Buffalo Bill Cody

Reading audio



2004-5-1

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Gwen Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special
English. Today, we tell the story of a man called "Buffalo Bill."
His real name was William F. Cody. He created "Wild West" shows that
people around the world enjoyed for more than thirty years.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

William Frederick Cody was born in eighteen-forty-six in the
state of Iowa. He died in Colorado in nineteen-seventeen.
Researchers disagree about other incidents in his life. That is
because some stories about "Buffalo Bill" are a combination of
factual events and make-believe. However, there is general agreement
about the influence of "Buffalo Bill" Cody. People say he
represented the spirit and tradition of the American West.

VOICE TWO:

William F. Cody grew up in the center of the United States.
William's family moved from Iowa to the territory of Kansas when he
was still a child. His father died in eighteen-fifty-seven. A short
time later, William started working at different jobs to help his
family. He worked as a driver for a team of oxen. He guided the
powerful animals as they moved goods from place to place. He also
carried messages for a local company.

Later, William joined a group of men seeking gold in the
mountains of Colorado. They were not very successful. Then he got a
job as a Pony Express rider. The Pony Express used teams of men and
horses to transport mail across the country. William was a skilled
rider. Once he rode five-hundred-fifteen kilometers in a single
trip. This was one of the longest rides for the Pony Express. At the
time, he was just fifteen years old.

(MUSIC BRIDGE)

VOICE ONE:

Kansas became a state in eighteen-sixty-one. A few weeks later,
the Civil War between the states started. Southern states fought to
protect the rights of individual states. Northern states fought to
keep the country united. During the war, Kansas joined with the
North and provided men for the Union army.

William was too young to fight when the Civil War started. At
first, he served the Union forces as a scout, or explorer.

In eighteen-sixty-four, he joined the United States Army. Cody
became a member of the Seventh Kansas Cavalry. His force was sent to
nearby southern states during the Civil War. Cody drove a team of
horses. He remained there until the war ended.

VOICE TWO:

After the war, William Cody married Louisa Frederici in Saint
Louis, Missouri. They were married for more than fifty years and had
four children. When they were first married, Cody had many different
jobs. For example, he operated a hotel in Kansas. Then he began
hunting buffalo for work crews building the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
The workers used the wild animals for meat. Cody got the name
"Buffalo Bill" by winning a buffalo hunting competition. Reports say
he shot and killed more than four-thousand buffalo in just eighteen
months.

(MUSIC BRIDGE)

VOICE ONE:

Cody re-joined the Army in eighteen-sixty-eight. He served as a
civilian scout for military forces fighting Indians in the West. His
experience and skills made him an able fighter and guide for the
Army.

Cody helped the Fifth Cavalry defeat a group of Cheyenne
warriors. He also served as a guide for individuals who wanted to
hunt buffalo. Some hunters came from big cities in the eastern
United States and from other countries. Once he guided a member of
Russia's ruling family, the Grand Duke Alexis, on a hunting trip.
American newspapers reported on their activities.

VOICE TWO:

Cody's exciting life provided the details for many stories. A
number of writers began producing stories about famous people of the
western United States. These stories became known as dime novels.
Dime novels helped make heroes of people like Davy Crockett and Kit
Carson.

A writer named Ned Buntline decided to write a book about Buffalo
Bill. Buntline's book and newspaper reports helped make Cody famous.
The book became popular and was later made into a play called
"Scouts of the Prairie." Buffalo Bill even appeared in the show.
Critics said Cody was a bad actor, but the show was very successful.

The play led Cody to form his own traveling show. The group
included another hero of the American West, Wild Bill Hickok.

VOICE ONE:

During this period, Cody often returned to the West to find other
work. He assisted the Army in its operations against Indian tribes.
In eighteen-seventy-six, Indian warriors defeated General George
Custer and his forces in the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana. A
few weeks later, Cody and other soldiers clashed with a group of
Cheyenne Indians. During the fighting, Cody reportedly killed a
Cheyenne warrior named Yellow Hair. This event added yet another
incident to Buffalo Bill's collection of stories.

Cody liked the idea of being a showman and telling people about
the American West. In eighteen-seventy-nine, he wrote his own life
story and began publishing his own dime novels. He also continued to
produce plays.

(MUSIC BRIDGE)

VOICE TWO:

Cody organized his first Wild West show in eighteen-eighty-two in
the state of Nebraska. The show was performed outside. It was
designed to entertain and educate crowds of people. There were
cowboys, Indians, buffalo and other kinds of animals. People were
not sure exactly what the show was, but they liked it.

The following year, Cody and his
business partners formed a traveling show called "Buffalo Bill's
Wild West." It brought cowboys and Indians to people in parts of the
United States who might never have seen them. The show was a major
success for the next thirty years. People liked it for many reasons.
One was a desire to return to earlier, simpler times. The American
West of the dime novels was fast disappearing. The area was starting
to develop.

VOICE ONE:

"Buffalo Bill's Wild West" show included cowboys hunting buffalo.
It had riders for the Pony Express. It re-created an Indian attack
on a carriage transporting goods. The show also re-created the
attack against General Custer and his forces. It included Indians
who were involved in the real attack. It also included the famous
Sioux chief Sitting Bull, who had killed General Custer. Sitting
Bull traveled with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show for several months.

In later years, a cowgirl named Annie Oakley performed with the
show. She was one of the best gun shooters in the country. Annie
Oakley could ride a horse standing up while shooting at a target.
She could shoot a piece of money out of someone's hand. Once, she
became famous for shooting a cigarette held in the mouth of German
Crown Prince Wilhelm.

"Buffalo Bill's Wild West" performed in cities and towns across
the United States and in Europe. In eighteen-eighty-seven, the show
performed in England in honor of Queen Victoria's fiftieth
anniversary in power. Six years later, the show was popular at the
World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois.

VOICE TWO:

Buffalo Bill Cody was said to be the most famous American in the
world by the beginning of the twentieth century. American presidents
met with him to discuss issues important to the West. He had many
modern ideas. For example, he supported fair treatment for American
Indians. And he supported equal pay and equal voting rights for
women. He was also a businessman who looked toward the future. He
invested in projects that he hoped would bring economic growth to
the West. Cody made a lot of money from his show business success.
However, he lost his wealth because of bad investments and failure
to watch how the money was used.

In nineteen-oh-eight, "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" combined with
another traveling show. But this show failed. A short time later,
Cody got a loan from a Colorado company to keep his show operating.
But his financial situation got worse over the next few years.

VOICE ONE:

Buffalo Bill Cody died in nineteen-seventeen while visiting his
sister in Denver, Colorado. He was buried near the city, at the top
of Lookout Mountain. His funeral was a major event. Twenty-thousand
people traveled there to attend the ceremony.

Today, thousands of people visit Lookout Mountain every year.
They see Cody's burial place and a museum built in his honor. And,
they hear stories about people who experienced the excitement of
Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.

(THEME)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by George Grow. Lawan Davis was our
producer. I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Gwen Outen. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA
in VOA Special English.