Letter from William F. Cody to Jake Schwoob

Hotel La Salle
La Salle at Madison St.

Chicago Dec 23 1914 [1] My. Dear Jake

I sent the letter to the Marquis De Boncourt.

The pictures are great but a little close up dramatic. Knock out stunts will better them immensely. We will show them first to President Wilson. [2] Secretaries of War & Interior. [3] Generals Miles and others. as well as Foreign Ambassadores &c. Budget their endorsements. Then we they will be more Valuable. To do this we have to wait for Wilson and others to return to Washington from their holliday Vacations. In the meantime I am

Hotel La Salle
La Salle at Madison St.
Chicago _________ 190_

going to Fort Robinson with a movie outfit. [4] Johnny Baker has gone to bring the Indians there. We have been offered big Money. But Mr Spoor. Advises- hold until We get the endorsements— Then sell all foreign rights. Hold America. and put out fifteen or twenty companies our selves. Showing in high priced houses first. Then the 5 & 10c houses. Spoor says dont get nervous. We will soon have all kinds of money coming.

Say. The Panoramic View of Cody. Then the old town of Cody where Mrs Schoob [5] shines. And by the way she is great

Hotel La Salle
La Salle at Madison St.
Chicago _________ 190_

in movie pictures. Spoor asked Wharton the Producer if she was a professional then the parade. and Prince of Monaco reviewing it. [6] then the Fair with the Prince speaking from the Grand stand & the action and the Prince on the hunt all great—

Now dont you get nervous Ill have money soon—

Hastly W. F. Cody

Note 1: Cody did not include the year in his dating of this letter. The digits 191 followed by a blank were preprinted on the hotel stationery. A "4" has been penciled in the blank by an unknown hand. Because the letter describes the production of Cody's film The Indian Wars, which took place in the fall of 1913, it is more likely to have been written in December 1913 than in 1914. [back]

Note 2: Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) served as President of the United States from 1913 to 1921. [back]

Note 3: Lindley M. Garrison (1864-1932), Secretary of War from 1913 to 1916, allowed active-duty cavalry soldiers to appear in Cody's film The Indian Wars. Franklin K. Lane (1864-1921), Secretary of the Interior from 1913 to 1920, allowed Sioux Indians from the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota to appear in the film. [back]

Note 4: Fort Robinson, located about two miles west of Crawford, Nebraska, was then the closest U.S. Army post to the Pine Ridge reservation in nearby South Dakota. It was the home station of the cavalry soldiers that appeared in Cody's film The Indian Wars. No longer an active military installation, Fort Robinson is now a Nebraska state park. [back]

Note 5: Mrs. Schwoob's given name may have been Louise. [back]

Note 6: "Wharton the Producer" was Theodore Wharton (1875-1931), who is credited with directing over forty motion pictures in the 1910s and 1920s. Prince Albert I of Monaco (1848-1922; reigned 1889-1922) came to northwestern Wyoming for a hunting trip in September 1913. Among other activities on his trip, the prince attended the Park County Fair and hunted with William F. Cody. As Cody indicates in the letter, some of the prince's activities were filmed by Cody's movie crew. [back]