Color Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show

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       William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917) was an American soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), in Le Claire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US Army as a scout. One of the most colorful figures of the American Old West, Buffalo Bill became famous for the shows he organized with cowboy themes, which he toured in Great Britain and Europe as well as the United States.

Newspaper ad from 1902 about Buffalo Bill

      William Frederick Cody ("Buffalo Bill") got his nickname after the American Civil War when he had a contract to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat. Cody earned the nickname by killing 4,280 American bison (commonly known as buffalo) in eighteen months, (1867–1868). Cody and William Comstock competed in a buffalo-shooting match over the exclusive right to use the name, which Cody won by killing 68 bison to Comstock's 48.

      Cody had documented service as a soldier during the Civil War and as Chief of Scouts for the Third Cavalry during the Plains Wars. He claimed to have had many jobs, including as a trapper, bullwhacker, "Fifty-Niner" in Colorado, a Pony Express rider in 1860, wagonmaster, stagecoach driver, and a hotel manager, but historians have had difficulty documenting them, and he may have fabricated some for publicity.

      He became world famous for his Wild West shows, which toured in Great Britain and Europe. Audiences were enthusiastic about seeing a piece of the American West. The adventure story writer Emilio Salgari met Buffalo Bill in Italy, saw his show, and later featured him as a hero in some of his novels. Read more . . .

"This is an experiment of mine, being a compilation of the footage of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show shot by the Thomas Edison film company. The source is the Library of Congress' American Memory archives, and the footage of the parade, Annie Oakley, Native American dancing and bronc riding is everything on there I could find related to Buffalo Bill. The music is a recording of a turn-of-the-century Pianola roll."

More Related Coloring Pages:

• Wild West Wanted Posters
• Buffalo Bill, May 11, 1887
• Portrait of Buffalo Bill
• Stamp of Buffalo Bill that you can color

"Buffalo Bill The Hero Horseman who has ridden from ocean to ocean; from the Rio Grande to the Danube;
 o'er mountain peaks and plains, thus saluting more people than any other living man. You will find him in the
saddle twice daily, rain or shine." This drawing originated from an actual newspaper ad of Buffalo Bill's
Wild West Show in 1902. Enjoy coloring part of America's western past.