The William F. Cody Archive: Documenting the life and times of Buffalo Bill

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COL. W. F. CODY (BUFFALO BILL)

PRESIDENT

NATE SALSBURY

VICE PRES. & MANAGER

BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST AND CONGRESS OF ROUGH RIDERS OF THE WORLD

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TORONTO, MON. & TUES., JULY 5 & 6

1897

 

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS TO BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST

PATRONIZED BY PRESIDENTS

POPE AND POTENTATES

PRESS AND PUBLIC

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PRESIDENT CLEVELAND

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PRESIDENT GRANT

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PRESIDENT McKINLEY

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PRESIDENT HARRISON

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PRESIDENT ARTHUR

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RECEIVED BY POPE LEO XIII, VATICAN, ROME 1890

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KAISER WILHELM AND COURT, BISMARCK VON MOUTKE AND STAFF, BERLIN, 1891

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PRESIDENT CARNOT AT OPENING PARIS 1889

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KING AND QUEEN OF BELGIUM AT BRUSSELLS 1891

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BEFORE H.I.M. QUEEN VICTORIA, WINDSOR CASTLE, 1892.

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KING HUMBERT AND COURT, ROME 1890.

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INDIAN WAR DANCE

BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST is an original creation, and, unlike any other entertainment ever known, it is unique, in that it sprang full-fledged from the brain of its creator, and when first presented to the world it was a complete whole, at once satisfactory and successful. Its appearance marked a new era in the history of horsemanship, ethnology and modern educational amusement enterprise. Originating in the brain of W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), its conception was inspired and its development aided by the romantic surroundings of his early life. His career from boyhood was coincident with the development of that Wild West, in regard to which he alone, and for the first time in history, saw the benefit to be derived from a great, historical, dramatic, realistic, picturesque, soul-stirring reproduction of the story of the early days of the Republic on the border lands of civilization. Born at a time, and reared in an atmosphere, the most romantic and adventurous known in the history of our American frontier, when the tidal-wave of human progress, sweeping westward, was making history faster than the historians could record it, it was his fate to be in the field, and his fortune to grasp his opportunities to meet the situation's requirements, and, in the beaten path of what seemed ordinary daily duty, to rise, by reason of his sterling qualities, his daring, and his courage, to the distinction of a leader. So quickly was the history of the central West recorded, as to make the Great American Desert of our childhood seem [drawing] almost a geographical mirage, a tale of the romancer. It would seem to be a fairy story were it not for the fact of its settlement, and the evidences of its now almost ancient civilization. The busy, hustling citizen of to-day scarcely has time to think, and does not realize that the youths of the time of Benton, Beal, Fremont, Bridger, and Carson, are the relicts of the perfected history and work that they inaugurated. Among the picturesque characters who took up the work these historic personages began, and assisted in his humble way to perfect, stands forth prominently the central figure of this Exhibition, "Buffalo Bill." Reared in the school of such past masters of plains lore and woodcraft, he figured in an epoch more active, dangerous and exciting, were that possible, than his tutors and predecessors. The era that witnessed the advent of a General Harney, a Kearney, a Lee, a Grant, a Dodge, a Sherman, a Custer, a Carr, a Merrit, a Crook, a Wheaton, a Forsythe, a Henry, and that instigator of offensive Indian warfare, General Phil. Sheridan, and his brilliant successor on the trail, General [drawing] Miles, also saw the completion of the work of bringing about the Era of Peace. Through all this, Col. Cody (Buffalo Bill) figures not only side by side with the prominent factors, not only as an adjunct of value, but with a brilliancy of record, a prominence of activity that have environed a deep chivalric interest around his personality. Sir Charles Dilke has recorded the history of "Greater Britain," but during the lifetime of this frontier boy he has seen with his own eyes the growth of "Greater America." In the short span of a life still in its prime, he has seen the slow wagon-train crawling over the weary miles of wind-swept prairie, harassed by Indians and other foes, and he has seen the long parallel iron rails push their way across the map of the continent until they span it from gulf to gulf and from ocean to ocean. The "prairie schooner" and the pony express have in his time given way to the Pullman coach and the electric wire. Living for years in cabins or tents, and oftener under the canopy of heaven, pursuing a career of independent activity, which carried him through the various stages of cattle-herder, teamster, bronco "buster," wagon-master, stage-driver, pony express rider, hunter, guide, scout and soldier, he still found time to acquire an education which, added to his native refinement and gentleness of bearing, enables him to appear to advantage in any society or place.

THE WILD WEST AS IT EXISTS TO-DAY.

Each year of its existence, and its experience and its journeyings, having broadened and illumined its scope, is the very embodiment of Nature as typified by the most attractive and picturesque specimens of the human and animal families. Grouped in this grand exhibition are the dark-hued children of the Far West, the daring Cowboy and frontiersman, the fiery and agile Cossack of the Caucasus, the Arab of the Desert, the South American Gaucho, the Mexican Vaquero, and representatives of the modern warrior from the ranks of the principal armies of the world. It is an entertainment of the most absorbing interest, full of attractiveness to all ages and all classes and conditions of men. Wonderful in conception, and brilliant in execution, it is not remarkable that the public has accorded it an applause never before given to any effort

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SITTING BULL

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BLAINE

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GRANT

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EMPEROR OF GERMANY

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MRS. CLEVELAND

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PRES. CLEVELAND

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PRINCE OF WALES

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PRINCESS OF WALES

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HARRISON

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CARNOT

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GLADSTONE

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CZARINA

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CZAR OF RUSSIA

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PERIER

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KING OF SAXONY

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QUEEN VICTORIA

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QUEEN NATALIE

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KING OF SPAIN

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POPE LEO XIII

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KING OF BELGIUM

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QUEEN OF BELGIUM

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KING OF SWEEDEN

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EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA

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CRISPI

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KING OF ITALY

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PARNELL

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LINCOLN

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DEPEW

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SALISBURY

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KALNOKY

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SHAH OF PERSIA

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EX QUEEN ISABELLE

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ARTHUR

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KING OF PORTUGAL

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GRAND DUKE ALEXIS

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CHAMBERLAIN

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MARY ANDERSON

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KEDIVE OF EGYPT

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HOHENLOHE

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BISMARK

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ROSEBERY

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DUKE OF EDINBOROUGH

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UNSER FRITZ

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GEN. MILES

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VON MOLTKE

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SULTAN OF TURKEY

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MARQUIS OF LORNE

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KING OF WURTEMBURG

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BAYARD

A FEW OF THE DISTINGUISHED VISITORS TO BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST.

The management beg to refer the reader to the portraits herewith, as well as to those on the first page, for the reproduction of a mere handful of the distinguished people of America and Europe who have been delighted and entertained by Buffalo Bill and his Wild West.

These include Presidents, Kings, Queens, The Pope, Potentates and Rulers, Statesmen, Artists, Authors, Actors, Diplomatists, Governors, Inventors, and all the people whose names are household words, and all of whom have testified to the edificaton they received and the knowledge gleaned by them of American History and the art of equitation. The presence of the Wild West at the Queen's Jubilee in 1887, at the Paris Exposition and at the World's Fair, Chicago, will account for the presence of those few distinguished visitors whose domains they have not yet invaded.

to command popular approval. It is a poem written by Nature in her happiest vein, endowed with a beauty of love and richness of thought never before reached in any combination. It presents to the eye, in a series of pictures, the details of the beautiful story so graphically told by the facile pen of Washington Irving, in his narratives of the fur-trader's trials, adventures, and discoveries, and carries the beholder far back of that to the days of James Fenimore Cooper's faithful "Pathfinder" and redoubtable "Deerslayer." Appearing this season enhanced by many features added to those which have made it internationally celebrated, it also presents for the first time a

BATTERY OF LIGHT ARTILLERY

of the United States Army, and a detachment of Expert Veterans of the United States Cavalry. This reinforcement of the great international features of the mounted warriors of the world, brings to its completion in the fullest sense that dioramic presentation of the History of the World on Horseback. The Wild West has demonstrated to the eye in rapid action what travelers, historians and story-tellers have written about. The prodigal use of adjectives, so common in descriptive literature, especially as applied [drawing] to the heralding of amusement enterprises, leaves one who approaches the adequate exploitation of a realistic exhibition like the Wild West, bankrupt in words and power of description and expression. There is a limit to language; when its strength is wasted on ordinary subjects there is nothing left for emphasis when extraordinary ones are approached. The Wild West is an entertainment which has had bestowed upon it the most enthusiastic commendation and approbation from the most prominent figures of contemporaneous history. Presidents, Kings, Emperors, Queens, and the Ecclesiastical and Diplomatic personalities, who have made the history of our times, have all witnessed and been edified by this marvellous historical exhibition. Nothing could better convey to the reader the impression that it has made upon the brightest minds of our time, than the following quotations from Sir Henry Irving, Murat Halstead and Opie Read, which are gleaned at random from the tomes of literature, which the most brilliant writers of this age have penned in regard to Buffalo Bill's Wild West.

That distinguished actor, Sir Henry Irving, writing of Buffalo Bill's Wild West, used this graphically descriptive language: "Such dare-devil riding was never seen on earth in one spot, as that displayed by these rough riders.

 

All the picturesque horsemanship of the famous Bedouins sinks to child's play before these reckless Mamelukes of the plains. When the American Cowboys sweep like a tornado up the track, forty or fifty strong, every man swinging his hat and every pony at its utmost speed, a roar of wonder and delight breaks from the thousands and the men reach the grand stand in a cloud welcomed by a thunderburst. Col. Cody, the far-famed Buffalo Bill, comes last. I don't know that anybody ever described Buffalo Bill on a horse. I am inclined to think nobody can. Ainsworth's description of Dick Turpin's ride stood for many years as the finest thing of the kind, and then young Winthrop, in his clever story of "John Brent," excelled it in his ride to the Suggernell Springs. Either one of these men, given a month, might have wrought Buffalo Bill upon paper.

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LIGHTER THAN DAY

A RACE OF RACES

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HE IS THE COMPLETE RESTORATION OF THE CENTAUR.

"No one that I ever saw so adequately fulfills to the eye all the conditions of picturesque beauty, absolute grace and perfect identity with his animal. If an artist or a riding-master had wanted to mould a living ideal of romantic equestrianship, containing in outline and action the men of Henry of Navarre, the Americanism of Custer, the automatic majesty of the Indian, and the untutored 'cussedness' of the Cowboy, he would have measured Buffalo Bill in the saddle. Motion swings into music with him. He is the only man I ever saw who rides as if he couldn't help it, and the sculptor and the soldier had jointly come together in his act. It is well worth a visit to see that vast parterre of people break into white handkerchiefs like a calm sea suddenly whipped to foam, as this man dashes up to the grand stand. How encumbered and uncouth and wooden are the best of the red braves beside the martial leadership of this long-limbed pale- [drawing] LARGEST ARENIC EXHIBITION KNOWN IN HISTORY HORSE SHOEING TENT HORSE TENTS MESS ROOM COAL THE ELECTRIC PLANT CHIEF ENGINEER ASS'T ENGINEER FIREMAN COURIER Co Buffalo N.Y. face! No circus can approximate its actuality. It is impossible to escape the thrill of this intense action. The enthusiasm of the multitude goes with him."

The distinguished journalist, soldier, statesman and traveler, Murat Halstead, graphically writes: "I feel it a duty to the generation to call special attention to the Wild West Exhibition under the direction of Col. Cody. Its genuine character makes it worthy of the highest commendation. The horses, their trappings, the people and all the wonderful skill and daring, are beyond the suspicion of imposture. The riding is the most thrilling and at the same time most expert horsemanship ever presented to the public. Twenty-five years hence it will be impossible to reproduce such thrilling phases of frontier life, as it would be to-day to enact the Grecian games at Olympia. Greeks, it is true, still exist, but the Greeks of the days of Heraclidæ have vanished. The splendid assemblage of temples on the banks of Alpheus stream are in wreck and ruin; the discus-throwers, the wrestlers, and the charioteers of ancient Hellas have melted into dust. So in a generation's   [image, left] [image caption] BUFFALO BILL SHOOTING FROM HORSEBACK. [end caption] time will have disappeared from our Western plains and mountain fastnesses, the cowboy and the painted savage forever. From an educational point of view, rather than as an amusement, should every American study the Wild West Show. "Another word about Buffalo Bill's Wild West object lesson. He is here in great form, completing the conquest of two worlds. I have witnessed his triumphs in both. Everyone knows how he took the scalp of Europe and wears the glittering trophy at his belt. He has added largely to the attractiveness of his exhibit and deserves the success he has had and the crowning triumphs before him throughout the season that has been opened so auspiciously for him. There is one new feature worth traveling a thousand miles to see, and that is THE CAVALRY OF NATIONS, the United States, England and Germany. A troop of the cavalry of each of these nations appear in the regulation uniform, bearing their respective flags, and the bold riders, going through the most elaborate evolutions, display all the witcheries of consummate horsemanship. They are as well worth seeing as the cowboys or the savages, the Mexicans or the Cossacks. The one sight that ought to interest every American is the gallant company of the United States cavalry. As our men have usually been in hard service or remote stations, the great masses of our people are most wholly unacquainted with them; so that the exhibition of a troop of our regular horsemen is as novel as it is pleasing."—Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.

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JOHNNY BAKER.

A tribute from Opie Read, who thinks that Buffalo Bill has taught the world a lesson: "If man's greatest study is man, of what worth has Buffalo Bill been to the student? Strip him of romance, of history, and regard him simply as a collector of the human species, and then note the distance he advances beyond any showman. When Barnum gathered wild beasts from the corners of the earth wise men applauded, for they declared that he had brought home to every child the truth of natural history. And what has Buffalo Bill done? He has opened a great school of anthropology, and not only wisdom but royalty has been forced to applaud. Surely his entertainment is the greatest that the world has ever seen, and could it have been possible in the vigorous days of Rome, had this mammoth play been enacted in the neighborhood of the Eternal City, the schoolboy of all nations would to-day translate its wonders into his mother tongue. Morse made the two worlds touch the tips of their fingers together. Cody has made the warriors of all nations join hands. Who but this man has conceived so fantastic a play? In one act we see the Indian with his origin shrouded in history's mysterious fog, the cowboy—nerve-strung product of the New World—the American soldier, the dark Mexican, the glittering soldier of Germany, the dashing cavalryman of France, the impulsive Irish dragoon, and that strange, swift spirit from the plains of Russia—the Cossack. Marvelous theatrical display, a drama with scarcely a word—Europe, Asia, Africa and America in panoramic whirl, and yet as individualized as if they had never left their own country. Buffalo Bill has taught the knowing world a lesson. It was a bold thing to undertake, but this man from the West did it. There often arises

A MAN WHO MAKES THE WORLD THINK,

but how few have made the world stare? In the years to come, when Cody has passed away, hundreds of imitators will arise to scramble and to strive for a semblance of his marvelous force, but he cannot be approached, for History has marked him as one of her children. Columbus discovered America. The centuries rolled one upon another and a man from the Western plains completed the discoverer's work—brought a band of Indians to Rome."—Chicago Post.

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ANNIE OAKLEY.

BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST AND CONGRESS OF ROUGH RIDERS OF THE WORLD.

EDUCATION AND AMUSEMENT—HOW THEY GO HAND IN HAND.

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INDIANS ATTACKING STAGE COACH

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It is undoubtedly true that the amusements of a people are the best index of their character. The proofs of this are at hand in the pages of all history, as well as the results of the proper direction of the popular mind to the style of entertainment that combines education with pleasurable relaxation. A great truth was enunciated by the words, "Let me write the songs of a nation and I care not who makes its laws." Regarded properly from this point of view, the advent of the Buffalo Bill's Wild West is deserving of much more than passing notice by the most intelligent people, and is not to be lightly dismissed or under-   [drawing] LASSOING WILD HORSES valued by those who think it in any sense a trivial affair. The original has necessarily been but fleetingly before the American people, the materials of which it is composed cannot be replaced, they are the
LAST TYPES OF VANISHING PEOPLE,
and the world to be reached was wide. Christopher Columbus was called a World Finder, but Col. Cody can with equal propriety be called a World Educator. His later years in which he has carried the true American the wide world over, instructing both the Indian and the white man, have earned him the respect and praise of all. His have been
PRACTICAL LESSONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY,
history told by the men who made that history. Every nation is properly proud of its history, and in the world's annals there is no more remarkable or thrilling story than that of the civilizing of this mighty continent, which constitutes the great epic of American history. All nations guard jealously the great facts in their history. They are perpetuated in libraries and the battle scenes limned on canvas by master artists. The days of Shakespeare are known to us best not through history, but in his great historical dramas is told the story of Richard and Hamlet, and as they are presented on the stage we live there with them once again.

SO THE WILD WEST TELLS THE HISTORY OF THE PLAINS,
and tells the tale that appeals so strongly to every patriot's heart of how 'twas made. These chapters in history are invaluable because they are truthful and presented without any meretricious adjuncts.

Mr. Washington Gladden has excellently set this forth in his popular and instructive writings, wherein he says, speaking of the relations of Christianity to Amusements: "When it is said that the Church ought to provide wholesome diversions for the people, it is meant that the Church
INDIANS ATTACKING WAGON TRAIN
ought to stir up the intelligent and benevolent men and women under its influence to attend to this matter, and ought to make them feel that this is one of the duties resting on them as Christians, and the question now is whether any such obligation as this is resting on the Church; whether this is a field which Christian philanthropy can and should enter and cultivate. In answering this question several considerations must be borne in mind. Popular amusement is a great fact. A large share of the people are seeking amusement of one sort or another continually. We see that a large share of their earnings is devoted to this purpose. Complaint is sometimes made of the cost of education and of religious privileges; but it is safe to say that the people of this country spend every year for amusements more than they pay for their schools, and three times as much as they pay for their churches. Amusement is not only a great fact and a great business interest, it is also a great factor in the development of the national character. If a wise philanthropist could choose between making the laws of any people and furnishing their amusements, it would not take him long to decide. The robust virtues are nurtured under the discipline of work; if the diversions can be kept healthful, a sound national life will be developed. The ideals of the people are shaped, and their sentiments formed, to a large extent, by popular amusements. If this is true, the business of providing amusement for the people ought not to be merely or mainly a mercenary business; the intelligence, the conscience and the benevolence of the community ought to recognize this realm of amusement as belonging to them, and ought to enter in and take possession. Education deserves always to rank as one of the greatest missionary enterprises.

NOW AMUSEMENT, LIKE EDUCATION AND RELIGION, IS A REAL NEED OF HUMAN BEINGS,
not so deep or vital a need as education or religion, but a real and constant need, and a need of the higher nature as well as of the lower; an interest that closely concerns their characters; and it is almost as great a mistake to leave it to take care of itself, and to be furnished mainly by those who wish to make money out of it, and who have no higher motive, as it would be to leave education or religion to be cared for in that way. When I say that it can be done, I speak of what I know, and testify of what I have seen.

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HUNTING BUFFALO.

THE LAST OF THE BUFFALO.

THE LAST LIVING HERD.

THE MOST REMARKABLE SUCCESS IN THE WAY OF POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT THAT I HAVE EVER WITNESSED
has been achieved along the line which I have just been pointing out. And an ounce of experience is worth a pound of theory." It is upon the lines referred to that the amusement furnished by the Wild West has been constructed. Not amusement alone, such as the idle laughter excited by the antics of a clown, but Amusement which is beneficial and instructive as well as entertaining.

 

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

A COLOSSAL AGGREGATION OF THE WARRIORS OF THE UNIVERSE, PRESENTING MANY DIFFERENT RACES AND TRIBES AND THEIR NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.

A STUDY OF HUMANITY. AN INTELLECTUAL TREAT. A KINDERGARTEN OF ANTHROPOLOGY. A UNIVERSITY COURSE IN EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY.

TOTALLY UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE ON EARTH.

Pronounced the premier of entertainments, combining PLEASURE AND INSTRUCTION. An assemblage with many NEW FEATURES and acknowledged the ENTERPRISE OF THE CENTURY. Embracing and Employing 600 Men and 500 Horses.

Bands of American Indians, Arabs, Cossacks, South American Gauchos, Mexican Ruralies, Texan Vaqueros, Western Cowboys, Cavalry Squadrons of Leading European Nations, U.S. Artillery, Cavalry and Infantry.

Scouts and Frontiersmen, Commanded in person by COL. W. F. CODY—BUFFALO BILL.

A FREE STREET CAVALCADE AT 10 A. M. ON DAY OF ARRIVAL.

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DO NOT FAIL TO SEE THIS CORROBORATIVE DEMONSTRATION, AS BY IT THE STUDENT CAN VERIFY BY OPTICAL OBSERVATION THE WIDELY VARYING RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VERITABLE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MANY NATIONS COMPREHENDED.

Come Early and Witness the Great Introductory Review, of which the Above Accompanying Picture is Reproduced from an Actual Photograph.

A DEMONSTRATIVE, DARING, DASHING, DANGER-DEFYING DISPLAY

Brilliant and Beautiful, Picturesquely and Prismatically Pictorial, as they sweep in serried ranks anent the vision—A Dream of Parti-colored War Raiment, Nodding Plumes, Streaming Banners, Glittering Accoutrements, Flashing Arms and Prancing Steeds.

As They Pass in Review Before Critic, Historian, Patriot and Public, Eclipsing in Variety of Component Parts Any Previous

SPECTACLE IN THE WORLD'S HISTORY.

 

BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST

IS NOT TO BE DESCRIBED!
IT IS TO BE SEEN!

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GAUCHOS

In that way only can the mind grasp fully through the eye the fact that it is absolutely unique in its every feature, and is not alone the greatest, but is the best and most valuable object lesson in the history of our common country ever conceived or carried into magnificent, colossal and effective execution by the genius of man. It pictures faithfully, because the actors in this great drama of civilization are not mimic artists, but are the veritable heroes of the real conflict waged to proclaim civilization and freedom from Ocean to Ocean, and from Gulf to Gulf. Truth is stamped upon its every act and illuminates its every illustration. The inspiration of the participant is not alone in the ringing cheers of the spectators who crowd the arena, but is in the kindling memories of the days now passed when the crack of the rifle and the war-cry of the Indians were gruesome sounds indeed.

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COWBOYS FUN

THE WILD WEST IS A GREAT EXPOSITION OF HISTORY BY THE MEN WHO MADE THAT HISTORY. The magnitude of such an undertaking as is presented by the Wild West would appall the stoutest heart and most enterprising impresario. To transport from place to place an army of men and horses, to provide seating accommodations, not in the canvas tent of former days, but out under the canopy of the vaulted dome of Heaven, where alone these children of nature are seen at their best, was a marvelous undertaking. The commissariat, too, presents difficulties even in a land flowing with milk and honey, for theirs is a peaceful conquest and no forced levy can be made for food and shelter. To turn a vast arena from the inky blackness of night to the broad glaring effulgence of day required ingenuity and expense; yet here it is accomplished by the aid of the greatest movable electric lighting plant ever devised or [drawing] WILD MUSTANGS executed, and this marvelous aggregation of historical and surpassingly brilliant tableaux of frontier life has been transported to and presented in every Capital in Europe and visited by all the Rulers of the World, both temporal and spiritual. Its combination of the educational and instructive with fascinating and thrilling enjoyment cannot be too strongly realized, and it is absolutely novel and unique, never having been attempted before in the world's history.

To the young it is an indispensable lesson, teaching history, ethnology, strategy, valor and patriotism in a way to impress it upon the mind with such force that the impression can never be dimmed. To complete the value of this marvelous object lesson, there are here gathered together for the invaluable purpose of comparison before the eye, all the primitive horsemen of the wide, wide world—from every continent and every clime they come to tell their tale of how life is lived under the varying conditions presented on the world's surface. Once within the portals of the Wild West, a marvelous transformation is witnessed, which makes one rub his eyes and wonder if he has been transported on the flying carpet of the Arabian Nights, from his 19th century home to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Here all is primitive, new and startlingly realistic.

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BUCKING BRONCHOS

HERE YOU SEE THE RED MAN AT HOME ensconced with squaw and pappoose within the huts of skin and sinew, the campfire burning and nothing changed from the days when our Pilgrim Fathers landed on the bleak shores of Massachusetts. Here the Stoical Chieftain stalks proudly by with the stately head-dress for which he despoiled the pinions of the mighty eagle, emblem of our and his country. Ministering to his wants and those of her offspring are the devoted women of the race that furnished us the romantic stories of Pocahontas and of Minnehaha. Here is the home life vividly realized of a great nomadic race which once owned a continent, and which in a few more years will be numbered with the lost tribes of antiquity. Now floats across the air the strains so dear to every patriotic heart of "The Star Spangled Banner." From their point of vantage the music of the famous Cowboy Band fittingly introduces the great exhibition with the national anthem.

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MEXICANS

 

THAT "MUSIC HATH CHARMS TO SOOTHE THE SAVAGE BREAST,"
was never so truly and strikingly illustrated as by these musicians, in whom the divine passion was implanted by nature and who learned their art by the camp-fires after nightfall on the great Plains of the Far West. Then enters to the surprised and delighted spectator, the most absolutely new and striking cavalcade that the world has ever seen, and which comprises

ALL THE ROUGH RIDERS OF THE WORLD,

led by that Peerless Prince of Horsemen, Buffalo Bill (Col. W. F. Cody). They come in squadrons with a dash and a fire that fairly raises the spectator from his seat as they swing into line like detached sections of a small whirlwind. Indians of many tribes, lightly accoutred, painted with brilliant pigments, glorious and gaudy with bright feathers, sitting close down to the bare backs of their sturdy ponies, whooping and yelling like madmen, they furnish a picture never to be forgotten. Close upon their heels come the stalwart Cowboys with ringing shouts and swinging lassos, and then the Mexican Vaquero, that gorgeous product of the land of the Montezumas, silver laden from the heavy bullion on his expansive sombrero, to the massive bits and monstrous jingling spurs with which he guides his horse as he sits in his cradle-like saddle. Then from a clime as cold as his is hot, comes into view the Cossack, from the steppes of Russia, riding like a veritable Easterly wind that comes raging down from his native land. Once more the tread of iron-shod hoofs and with burnoose as many-hued as the rainbow and mounted upon the famed progenitor of all the Equine race, the Bedouin appears upon his lovely Arab steed. Scouts and Guides follow rapidly, and then the pampas present their famous horsemen,

THE GAUCHOS OF THE VAST HERD-LANDS OF THE ARGENTINE,

way down below the Equatorial belt. And now the strains of inspiring music change to the appropriate national anthems as the carefully groomed and equipped horsemen of the famous armies of the civilized world appear upon the scene. The ponderous heavy cavalry of Old England, the splendidly effective cavalry of the German Vaterland, the brilliant and dashing Russian. Then the stirring strains of "Yankee Doodle," and out dash the detachment of

[drawing] Courier Co ARTILLERY DRIVING—The expert driving of a team of four horses dragging a heavy piece of artillery after them, is one of the most exciting exhibitions of skill known to man. The nerve, strength, quickness of eye and judgment of distance required to pilot a cannon successfully between two slight posts, leaving a margin of only inches on either side, cannot be exaggerated, and it never fails to arouse the spectator to the highest pitch of excitement. With the riders mounted and urging their horses to a full gallop, they go round and round, never touching the barriers, though they may only escape them by a hair's breadth.
UNCLE SAM'S CAVALRY BOYS ON WHITE CHARGERS SWEEPING FORWARD WITH THE SPEED OF THE WIND,

the blue uniforms of the men, the yellow braid and waving plumes exciting immediate recognition, as swiftly as a flock of giant birds they make their rapid flight along the plain, wheeling in magnificent alignment at the turn, circling like a rushing wave of color until rank rests behind rank in unison, to salute "Old Glory," as the Nation's banner comes proudly floating onward borne aloft by a sturdy standard bearer with strong arm extended, steadying the quivering staff as the fluttering flag splits the breeze—and then! then comes the culminating outburst of pent-up enthusiasm, of patriotism aroused beyond boiling point, and the spontaneous demonstration of superlative delight as the vast audience joins in a tremendous chorus of approval and simultaneously rend the air with yells, shouts, cheers, huzzas, bravos and plaudits inconceivable.

SUCH A SCENE OF ACTIVITY AND INTEREST HAS NEVER BEFORE BEEN WITNESSED.
The Grant Salute, and at a word from the knightly figure in buckskin clad (Buffalo Bill), they wheel and vanish, a massive, comprehensive dioramic-panoramic exploitation of horse, man, flag, costume and kaleidoscopic color.

Now comes lightly running upon the arena of action a slender girlish figure, modest and grace typified in the frontier dress and the fawn-like movement. It is the peerless lady wing-shot, Miss Annie Oakley. A salute, and in another second, with flashing eyes, the rifle is at her shoulder, and the girl of the border-land pictures the dexterity which the maidens of the Far West attained with the rifle, which served a double purpose as a defender and a provider. It kept the wolf from the door both literally and figuratively. A race between races, literally, for the competition is between a Cowboy, a Cossack, a Mexican, a Gaucho and an Indian, mounted respectively on Spanish, Mexican, Bronco, Russian, Indian and Arabian horses. And here there is no straining for effect; this is a contest in which national pride forces every one of the contestants to do his best for his own ambition and the glory of his Race.

 

The atmosphere changes once more and we are carried back to those days not so far distant, when no iron trail led from Ocean to Ocean, and when the mails were carried by the far-famed pony express rider. The endurance and dextrous skill displayed are marvelous. Throwing himself from one horse with his mail pouch almost onto the back of another going at full speed, one realizes what arduous lives were lived before the days of the iron horse and the electric wire. Thence the transition is natural to the trail of the settler, to whom this daring rider carried the news of the outside world.

[drawing]

THE MAN ON HORSE OF 1797 FROM THE SEINE TO THE NEVA FROM THE PYRAMIDS TO WATERLOO

ART PERPETUATING FAME ~ROSA BONHEUR~ PAINTING BUFFALO BILL PARIS 1889

THE MAN ON HORSE OF 1897 FROM THE YELLOWSTONE TO THE DANUBE FROM VESUVIUS TO BEN NEVIS

Courier Co

The great "prairie schooner," as the huge, covered emigrant wagons were called, appears upon the horizon. The boys and girls mounted accompany it, while mother and the baby repose within. They are jubilant and joyous, but alert, for they are in the Indian country; suddenly, like a whirlwind, the red men charge upon them yelling like demons. Around and around the little caravan they circle, riding like mad and gradually closing in upon the doomed family. All seems lost, when out from the west comes Buffalo Bill, leading his Scouts and Cowboys to the rescue. The tables are turned, and the deadly fire of the rifles and revolvers of the white men is too hot to withstand, and before long they are [drawing] in turn pursued and the rescue is complete. How many bleaching bones on the prairie tell the fate of those from whom the great scout was too far distant to bring life, hope and safety?

Once more this marvelous scene changes from West to East, and the plains of the wild West give place to the sandy deserts of Arabia, while the Riffian horsemen, the great Nomads of the East, portray with vivid realism their native sports and pastimes, and bring still more forcibly to the mind the great truth that the horse has always been man's best friend and ally. Before the wonderful impression created by this wild horsemanship fades, the spectator is once more back   [drawing] Courier Co on the frontier. First comes Master Johnny Baker, the young frontiersman, a typical Western marksman, who is quickly followed by the Cossacks from the Caucasus, in their wild and reckless feats of horsemanship, giving way to another type of crude equestrianism by the Mexican Rurales. Then are seen broncos of the Western plains jumping hurdles. The home life and amusements of the typical American Cowboys are illustrated, showing the conquest of the horse by man, episodes of most exciting character, lassoing wild horses, buck jumping and other surprising efforts; Monster International Musical Drill; the attack on the Deadwood stage coach, a famous and soul-stirring incident of border life most graphically depicted; bareback riding on Indian ponies by juvenile redskins;

LIGHT ARTILLERY BATTERY EVOLUTIONS

by Uncle Sam's veteran gunners; the arbiter of the fate of nations; duel of the cannoneers; the bola throwers and dexterous horsemen of South America, the Gauchos of the Pampas of the Argentine; great combination of horsemanship and marksmanship by Col. Cody (Buffalo Bill); appearance of the last living herd of American buffaloes in the vivid picture of the great scout and his companions hunting the bison.

"Last scene of all this strange eventful history," and one of surpassing truthfulness, presents the home of the early settler. The rude cabin is there; the sun is setting; it will soon be time for the pioneer to return. His brave and loving helpmeet is busied with the homely preparations for the evening meal, a rude repast sweetened by honest toil. The frontiersman comes slowly homeward on his weary steed. All is peaceful, yet shadowy forms are on his trail; they flit stealthily about, appearing and disappearing. The tethered steed lifts his head and sniffs nervously, scenting danger in the air. Presently the sharp crack of a rifle tells the tale of the shadows. Indians have attacked the cabin. The frontiersman barricades his door and keeps up a deadly fire upon his foes. They are too numerous; they fire the cabin. The tragedy will soon be over! But no! there, far away, is seen the outlines of the king of scouts leading his friends who have been with him on the trail of the red men, and in a breath the combat is on. It is short, sharp and decisive, and soon the Indians, who have not been killed, are on the run. The pioneer's rescue is accomplished. But ah! some other day—who can tell?

THE READER'S attention is called to the decorative border on this page, representing actual delegates from the groups and detachments of the various Nations, Races and Military Arms that form the
Free Street Pageant—Day of Arrival!
STARTING AT 10 A.M.
Inviting Critical and Close Inspection as one of the Most Inspiring Sights Ever Witnessed.

  [drawing]

ARABS

THE SEASON OF 1897,

WITH NEW FEATURES,

has been carefully prepared for and projected on a hitherto undreamed-of scale of magnitude and realism. The undertaking is under the auspices of that great triumvirate of entrepreneurs, Nate Salsbury, James A. Bailey and Col. W. F. Cody. Each of them has circled the entire globe and is rich in experience and fertile in expedient. Mr. Salsbury as artist and manager, has been twice around the world; Mr. Bailey has been for years the most successful and popular caterer to the amusement of the public, and Col. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), is the most celebrated of living exponents of the real life of the plains. When the Paris press bestowed the title of the Man on the Horse upon Gen. Boulanger, they unwittingly annexed the title which has been Col. Cody's for years. Since leaving his finished life-work on the frontier, there now being, through such talents as his, no longer any frontier, he has appeared before more thousands of people of all nations than any human being ever did, and generally on a horse. The impression of him conveyed to these multitudes through the retina upon the mind and never forgotten, is always that of the man on horse. As the Man on Horse he lives in the pictorial history of the world, and on the glowing canvas of the immortal Rosa Bonheur he stands forth the "The Man on Horse." In the years of his foreign travels, he has sat upon his steed beneath all the greatest equestrian statues of the art centers of the Old World and always gained by the comparison; none were so statuesque as the King of Scouts in propria persona. Amy Leslie, in her famous work on the World's Fair, says: "How an heroic statue of Buffalo Bill with his magnificent physique, picturesque accoutrements and scout impetuosity would have stood out among the dulcet elegances of foreign art! Clad in fringed deer-skins—than which not Grecian drapery is more graceful and artistic—with the high boots which typify hardship and the country's savage estate, his inseparable gun, fiery horse and incomparable inherent pose!"

And so the educational work which Col. Cody has been doing goes on. When he landed his Indian braves upon the chalk cliffs of Old England, there were statues of Indians in Westminster Abbey with the curly wool of the African upon their heads. All this he has changed; the grotesque and degraded pictures presented by the dime novel of the red men and their conquerors are put to blush when one sees the dignity of the Indian and the manly valor of the scout. This is the first characteristic of Col. Cody—that he is a born leader of men. When the work of civilizing this mighty continent was concluded and his great ranch on the Platte invited to a prosperous and peaceful remainder of life, most men would have sunk into oblivion, but his work was only just begun. So began that marvelous educational campaign equally valuable to the red and the white man, and in pursuit of this object he has led them on this peaceful path across the mighty waters of the ocean, into the courts and camps of all Europe, everywhere welcomed with acclamation from prince and peasant, because the exhibition, like the man, was genuine. There were no humbugs or substitutes in it; it is the last truthful chapter of an "o'er true tale."

THIS ENORMOUS OUTFIT IS TRANSPORTED IN SPECIAL RAILROAD TRAINS,
using its own specially constructed rolling stock, the largest of traveling commissary, dormitory and equerry accommodations, complete in every particular, and equaling the requirements of the modern methods of moving a fully equipped army in time of war, carrying all the paraphernalia necessary to a covered grand stand seating 20,000 persons, assuring perfect protection from sun or rain. The equipage of a picturesque inter-racial encampment, in fact more men, more horses, more cars than any two exhibitions, and so organized and arranged as to camp close to the city in an easily accessible location. On the first day of arrival there will be given

A FREE STREET CAVALCADE AT 10 A.M.,
by detailed detachments from each division; attired in light marching order, they will give a slight idea of the remarkable and fascinatingly interesting character of the exhibition. The march will be enlivened by three magnificent bands of music, led by the famed, world-traveled Buffalo Bill's Cowboy Band. At night a brilliant Electric Display by the Largest Portable Double Electric Plant (of 250,000 Candle Power) yet constructed for any similar purpose. Two circuits, ensuring a perfectly reliable illumination, making night as light as day. Two exhibitions daily, rain or shine, at 2 and 8 P.M. General admission, 50 cents; children under 9 years of age, half price.

[drawing]

Courier Co

 

SCENES IN THE LIFE OF COL. W. F. CODY "BUFFALO BILL"

[drawing]

COL. W. F. CODY. "BUFFALO BILL"

FIRST CABIN BUILT BY "CODY" ON THE PLATTE. PRESENT CITY RESIDENCE.

GENERAL SHERIDAN COMMISSIONING BUFFALO BILL TO GUIDE THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS' HUNTING EXPEDITION.

BUFFALO BILL GUIDING GENERAL SHERIDAN'S RELIEF TRAIN IN WINTER 1868

SHOSHONE IRRIGATION CANAL BIG HORN BASIN WY 1897

"BUFFALO BILLS" HOME AND HORSE RANCH ON THE OLD FIGHTING GROUND OF THE PAWNEE AND SIOUX ON THE PLATTE IN NEBRASKA 1860

SITTING BULL AND BUFFALO BILL, FOES IN 76 FRIENDS IN 85

"BUFFALO BILL" PERFORMING MARRIAGE CEREMONY

The Courier Co. Buffalo N.Y.

  [portraits]

"THE CAREER OF THE HON. W. F. CODY ON THE PLAINS AS A SCOUT WAS ONE OF UNUSUAL DISTINCTION" W. B. Royall COL. 4TH CAVALRY U.S. ARMY

BRIG. GEN. GEORGE A. CUSTER. "THE HERO OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN"

"I OFTEN RECALL YOUR VALUABLE SERVICES TO THE GOVERNMENT, AS WELL AS TO MYSELF, IN YEARS LONG GONE BY, SPECIALLY DURING THE SIOUX DIFFICULTIES WHEN YOU WERE ATTACHED TO MY COMMAND AS CHIEF OF SCOUTS." N. A. M. Dudley COL. 1ST CAVALRY U.S.A.

"YOUR EFFICIENCY, FIDELITY, AND DARING AS A GUIDE AND SCOUT I TAKE PLEASURE IN TESTIFYING TO" James B. Fry (Retired) Bvt. MAJOR GENERAL U.S.A.

"YOURSELF AND YOUR ENTERPRISE HAVE BEEN SO HIGHLY APPRECIATED BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND BY THE PRESS AND ARMY THAT THERE IS NOTHING LEFT FOR ME TO SAY." James W. Forsyth COLONEL 7TH CAVALRY U.S.A.

"THE PIONEER, INDIAN FIGHTER, AND FRONTIERSMAN, WHEN THE WILD WEST WAS STILL AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY." H. C. Bankhead Bvt. BRIG. GENERAL U.S.A.

"A MAN WHO HAS A HIGH REPUTATION IN THE ARMY AS A SCOUT NO MAN HAS EVER SHOWN MORE SKILL AND BRAVERY ON THE WESTERN PLAINS" Jno. H. King Bvt. MAJ. GENL. U.S.A.

"YOU ARE REPRODUCING THE SCENES AND INCIDENTS OF A REMARKABLE CAREER AS A SCOUT AND GUIDE TO A GENERATION THEN UNBORN." W. T. Sherman (Retired) GENERAL U.S.A.

"A COOL BRAVE MAN OF UNIMPEACHABLE INTEGRITY" P. H. Sheridan LIEUTENANT GENERAL

"I TAKE GREAT PLEASURE IN TESTIFYING TO THE VERY EFFICIENT SERVICE DONE BY YOU, AS CHIEF OF SCOUTS IN THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE SIOUX INDIANS" George Crook BRIG. GEN. U.S.A.

W. F. Cody Buffalo Bill LATE CHIEF OF SCOUTS U.S. ARMY.

"YOUR SERVICES ON THE FRONTIER WERE INVALUABLE" Nelson A. Miles BRIGADIER GENERAL U.S. ARMY

"HE WAS COOL AND CAPABLE WHEN SURROUNDED BY DANGERS AND IS A GENTLEMAN IN THE BETTER SENSE OF THAT WORD WHICH INVOLVES CHARACTER" W. Merritt Bvt. MAJ. GENL. U.S.A.

"AS AN INDIAN SCOUT HE IS KING OF THEM ALL." Eugene A. Carr GENERAL U.S.A.

BR. MAJ. GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK (DECEASED.)

"HE WAS CHIEF GUIDE AND SCOUT TO MY COMMAND, AND PERFORMED HIS DUTIES WITH MARKED EXCELLENCE." W. H. Emory BRIG. GEN. U.S. ARMY (Retired)

SOME OF THE FAMOUS GENERALS OF THE U.S. ARMY UNDER WHOM BUFFALO BILL HAS SERVED

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Banner image: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming, U.S.A.; Original Buffalo Bill Museum Collection, P.69.118