New Book About Buffalo Bill

[Diane Merkel]

"Buffalo Bill Cody was the world's most famous and best-loved American at the height of his popularity in 1900, but he told the most amazing whoppers that people still believe today, says UC Davis Western historian Louis Warren in a new book.

"In Buffalo Bill's America: William Cody and the Wild West Show (2005, Alfred A. Knopf), Warren makes the case that Cody was a master at reading and translating cultural anxieties into a popular show that helped reinforce the West's identity."

For the entire review: www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=7475

[crzhrs]

Whatever Buffalo Bill was he nevertheless made a name for himself and his Wild West Shows opened up the country and the rest of the world to some of what the Old West was like.

Even more amazing is that there are films of him and his shows that can be viewed today. Just think we actually see Buffalo Bill on film. He was still a striking figure even in old age, with his white flowing hair and goatee and riding around on a beautiful horse.

He knew show business and what people wanted and gave it to them. He took Indians who prior to that were still fighting for their freedom and opened their eyes to the outside world, even Sitting Bull went on tour.

The only Buffalo Bill movies I can think of are the one done in the 1940s with Joel McCrae and the other done in the 1970s with Paul Newman, the first a "Hollywood" version and the latter a satire, both were enjoyable.