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

BUFFALO BILL'S SHOW.

The immense crowds which on Saturday afternoon and evening filled the auditorium of the Wild West Show indicated that the season of sight-seeing had been fairly inaugurated in Glasgow, and that our country cousins were already on tip-toe to witness the unique form of entertainment provided in the east end. When one remembers that during the past ten or fifteen years the character of the attractions offered about Christmas time have varied only slightly it is not at all matter for astonishment that old and young, rich and poor should find themselves instinctively drawn to an exhibition which can fairly claim to present to Scotsmen an entirely fresh form of entertainment, and which is at once instructive, amusing, and picturesque. Nothing, too, could more distinctly mark the tendency of the public to witness scenes of excitement, to witness marvellous performances, and to witness feats of daring, than the "boom" created at the Wild West Show, as evidenced by the extraordinary amount of patronage bestowed on the entertainment within a fortnight. One would fancy that to meet a dissatisfied visitor at the close of a performance would only be to come across one whose expectations had been placed too high. If any improvement upon the programme could reasonably be suggested it would be in the way of pruning, as, however interesting the shooting of the marksmen may be to a section of the thousands who daily witness it, two "turns" instead of four in this line would be equally acceptable to the majority of visitors. On Saturday afternoon, when a very large and fashionable audience assembled, the picturesquely arranged tableaux, the Tyrolean singing and dancing, and the cowboy fun were in turn heartily applauded, and few items on the programme appeared so much appreciated as the parade and musical drill of troopers. Colonel Cody and Miss Oakley delighted the spectators with their clever shooting, however, as already hinted, when too much of a clever performance—of an almost marvellous performance indeed—is indulged in, the smartness so apparent at first is in danger of losing its effect, and, in consequence, the marksman's skilfulness fails to have full appreciation. But as a comprehensive, lively, and educative entertainment the Wild West Show cannot be too highly commended, and, certainly no reading of pen pictures could ever so adequately and vividly convey to the mind the customs and peculiarities of the human and equine tribes of the Far West.