Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Owensborro-Ky May 9 10th [1] My. Dear ElwellWhy dont you write? Say I wish I had told you to measure the number of acres under cultivation at TE & Carter— [2] if you have time. before survey commences May 20th do it— how much new land each place got plowed this spring— I wrote Martin for either you or he go with Mrs Thompson & photograph— Rock Creek ranch— up under the rim rock [3]
I havent heard from either you or Martin for weeks
Col
Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Owensboro, KY. May 10 4-30P 1901
Received 1
May 10 530 PM 01
United States Postage 2 Two Cents 2
R. Farrington. Elwell c/- J. H. Martin Cody Ishawooa TE [4] Big Horn Co Wyo
Immediate
Note 1: William F. Cody did not include the year in the dateline, but the year 1901 is established by the postmark on the accompanying envelope. Buffalo Bill's Wild West performed in Owensboro, Kentucky, on May 10, 1901. The number 10 appears to have been written over a 9 in the dateline. [back]
Note 2: The TE and Carter Ranches were properties owned by William F. Cody on the South Fork of the Shoshone River, south and west of the the town of Cody, Wyoming. [back]
Note 3: "Martin" is probably John Henry Martin (d. 1910), a former Indianapolis railroad agent who was then Buffalo Bill's local representative and business manager. [back]
Note 4: This penciled notation in an unknown hand was apparently intended to redirect the letter for delivery to the TE Ranch. "Ishawood" was then the official postal designation for the hamlet later known as Ishawooa, on the South Fork of the Shoshone River about 18 miles southwest of Cody, Wyoming. This would have been the nearest post office to the TE Ranch. [back]
