Robert Polo and Dr. Frank Christianson, BYU English Department

On Thursday, March 31, 1887, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody left New York aboard “The State of Nebraska.” He headed for England along with the Wild West, a band of “more than two hundred men and animals, consisting of Indians, cowboys…Mexican wild riders, celebrated rifle shots,” and various forms of livestock (Cody 18). This voyage to the motherland represented a new chapter in the showman’s life. His alleged triumphs as Colonel William Frederick Cody, guide and scout, did not compare to the potential victories on the new frontier of his career: England.

The Wild West headlined the American Exhibition of 1887. Located in London, the exposition sought to demonstrate the technological and agricultural innovations taking place in America. Because Buffalo Bill’s Wild West experienced such immense success throughout the United States and had the ringing endorsements of celebrities such as actor Henry Irving and writer Mark Twain, Cody’s show was the most highly anticipated attraction of the American Exhibition.

The Wild West had a successful six-month run with millions attending the show. The most notable patrons included former Prime Minister William Gladstone, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and Queen Victoria. The Wild West arrived in England as an exotic attraction, but Cody and the other performers left England as household names.

Cody’s popularity is unquestionable, but his cultural impact is up for debate. One of the many difficulties of assessing Cody’s historical imprint is his own penchant for exaggeration. He states in his memoir, The Wild West in England, that his show was “intended to prove to the center of the old world civilization that the vast region of the United States was finally and effectively settled by the English speaking race” (26). To him, the show was more than entertainment, and in some ways it played a part in bringing England and America together in a mutual bond of friendship, but is that how it was perceived by the people of England?

Cody emphasized some events in regard to his ambassadorial role, especially his visit from Queen Victoria. In order to gain a clearer picture of Cody’s impact, I turned to British press coverage of the very events that Cody emphasized: the Wild West’s arrival, the Wild West’s departure, and the visits of Queen Victoria, former Prime Minister Gladstone, and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Under Dr. Christianson, I spent four months searching archives, scanning over one thousand on-line newspaper articles for material relevant to Cody’s 1887 tour of England. The archival work culminated in a two-week trip to England where I searched the archives at the British Library, both the main branch in downtown London and the newspaper branch in Colindale.

While in England, I handled rare, undigitized late nineteenth-century manuscripts that pertained to my project, but I also assisted Dr. Christianson by finding pieces that are important for Cody scholarship as a whole. Upon return, I had items relevant to both my research project and the William F. Cody Archive, materials for editing, annotation, and publication. Ultimately, the trip was successful and I returned with dozens of relevant Buffalo Bill articles.

My final project, a seventeen-page research paper, places the highlights of Cody’s memoir along side corresponding newspaper articles. The visit of former Prime Minister Gladstone is a good example of how Cody formulates his narrative. He takes bits and pieces of articles and applies them however he wishes. Cody recalls, “The Grand Old Man spoke in warm and affecting terms of the instrumental good work we had come to do. He proposed ‘success to the Wild West Show’ in a brilliant little speech which aroused the enthusiasm of all present. He was highly complimentary to America and dwelt upon the great deeds of its western pioneers in a glowing peroration…I began to feel that I was really becoming a factor, in my humble way, in the great task of cementing an international good feeling” (Cody 55). Cody recounts Gladstone’s speech as a moment where the icy feeling between America and Britain thawed. According to Cody, he is fulfilling his goal. In terms of the Buffalo Bill legacy, this is an important moment where Buffalo Bill of the American West entertains a prominent political figure of England.

The press confirms the existence of Gladstone’s visit and his speech. However, the focus and significance of the visit is different. The Aberdeen Evening Index gave a general description where Gladstone was given a tour of the fairgrounds and finally brought to the Wild West camp. There, he met Buffalo Bill and engaged an Indian Chief, Red Shirt, in a long conversation. With regards to the speech, The Gloucester Citizen backs up Cody’s narrative, but is in the minority in doing so. On the other hand, the Aberdeen Express gives a typical report, saying, “Mr. Gladstone, on leaving, expressed the gratification which this visit had afforded him, and intimated his intention of again inspecting the exhibition later on.” In this case, it was merely an expression of gratitude, rather than a speech.

That Cody employs a technique of narrative construction that most benefits him personally is not surprising. However, the question that tends to arise from this mixture of opinions surrounding his influence is whether or not what he said was true. While I found many relevant materials, I came to the conclusion that such statements about Cody’s intentions or “the truth” is nothing more than speculation. Opinions on Cody spanned an entire spectrum.

Perhaps untangling and simplifying Cody’s multifaceted history is the wrong approach. Including the role of cultural ambassador, along with his identities as a celebrity, showman, and guide, fills out his character with added complexity, giving Buffalo Bill more dimension as a historical figure. Ultimately, whether he had the impact he said he had or not, he added layers to his legend and the Wild West became more than a show.

References:

• Buffalo Bill, and Frank Christianson. The Wild West in England. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2012. Print.