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

"A little place of 95,000 acres" to retire to should be wide enough for the aspirations of even Col. Cody (Buffalo Bill) and such a stretch of land is his at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Thither he is going when he has done with the show business, as he will be upon the closing of the World's Fair at Chicago, "to shoot mountain lions and bears, from morning till night, and game of all kinds." He has a ranche, too, in Nebraska—a hit of a territory ten thousand acres in extent, with hundreds of horses and cattle on it. Let nobody be deceived as to the remaining chances of seeing Buffalo Bill and the wild West. A positively last and farewell appearance this is so far as Europe is concerned. After the 12th of this present month the Indians, cowboys, and so forth, will be found in the arena no more until they begin their last engagement on the other side of the Atlantic. A fortnight to-day the whole company sail from our shores on board the steamship Mohawk, when a unique display will have vanished from our midst. The following letter on the subject has been addressed to the Editor of this paper:

SIR,—In view of the early departure (for ever) of this Natural Exhibition, and the fact of an apparent disbelief on the part of the public of this being a farewell, I would esteem it a special favour if you would call attention to and impress the same on your readers. An affair of this magnitude needs the hearty support of the public, and, having in view its educational value, and the interest added to the study of racial character and form, as well as horsemanship I feel justified in making this request. The last performance of the Wild West will take place on October 12th, the company sailing on s.s. Mohawk on Saturday, October 15. On behalf of Messrs Cody and Salsbury accept thanks for past generous treatment of our subject, we leaving it to the reviewer of the future, and hoping we have added something of merit to the exhibitions of the decade.—Yours, &c.,

JOHN M. BURKE