Buffalo Bill

Buffalo Bill


     William Frederick Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill, was born into an

anti-slavery family.  He had a rough childhood, but despite this hardship he

grew up to be an adventurous wild west showman, and achieve many historical

goals.

     On February 26, 1846, near the small town of LeClair, Iowa, William F.

Cody was born to Isacc and Marry Ann Cody.  At the time William had two sisters,

Martha and Julia, and a brother, Samuel. But he ended up with three more sisters,

Eliza, Helen, and May, and another brother, Charlie. In the first eight years of

his childhood, William grew up on a farm his father owned and worked.  During

this time, William had plenty of space on the Plains to play with his brother

Sam and his black dog, Turk.  William also had some young Indian friends he met

while on a picnic with his sisters.  The Indians were trying to steal the Cody's

lunch, but Bill stopped them and became friends with them.  Besides picnics,

young Will also enjoyed riding horses, having pretend Indian fights with Sam,

and hunting in the woods.  Sadly, Samuel died when he was thrown from his horse.

Because of this, William not only lost a brother but he lost a very good friend.

     In 1854 William, along with his anti-slavery family, moved near the city

of Leavenworth, Kansas.  This was not an easy move for the Cody family seeing

how most of that part of Kansas was pro slavery.  They were worried about this

because earlier in Iowa a dispute about slavery between Isacc and his brother

Elijah, led to Elijah stabbing Isacc.  Luckily, he survived and nothing like

this happened in Kansas.  While in Iowa, Bill had received no education. After

moving to Kansas he attended several sessions of country school organized by his

father. In the two and a half months he attended, Bill learned to read and write

which would help him in his future careers.

     In order to help his family after his father's death in 1857, William

took his first job working for the firm, Russel Majors & Waddel, making wagon-

train trips across the Plains.  It was rough, but William enjoyed these frequent

trips.  Later, Will road for the Pony Express when it was established in 1860,

and was a scout and guide for the Union Army.

     When the Civil War started in 1863, Bill Cody enlisted in the 7th Kansas

Cavalry as an army scout in Indian campaigns.  In 1866, after the war was over,

Bill bought and ran a hotel in Kansas called the "Golden Rule House Hotel".

     After this failed, Bill contracted with the Kansas Pacific Railroad, in

1867-1868, to furnish buffalo meat to the workers on the line.  This earned him

his nickname, Buffalo Bill.

     In 1868-1872, Buffalo Bill served again as an army scout when he was

elected to the Nebraska legislature.  In 1872, after carrying dispatches through

hostile Indian country for Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, he became chief of scouts

for the 5th U.S. Cavalry for four years until 1876.  During this eight year

period, Buffalo Bill took place in sixteen Indian fights, including the defeat

of the Cheyenne at Summit Springs, Colorado (1869), and at Hat Creek, Wyoming in

1876, he was famed for his "Killing of Yellow Hand".  Also during this time, in

1869, Ned Buntline (E. Z. C. Judson) made Buffalo Bill the hero of a dime novel

that was later dramatized, and in 1872 he persuaded Cody to appear on stage.

Cody broke with BuThis is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now!


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