Buffalo Bill Cody was arguably the most popular and colorful American of his times. He was born in the Iowa Territory to parents who were outspoken abolitionists, which often led to the family being ostracized by others. It does not appear to have had any ill effects on young William, who seems to have taken life into an enormous embrace. At various times, he was a soldier, an Army scout, a fighter in the Civil War, a rider for the Pony Express, a buffalo hunter, and – foremost – a showman of the highest caliber. He won the Medal of Honor and he was a 32nd degree Free Mason. It is said that William Cody earned his nickname after singlehandedly taking out almost 4,300 head of bison in an eighteen month period. We cannot accuse him of wanton slaughter, however, since they were killed for food, and they numbered in the millions at the time (although they are almost extinct now). He seems to have been a respectful emissary to the Indian nations, and he employed many willing Native Americans in his “Wild West†shows, which toured all over the United States and Europe to great acclaim, including command performances before crowned heads. All over Europe, as well as in America, people clamored to see this embodiment of a dying era in frontier history. When he died of kidney failure in 1917, he was widely mourned, and since that time his legend has dimmed little with the years.
