Many Loves of Buffalo Bill

The True Story of Life on the Wild West Show

Chris Enss

Foreword by Peter Sherayko

GUILFORD. CONNECTICUT

HELENA, MONTANA

AN IMPRINT OF GLOBE PEQUOT PRESS

A · TWODOT
^®
· BOOK

Copyright © 2010 by Chris Enss

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

TwoDot is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press and a registered trademark of Morris Book Publishing, LLC.

Project editor: Jessica Haberman

Text design: Sheryl P. Kober

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Enss, Chris, 1961–

The many loves of Buffalo Bill : the true story of life on the Wild West show / Chris Enss ; foreword by Peter Sherayko.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7627-4815-0

1. Buffalo Bill, 1846–1917. 2. Buffalo Bill, 1846–1917—Relations with women. 3. Pioneers—West (U.S.)—Biography. 4. Entertainers—United States—Biography. I. Title.

F594.B94.E57 2010

978'.02092—dc22

[B]

2009034233

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Acknowledgments

Foreword
by Peter Sherayko

Introduction

O
NE
: Man of the Family

T
WO
: The Courtship of Louisa

T
HREE
: Husband, Father, Scout, and Actor

F
OUR
: Life in the Limelight

F
IVE
: The Dear Favorite

S
IX
: Away from Home

S
EVEN
: The Lady of Venice

E
IGHT
: The Cody Trials

N
INE
: A Wandering Heart

T
EN
: The Sharpshooter

E
LEVEN
: The Final Ride

Notes

Bibliography

About the Author

It takes the help of many to write a book of this nature. It is with that in mind that I express my deep sense of appreciation to individuals and organizations for their kind and generous assistance in the preparation of this work. Without such help and cooperation, the gathering of much valuable data would have been all but impossible.

The kindness of librarians, historical society directors, representatives of the National Archives and Record Service, various newspaper staff members, and others in allowing me to review and duplicate important documents has aided significantly in the compiling of interesting biographical material. To these organizations and individuals, I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks: the staff at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and the McCracken Research Library—in particular Mary Robinson; Judy Logan at the Garst Museum in Greenville, Ohio; the morgue departments at the
Chicago Tribune
and the
New York Times
; the South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre, South Dakota; the Missouri History Museum; and Mary Ann Trygg and the staff at the Nevada County Madelyn Helling Library.

And to these individuals, many of whom have given most generously of their time, thank you so much: actor Peter Sherayko, historian Ron Sturgell, Howard Kazanjian, Stephanie Rogers, my editor Erin Turner, the art department at Globe Pequot Press, and Barrett Williams.

I've got a good woman
—
what's the matter with me? What makes me want to love every woman I see?

—H
ANK
W
ILLIAMS
J
R.

In 1883 a remote cow town in Nebraska was treated to the grand opening of a show that would reign as America's favorite for thirty years. It was Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Bill Cody played Buffalo Bill professionally for more than forty years, a role that probably will never be topped.

In 1900 the
Who, What and Where
book published hundreds of photos and biographies of kings, presidents, world leaders in business, and other famous people. Buffalo Bill is the only personality from America's western frontier. Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Jesse James, General George Custer, Billy the Kid, Wild Bill Hickok—not one of them appeared in these pages. Only William F. Cody—Buffalo Bill—received that honor. His fame was so wide that he ranked with the most powerful men of all time. Virtually every American knew of Buffalo Bill: how he earned his nickname, rode for the Pony Express, fought and befriended Indians, scouted for the U.S. Army in both the Civil War and Indian wars, and performed for ten seasons as a professional actor—all before the age of forty.

When he created his Wild West Exhibition, Cody gave his audience their money's worth: wild Indians, fancy roping, and deadeye marksmanship. But Bill himself topped them all, shooting his rifle from horseback at a full gallop and breaking dozens of glass balls thrown into the air. The crowd loved it, and so did the press and dime novelists, with writers such as Mark Twain praising the show. In short, he out-Barnumed P. T. Barnum. The exhibition set attendance records throughout the United States and Europe.

More than a hundred books and articles have been written about Cody the frontiersman and entertainer. What more could be said? Well, in
The Many Loves of Buffalo Bill
, Chris Enss has uncovered another notch in the Shakespearean life of Bill Cody. Yes, Cody was a showman, a frontiersman, a man whose life started during the Mexican-American War and ended just as the United States entered “the war to end all wars,” World War I. Yet he was a man, a man in the truest sense of the word, one who cut his own trail and followed his own spirit guide. As a boy, he marveled at men like Kit Carson, who taught him how to shoot from horseback, and Jim Bridger, who taught him Indian sign language. As a ten-year-old he dreamed of becoming one of his buckskin-clad heroes, and by golly by gum, he did. But he was tainted with the sins of man: an eye for beauty and strength; an admirer of courage and adventure; and in some circles, a weakness for cigars, whiskey, and women. In his own words, “Yeah, I like my cigars and whiskey and I sure do love those women.”