Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck, July 2, 1895 Cody, William Frederick, 1846-1917 Johnston, Jeremy Christianson, Frank Seefeldt, Douglas, 1964- Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. 2013 William F. Cody Archive University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Digital Research in the Humanities
319 Love Library University of Nebraska–Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-4100 cdrh@unlnotes.unl.edu
Lincoln, Nebraska
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-4100
wfc.css00442

BBWW performed in Lowell, Massachusetts, July 1-2, 1895. Cody's projected dates for shows in Lawrence and Lynn, MA, were off: the correct dates are July 6th in Lawrence and July 11th in Lynn. Elwood Mead, State engineer of Wyoming and key in drafting water laws for Wyoming and Colorado from 1888 to 1899, was head of the Bureau of Reclamation from 1924 until his death in 1936. E. van Dreveldt, a civil engineer, platted the town of Cody City along with Charles Hayden in October 1895. William E. Hymer (~1853-1933) was one of the early members of the Shoshone Land and Irrigation Company. Theo Heckert was a railroad contractor who had a "grading outfit" used in construction of the Cody canal [See Patrick's The Best Little Town by a Dam Site, p19]. William E. Hymer (~1853-1933) was one of the early members of the Shoshone Land and Irrigation Company. "Codak" is "Kodak." George Bleistein (1861-1918) from Buffalo, New York, owned the Courier Printing Company and provided printing for Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Bleistein was also a partner and director in the Shoshone Irrigation Company. The Atlanta Exposition refers to the "Cotton States and International Exposition," held in Atlanta from mid-September through December 1895. John M. Burke (d1917), a scout in the Indian wars, was WFC's publicity manager for the stage productions and the Wild West exhibitions. Cody, William Frederick, 1846-1917 Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck July 2, 1895 2 pages University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Buffalo Bill Letters to George T. Beck (Acc. #9972) ah031278-79

2 hand-written pages

 2 pages

Media: black ink

Texts Correspondence Buffalo Bill's Wyoming Courier Printing Company Cotton States Exposition (1895 : Atlanta, Ga.) Eastman Kodak Company Beck, George Washington Thornton, 1856-1943 Mead, Elwood, 1858-1936 Van Dreveldt, Ernest Hymer, William Ebert, 1853-1933 Heckert, Theodore Bleistein, George, 1861-1918 Burke, John M., 1842-1917 Shoshone Irrigation District (Wyo.) Weakly, Laura K. Added annotations Weakly, Laura K. Initial encoding Clark, Linda Proofing Boyce, Gary Transcription Adams, Deb Transcription

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

Col. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), President.Nate Salsbury, Vice-Pres't and Manager.John M. Burke, . . . General Manager.Albert E. Scheible, . . . Business Manager.Jule Keen, . . . Treasurer. Lowell. Mass1 July 2nd 95 Dear George—

Alger was here when your wire came. You will meet Alger in Omaha. He has my route in full. get it. Say George. Mead was not paid neither was Van Dreveldt. And I donotdo not know if any body was. do you? I have sent for Hymer to meet you gentlemen in Omaha. Make him show up receipts & step down and out of handling any money. let him work on commission Let Heckert take full charge of construction of mooveingmoving dirt if you think best. Lets get to work no more non sense— I will arrange if possible to help you all I can— as soon as I can I will pay Meade at once—

HastlyHastily Bill Lawrence Mass. 8The Cotton States and International Exposition encyclopedia: The Cotton States and International Exposition took place in Atlanta, Georgia, from mid-September through December 1895. Held to showcase the world's cultural, agricultural, and manufacturing products and to promote civil liberties for women and African Americans, it would later become known as "the Atlanta Exposition." On September 18, Booker T. Washington gave a famous speech on race relations at the exhibition. Lynn " 102

PS. I have just written Hymer— To see you take a CodakKodak3. get views. get up maps of our Ditch and maps of the country Wyo state maps showin R.R. and proposed R.R. & location of Cody City. Springs4 &c So reading matter &c So as to give it to Bleistein and he can send it on to his firm5 & have a Jo Dandy Folder. gather up and then while I am at Atlanta Exposition I can with Burke do a world of advertising. I will make that the most talked of place in America. Do you catch on? We must now push things we must get there. You sleep just 4 hours a day no more till this a success.

 Note 1: Buffalo Bill's Wild West performed in Lowell, Massachusetts, July 1-2, 1895. Note 2: Cody's projected dates for performances of Buffalo Bill's Wild West in Lawrence and Lynn, Massachusetts, were slightly off: Buffalo Bill's Wild West performed in Lawrence on July 6 and in Lynn on July 11. Note 3: Kodak photograph. Note 4: DeMaris Springs is a warm sulphur springs near Cody, Wyoming. Note 5: Courier Printing Company, Buffalo, New York, was owned by George Bleistein.