USA - Cowboys and Indians

July 23-24

Hello everyone!

If I were to start talking about going to the Wild West, you may have some of the following pictures in your mind…

Cody rodeo

A tipi at the Buffalo Bill Center
of the West museum complex 

Welcome to Cowboy Country. States like Wyoming and Montana have a strong connection to the American push west, expanding the frontiers as part of their ‘manifest destiny’ - the idea that they had a God-given right to take control of the land they came across. 

White firepower ultimately won the
land for the US government

There were about 670 Native American tribes -
all were reduced to smaller and specific reservations

Of course, there were people already there. As alluded to in the title, groups of ‘Indians’ - I have read that this is an acceptable name but prefer using Native Americans - had long made their home on the plains of what is now the northern American states. 

The bison/buffalo was a key part of life for Native Americans -
one US government tactic to suppress them was to cull the
animals, leading to them becoming quite endangered

The headdress symbolises honour,
respect, achievement and leadership

The result was a series of battles in the second half of the 19th century, after the end of America’s Civil War. White firepower ultimately won through, with some notable exceptions which I will allude to in a later blog. 

A depiction of life before 'manifest destiny'

A painting of the Battle of Little Bighorn,
a storied Native American triumph

I learnt about much of this history in a town called Cody. It’s named after a man called William Cody, who you are likely to know by his other name: Buffalo Bill.

Cody is small, with a population of about 10,000 

Buffalo Bill was born in 1846 in what is now Iowa

It’s a name that I had heard before coming on my American adventure, but I didn’t actually know that much about him. Turns out Ol’ Bill was quite a big deal. A global deal, in fact.

Cody is thought to have been one of the world's
richest men in the 1890s, raking in $1 million
in profits from his shows in 1893 alone. He died
penniless after making many bad investments.

This gold and diamond pendant was
given to Cody by Queen Victoria in 1892

It didn’t start that way, and he is connected to that western expansion. William Cody was a scout for the American army in the 1870s and was involved in some of the big battles between them and the Native Americans. It planted in him a sense of adventure which would lead him to later fame.

A picture of the young Cody

Hunting by white Americans in the 1870s and 1880s
led to the bison becoming almost extinct

At one point, a man called Buntline, a popular dime novel writer, wrote a play featuring Cody as a heroic scout. He convinced Cody to take on the role, leading to Cody's stage debut in Chicago in 1872. The play became successful due to Cody’s charisma, at which point he saw the potential of sharing his stories as Buffalo Bill with a wider audience. Eventually, in 1883, he planned, staged and performed in an epic exhibition called “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West”. 

Using his Buffalo Bill persona, Cody brought the American
West to the world under a giant tent and in arenas

An example of the clothing Cody would wear

This show took the American West to the rest of the United States. It was innovative and exciting for people to watch. It later went to Europe, with stories of the final frontier capturing the hearts and minds of people across the wealthy world. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West raked in millions of dollars each year. $1 million in 1900 is the equivalent of $38 million today. The Elon Musk of his time?

A picture of Cody in 1907

A newspaper illustration of Cody meeting
Queen Victoria whilst on tour in the UK

Stories of the character of Buffalo Bill - often fiction or sensationalised - helped entrench his fame. Over 700 Buffalo Bill stories and novels were published. All of this helped him become one of the most famous men in the world in the late 1800s. The show ran for thirty years, travelling the equivalent of nearly ten trips around the world.

Publications like this occurred in many languages

A map of his tour. The show visited all
but one of the 48 continental United States 

You could argue that Cody’s relationship with Native Americans was complicated. In 1876, he is said to have killed and scalped a warrior called Yellow Hair. Yet in his exhibitions, he showcased many aspects of Native American culture and introduced them in a friendly way to the wider world. Cody is said to have valued their authenticity. I guess them being an attraction that people would pay to see didn’t hurt, either.  

The scalping incident linked Cody's real life
army experience with his Buffalo Bill persona

Cody died in Denver in 1917

Buffalo Bill’s exhibitions demonstrated what were seen as positive traits of cowboy culture. A lot of this is still celebrated today, particularly in the form of a rodeo. Upon arriving in Cody, we learnt that it is the ‘Rodeo Capital of the World’. Too good an opportunity to miss.

It happens nightly during the summer

Devastatingly, the mechanical bull had
been shut down when we looked at using it

The event is led by a ringmaster with a microphone who trots around on a horse. Well, until he competes, of course. There is also a rodeo clown. Apparently their job is to help distract animals so any unseated riders can get to safety. They seemed to specialise in horrendous puns and political gags that would be scalded in certain other parts of the country. 

Check out those trousers!

The clown doing his thing

There are a variety of events at a rodeo, such as lassoing competitions and racing around a circuit. Riders are raucously cheered for the short time period in which they are performing; for example, lassoers only get one shot at getting the calf. Missing them means missing out.

This involved grabbing the animal once snagged...

...before seemingly pinning it, like in wrestling

Though the term ‘cowboy’ is commonly used, there were women also competing, often doing better than their male counterparts. It’s apt that this happens in Wyoming, the first US state to enshrine gender equality. They also had youngsters riding horses, with the youngest being only five years old.

Most combos took around 20 seconds to finish the racing course

She's 5. Five.

The main event - what these are known for - are bucking broncos, when a horse or bull tries to remove their rider. I’m not really a fan of animals being used for these purposes, so I was glad to see them often catapult their rider off within seconds of starting. Well, the adults at least.

A lot of folk were angry!

The scoring system for this seemed quite random to me, but someone stayed on for a while and was crowned a winner, which made the crowd happy. 

Apparently both rider and animal are
scored out of 50, giving a total out of 100

Cowboy culture is a big thing in a big swathe of America. For that, they have to remember to thank the entrepreneurship, innovation and toil of the one and only William Cody. It’s not my thing, but I can certainly appreciate how much of a thing it is to many others. Yee haw!

I certainly know more about Buffalo Bill now

And the show goes on...

Looking over the plains

Love you all,

Matt