventually, he got
out of that contract but was never able to rebuild his Wild West. By 1920, the stories, stars, and
characters that defined the Wild West show had moved on appear on film in Western movies.