Qualla: Buffalo Bill

Buffalo Bill: Introduction

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The nickname came from a shooting contest. In 1867, William F. Cody faced off against Bill Comstock for the exclusive right to call himself Buffalo Bill. Over eight hours, Cody killed 68 buffalo to Comstock's 48, winning with a large-caliber Springfield he called Lucretia Borgia, named after the notorious Italian noblewoman. His strategy was masterful: rather than chasing the herd and scattering kills over three miles like his opponent, Cody rode to the front and forced the animals to circle, dropping them close together. He claimed to have killed 4,282 buffalo in eighteen months supplying meat to Kansas Pacific Railroad workers. This was the man who would become, according to historian Larry McMurtry, the most recognizable celebrity on Earth at the turn of the twentieth century.

Read more: Buffalo Bill on Qualla

Image: Public domain

Buffalo Bill: Scout, Soldier, Medal Winner

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rosa Bonheur, Public domain. Before the showmanship came the warfare. Cody enlisted at seventeen with the 7th Kansas Cavalry during the Civil War, serving until 1865. He returned to Army service in 1868 as a scout, eventually becoming Chief of Scouts for the Third Cavalry during the Plains Wars. In 1872, he ...

Read more: Buffalo Bill on Qualla

Image: Rosa Bonheur | Public domain

Buffalo Bill: The Show That Conquered the World

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit unattributed, Public domain. In 1883, near North Platte, Nebraska, Cody founded Buffalo Bill's Wild West, a touring spectacle that would reshape how the world imagined America. The show opened with a parade featuring cowboys, American Indians, soldiers, and performers from around the globe, all on horseback ...

Read more: Buffalo Bill on Qualla

Image: unattributed | Public domain

Buffalo Bill: Building Cody, Wyoming

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit BenFranske, CC BY-SA 3.0. Cody first passed through northwestern Wyoming in the 1870s and was so impressed by the development potential, the irrigation possibilities, rich soil, grand scenery, and proximity to Yellowstone Park, that he returned in the mid-1890s to found a town. Streets were named after hi...

Read more: Buffalo Bill on Qualla

Image: BenFranske | CC BY-SA 3.0

Buffalo Bill: Champion of the Overlooked

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Elliott & Fry, Public domain. For all his frontier mystique, Cody held progressive views that surprised his contemporaries. He employed Native Americans in his show, believing it offered them good pay and a chance to improve their lives. He described them as "the former foe, present friend, the American" and ...

Read more: Buffalo Bill on Qualla

Image: Elliott & Fry | Public domain

Buffalo Bill: The Final Performance

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hms1840london, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cody died in Denver on January 10, 1917, his once-great fortune dwindled to less than $100,000. His burial site on Lookout Mountain, west of Denver, was selected by his sister Mary Decker, offering views of the Rocky Mountains on one side and the Great Plains on the other, a fitt...

Read more: Buffalo Bill on Qualla

Image: Hms1840london | CC BY-SA 4.0