SCOUT’S REST RANCH 

“The horse-powered grain grinder, located on the west outside of the barn, had a power take-off shaft that extended into the barn to power the grain elevator. It was made by the L.B. McCargar Feed & Mill Co. of St. Joseph, Mo., and was called the Famous Lighting. Grain was emptied into the hopper from the center runway, or by shoveling grain into the small bin on the west side of the elevator. The grain was then elevated upstairs to one of the two storage bins and was used as needed…. ‘He (Cody) was real progressive. He was one of the first ones to irrigate this valley and, at no cost, to provide irrigation water by providing easements for people to get the water to other ranchers.’  There was a blacksmith shop on the grounds… located west of the barn. The harness was hung on the south wall, as it is today. All of the saddles were hung so mice could not chew on the leather.”

 

SOURCE:  Denise Poss, http://www.nptraveler.com/post.cfm/buffalo-bill-scout-s-rest-ranch-a-step-back-in-time

 

 

WILD WEST SHOW CAST & CREW

“Cody’s elaborate melodrama of the American West required the participation of hundreds in order to stage the showstopping scenes of the Bison Hunt, the Train Robbery, the Indian War Battle Reënactment, and the Grand Finale–The Attack on the Burning Cabin. Besides the numbers of stagehands and laborers needed to load and unload the show’s special railcars and assemble the massive sets, Cody needed a large cast in order to achieve his desired effect in many of the show’s featured scenes…. The cast included anyone who wanted to work for Cody:  Mexicans, Native Americans, Cowboys, women, and  children , along with special performers with expertise in shooting, lassoing, and riding.

 

SOURCE:  http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/buffalobill/billchron.html.

 

 

WILD WEST SHOW EUROPEAN SUCCESS

“In May 1887 Cody realized his long-held dream to take his exhibition abroad when the Wild West embarked on a year-long tour of Britain. A six-month London season was part of a joint venture with the American Exhibition and corresponded with celebrations of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. The Wild West’s command performance before the Queen caused a media sensation and provided a marketing bonanza for Cody and his PR team. During the London stay over two million visitors paid a schilling each to witness the spectacle. The show’s London success led to several extended tours of Europe in subsequent years. All told the Wild West would spend nearly a decade performing in Europe including a triumphant summer at the 1889 Paris Exposition.

    

Buffalo Bill returned from England an international celebrity, a status that ensured the continued popularity of the Wild West in a transnational setting. In 1890 Buffalo Bill’s Wild West returned to Europe, touring England, Scotland, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, the Austro Hungarian Empire, and western Russia. Due to unfounded criticism of the mistreatment of American Indian performers, Cody and Salsbury discussed adding an International Congress of Rough Riders to highlight skilled equestrians from around the world in view of the slight chance they may lose their Indian performers. The management of the Wild West competently defended its treatment of American Indians and retained their services, and the Wild West added the phrase International Congress of Rough riders to its promotional material in 1893.”

 

SOURCE:  http://codyarchive.org/life/wfc.bio.00002.html

 

 

THE COSSACKS OF THE WILD WEST SHOW

“The act usually began with Georgian native dances and songs, and then was followed by stunt riding. It represented the perfection of man and horse and the Georgians did some unimaginable things.

    

There are some quotes from American newspapers testify to their unique riding skill, “They stood in the saddle, on their feet and on their hands and kicked their legs as the horses flew madly around. They rode standing in their saddles with their faces facing their horses tails and chased each other to capture a handkerchief carried in their mouth…” (The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 9, 1893).  “Standing up in the saddle is child’s play to them. They all rode like mad yesterday standing on their heads on the horses backs.” (The Philadelphia Press, May 23, 1904). “If the audience will watch Prince Lucca, the Cossack, with his sword, while standing on his saddle, they will be amazed, for so expert is he that as Remington, the famous artist, expressed it, that “No Cossack could commit suicide unless on the ground.” (Nashville American, October 7, 1897).

 

Even William Cody himself said in one of his interviews, “Ride? They can ride anything, and if they get thrown they are up again in a flash. You can’t tie’em down.” (New York Daily Tribune, April 20, 1902).

 

Dee Brown, the noted western historian wrote, “Trick riding came to the rodeo by way of a troupe of imported Cossack daredevils. Intrigued by the Cossack’s stunts on their galloping horses, Western cowboys soon introduced variations to American rodeo.”

 

SOURCE:  http://www.stormfront.org/forum/t683800/