Letter from William F. Cody to George T. Beck, April 27 [1896]Cody, William Frederick, 1846-1917Johnston, JeremyChristianson, FrankSeefeldt, 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.2013William F. Cody ArchiveUniversity of Nebraska-LincolnCenter for Digital Research in the Humanities319 Love LibraryUniversity of Nebraska–LincolnLincoln, NE 68588-4100cdrh@unlnotes.unl.eduLincoln, NebraskaUniversity of Nebraska-LincolnLincoln, NE 68588-4100wfc.css00474Letter year is 1896: BBWW performed in Cumberland, Maryland, April 27, 1896. Red Lodge, Montana, lies 65 miles north of Cody and was the closest rail line to Cody. Bronson Rumsey II was one of the founding members of the town of Cody; he was one of the directors in the Shoshone Irrigation Company that Cody put together to provide water to the arid 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. W. A. Paxton (1837-1907), one of Omaha's leading entrepreneurs, was involved in cattle, stockyards, wholesale groceries, land and politics; the Paxton-Gallagher business, founded in 1879 by William Paxton and Benjamin Gallagher, became renowned for its line of wholesale groceries, including Butternut coffee. Paxton was being pursued as a potential investor in The Shoshone Irrigation Company but later decided against joining [Bonner, p31]. George Washington Lininger (1834-1901) was the first jobber of farming implements in Nebraska when he opened the Lininger & Company implement house in Omaha in 1873, a wholesale company of carriages, buggies, and agricultural implements. Lininger also founded the Lininger Art Gallery that opened in 1888 and was free to the public. In 1881 Joseph Maul Metcalf (1846-1905) became a partner, vice-president, and manager of the Lininger & Metcalf Company. Elwood Mead (1858-1936), 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.Cody, William Frederick, 1846-1917Letter from William F. Cody to George T. BeckApril 27, [1896]2 pagesUniversity of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Buffalo Bill Letters to George T. Beck (Acc. #9972)ah031334 and 031724
2 hand-written pages
2 pages
Media: black ink
TextsCorrespondenceBuffalo Bill's WyomingBeck, George Washington Thornton, 1856-1943Rumsey, Bronson, II, 1854-1946Paxton, William A., 1837-1907Gallagher, BenjaminLininger, George Washington, 1834-1901Metcalf, Joseph Maul, 1846-1905Mead, Elwood, 1858-1936Shoshone Irrigation District (Wyo.)Weakly, Laura K. Added annotationWeakly, Laura K. Initial encodingHouze, Lynn ProofingJohnston, Jeremy ProofingClark, Linda ProofingBoyce, Gary TranscriptionAdams, Deb TranscriptionBuffalo 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. Cumberlan— Md1
Apr 272My Dear George—
I have not heard from you since wire from Chicago. Please send me a wire per Pony Express3 to Red Lodge4—so I may know if water is in Ditch. George— Rumsey said this was no longer a one man Co. If so you must write— Paxton & Gallagher.5 Lininger & Metcalf6 & others that if they donotdo not not want to trust our Co for goods you will buy where they will trust Co— You should not ask me to guarantee everything personally as was done again this time
Is Mead with you?
Best wishesCodyNote 1: Cumberland, Maryland: Buffalo Bill's Wild West performed in Cumberland, Maryland, on April 27, 1896. Note 2: The year is not inscribed by Cody but is 1896 as determined by the Routes List. The day's entry in the 1896 Route Diary: "Cumberland, Md. / Monday, April 27. It commenced to rain at 2 P. M. and kept it up until 8.30 P. M. Albert E. Scheible, business manager, closed here and left on the 8.30 train for New York City. J. Byrns, an Irish soldier, was taken sick with pneumonia and went to the hospital. Lot at Valley Spring and Fairview avenues, clay and bad to pick up on. Got out of Cumberland at 2 A. M. / Arena, 173 x 344. / Business in the afternoon big, in the evening fair."Note 3: "Pony Express" is Cody's way of saying send a wire as quickly as possible.Note 4: Red Lodge, Montana, lies 65 miles north of Cody and was the closest rail line to Cody, Wyoming.Note 5: Paxton-Gallagher is a wholesale groceries business, founded in Omaha in 1879 by William Paxton and Benjamin Gallagher.Note 6: Lininger & Metcalf: George Washington Lininger (1834-1901) and Joseph M. Metcalf (1846-1905) were partners in the Lininger & Metcalf Company, an Omaha wholesaler of carriages, buggies, and agricultural implements.