Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck

Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders.
of the World.

[photograph]

Col. W. F. Cody. (Buffalo Bill), President.

[photograph]

Nate Salsbury. Vice-President & Manager.

John M. Burke. General Manager.
Albert E. Sheible, Business Manager.
Jule Keen, Treasurer.

Owosso— Mich [1]
Aug. 1st 96 My Dear George

I have just sent Alger $5,000 and it was like pulling teath. As we have had nothing but rain for five weeks— I was pleased with Salsburys and Meades [2] reports. Salsbury and Bleistein here in New York trying to dispose of Bonds— Lets pray that they succeed— if not we will be in a fix sure— for. S & my self cannot put up any more. Grouard spent alot of money unnecessary And went Nagles [3] security for $1.050 for me to pay. And George— when you pay Nagle any more commission hold out $1.050— for me. Well I sent my old faithful Charley Trego to take charge— Grouard is not working for me now. George give Trego all the advice and assistance you can. he will appre

Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders.
of the World.

[photograph]

Col. W. F. Cody. (Buffalo Bill), President.

[photograph]

Nate Salsbury. Vice-President & Manager.

John M. Burke. General Manager.
Albert E. Sheible, Business Manager.
Jule Keen, Treasurer.

ciate it. help him to all the business you can— You might give him a contract on the ditch so he can be at work while his teams are idle. And I would not expect pay until the company is in condition to pay. the company has got to have the work done sooner or later. Trego [4] will do your freighting as cheap as any one— Foote [5] will be out about the 10 th . I wish you could find out how far it is to well water in the Sage creek [6] bottom. Nagle says he is ready to go with a big colony as soon as we are sure we can give the people work to do on ditch. they takeing part in cash rest pay on their water rights. Salsbury and I told him we would only give them work by the yard not by the day— so if we raise the money to go on with work

Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders.
of the World.

[photograph]

Col. W. F. Cody. (Buffalo Bill), President.

[photograph]

Nate Salsbury. Vice-President & Manager.

John M. Burke. General Manager.
Albert E. Sheible, Business Manager.
Jule Keen, Treasurer.

try and give our settlers the first chance— Trego has money to pay off all men Grouard had working for me. And Trego will keep things straight. So there will be no kick from any one— Say what is that Town [7] to be named— As I paid for Surveying Cody City [8] — And no one has a title to the land why cant that name be annulled or discontinued. Do so if you can— attend to it George. I dont want anything to do with that Town— & Hymer— Sorry to hear you could not ride in a wagon. I dont want you for a broncho buster.

Write Your friend- Cody

Note 1: Buffalo Bill's Wild West performed in Owosso, Michigan, on August 1, 1896. The day's entry in the 1896 Route Diary: "Owosso, Mich. / Saturday, August 1. Arrived in town at 6 A. M. One-mile haul to lot, which we found in bad condition and very uneven. Commenced to rain at 7.30, and poured down until 3.30 P. M., leaving the lot in a bad and muddy condition for the night's performance, also for the boys to pick up on, as it was another case of carry the stuff to the wagons on the street. Baskir Hadj Ali, one of the Arab boys who was left in Cleveland at the hospital sick, rejoined us to-day. / Business in the afternoon big, but light at night. / Lot, Washington street and Corona avenue." [back]

Note 2: "Meades" is Elwood Mead. [back]

Note 3: "Nagle"/"Nagles" is S. V. Nagle, an associate of the firm of F. A. Nagle Commission Merchants of Chicago, who attempted to recruit settlers to the lands in the Big Horn Basin that were to be irrigated by the Cody Canal. [back]

Note 4: "Trego" is Charles Trego (1856-1925) who was a personal friend of Cody's and a foreman for both Scout's Rest Ranch in North Platte, Nebraska, and the TE Ranch in Cody, Wyoming. [back]

Note 5: "Foote" is Robert Foote, a democrat and state senator representing Johnson County, Wyoming, from 1895 to 1897. Foote led the effort against the Carey Act in Wyoming. [back]

Note 6: Sage Creek lies east of Cody, Wyoming, flowing north and into the Shoshone River northeast of Cody. [back]

Note 7: The "Town" was officially named Cody, Wyoming, in August 1896. [back]

Note 8: "Cody City," the original name suggested for the new town site of Cody, Wyoming. [back]