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

WILD WEST'S SEASON WANING.

But as the End Approaches the Performance Grows More Spirited.

The season for out-of-door amusements is about at an end, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders will soon be forced to suspend operations, for this year at least. Ambrose Park, in South Brooklyn, has been the scene of some exciting adventures this Summer, and has been the Mecca of all amusement seekers from New-York and surrounding cities.

Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher visited the show Friday evening, and was the object of great attention, not only from Cody & Salsbury's performers, but from the audience at large, to many of whom she was well known. She expressed her delight with the entertainment, and said that, as she had witnessed the performance on a previous occasion in company with her husband, she did not feel that she wished it to close this season without attending it once more. This is the first entertainment of any character that Mrs. Beecher has attended since the death of Mr. Beecher.

On Tuesday afternoon a distinguished party of theatrical people will visit the Wild West, among them being all the members of the "Gaiety Girl" combination now playing at Daly's Theatre. The latter party have already secured boxes and will attend in a body. It is the desire of the "Gaiety Girl" combination to be photographed together with a group of Sioux Indians, and this will probably be done, with Col. Cody as the central figure.

The men who take their places in the arena every afternoon and evening do so with a full knowledge that in exploiting their respective pursuits, which is just what they do, they risk broken bones, and perhaps lives, for the amusement and edification of the audience. The cowboys never know what moment one of their number may be thrown from a pitching broncho, to be carried to his tent with ribs caved in, a cut head, or a broken leg. Therefore, there is a spice of danger in every act that is inspiriting. It breeds caution and polishes up the skill of the most skillfull riders in the world, for they are all the time on the qui vive for something unlooked for, yet expected to turn up.

The nights are growing cooler now, and the horses, spirited and full of viciousness as a broncho can stick, are getting even more difficult to handle than in the warm season. They have so little hard work to do that they are "fat and saucy," as one of the boys term it, and like to toss their riders into the air just for the fun of the thing.

Performances are given every afternoon at 3 o'clock and every evening at 8:15 o'clock. The gates are open two hours before the entertainment begins in the arena, and this time can be profitably spent in an inspection of the camp.