Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck, October 16, 1895

Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck, October 16, 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.css00457

BBWW performed in Charleston, South Carolina, October 16, 1895. The Cotton States and International Exposition was held 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. Horace C. Alger (1857-1906) was a banker from Sheridan, Wyoming, mayor of Sheridan in 1889, and a candidate for Governor of Wyoming in 1898. Cody, Beck, and Alger were responsible for developing the Shoshone Irrigation Company. Theo Heckert was a railroad contractor who had a "grading outfit" used in construction of the canal [See Patrick, p19]. Cody, William Frederick, 1846-1917 Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck October 16, 1895 2 pages University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Buffalo Bill Letters to George T. Beck (Acc. #9972) ah031307-08

2 hand-written pages

2 pages

Media: black ink

Texts Correspondence Buffalo Bill's Wyoming Cotton States Exposition (1895 : Atlanta, Ga.) Beck, George Washington Thornton, 1856-1943 Alger, Horace Chapin, 1857-1906 Heckert, Theodore Weakly, Laura K. Added annotation 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.

I wrote you a long letter yesterday. What brings this so quickly after the other. I understand the Atlantic Exposition is a failure & I am prepairingpreparing to close Nov 2d if I do we will all be out there by Nov 15. You said we would go in from Billings.3 let me know how far it is from Billings And all about it as Alger has been there. I presume you have all been together & have the muddle about Town Site4 fixed up. It ought to be in shape by the time we get there so as to please the men who will put up the money. You bet I am going to be pinched for cash my self & by the way I have the balance of that note to pay for Heckart and for the time those teams of ours work give me credit for So you wontwon't have that to pay out in cash. Say George I find too many Foremens names on

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. that statement you have more Foreman than working men. Heck is drawing pay for Foreman And we can play no favorites. In this fight of hours if he cant get up and attend to business He will have to be let out. DontDon't keep a man you dontdon't need. We must make a showing when these men get there or our gig is up—

Now George— make every man jump to his work— & stick to it. have you ordered the lumber for headgate?

Bill

I have recd Samples of beautiful building rock & gypsum

Note 1: Buffalo Bill's Wild West performed in Charleston, South Carolina, on October 16, 1895. Note 2: The year is not inscribed by Cody but is 1895 as determined by the Routes List. Note 3: Billings, Montana, would have been one of the two closest links to rail lines from Cody, Wyoming; the other was Red Lodge, Montana. Note 4: Cody, Wyoming.