Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck, May 13 [1896] 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
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BBWW performed in Louisville, Kentucky, May 13-14, 1896, determining the year of this letter; the accompanying envelope also sets the year 1896 [envelope image not available]. Horace C. Alger (1857-1906) was a banker from Sheridan, Wyoming, mayor of Sheridan in 1889, and candidate for Governor of Wyoming in 1898. Cody, Beck and Alger were responsible for developing the Shoshone Irrigation Company. Bronson Rumsey II (1854-1946) was one of the founding members of the town site of Cody; he was one of the directors in the Shoshone Irrigation Company that Cody put together to provide water to the arid country in the Big Horn Basin. Rumsey's father (Bronson Case Rumsey) was a very wealthy businessman who owned a leather and tannery business in Buffalo, New York. 'Red Bluffs' is located near Sulphur Creek south of Cody. Cody, William Frederick, 1846-1917 Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck May 13 [1896] 2 pages University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Buffalo Bill Letters to George T. Beck (Acc. #9972) ah031345-46

2 hand-written pages

 2 pages

Media: pencil

Texts Correspondence Buffalo Bill's Wyoming Beck, George Washington Thornton, 1856-1943 Alger, Horace Chapin, 1857-1906 Salsbury, Nathan, 1846-1902 Rumsey, Bronson, II, 1854-1946 Shoshone Irrigation District (Wyo.) Weakly, Laura K. Added annotation Weakly, Laura K. Initial encoding Houze, Lynn Proofing Johnston, Jeremy Proofing Clark, Linda Proofing Boyce, Gary Transcription Adams, Deb Transcription Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders.of the World.

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

Nate Salsbury. Vice-President & Manager.

John M. Burke. General Manager.Albert E. Sheible, Business Manager.Jule Keen, Treasurer. Louisville Ky1 May 132 My Dear George— Bully for the Priests

Your two letters here has made me ten years younger. I am proud of you. I allwaysalways did like you. There now— You see I was getting it from allsidesall sides & I got nervous and feared you were not pushing fast enough— But I appriceateappreciate all you have to contend with— But light is dawning— I sent Alger $5000 this week this ought to take care of May 10th. I beleivebelieve in going a head with work put graders on below Townsite3— And put a force on the Red Bluffs4 and letslet's go to it— Nothing risked nothing gained— I am trying to get Salsbury & Rumsey to go out at once.

Bill

Go to Em.

Without a Christopher Columbus where in hell would America have been Also the Basin

 Note 1: Buffalo Bill's Wild West performed in Louisville, Kentucky, May 13-14, 1896. The day's entry in the 1896 Route Diary: "Louisville, Ky. / Wednesday, May 13. Arrived in town at 4.30 A. M. Had a two-mile haul to lot. We put up every yard of canvas and every seat we had. Cowboy Ed Goodrich was thrown in the bucking act and secured three ugly scalp wounds. J. T. McCaddon returned this morning from Chicago. Our new buffalo calf commenced his show career to-day and went around the arena with its mother in the buffalo hunt, making quite a hit. J. G. Elgin, of B. & O. S. W. R. R., and Dr. H. Ray Cannon were guests of Fred Hutchinson. / Business in the afternoon good, in the evening big." Note 2: Cody does not inscribe the year but it is 1896 as determined by the Routes List. Note 3: Cody, Wyoming. Note 4: "Red Bluffs" refers to a hill formation to the south and west of Cody, Wyoming, that stands out among the other mountainous formations due to its red color.