Many Loves of Buffalo Bill (12 page)

Distressed by Sitting Bull's death and the subsequent events at Wounded Knee, William returned to North Platte and quickly began organizing another trip overseas. Members of his troupe retreated to the Codys' ranch to practice their acts and relax with William before embarking on the next European tour. Louisa was inhospitable and moody, but William encouraged guests to disregard anything hurtful she said or did. Before William left the country, Louisa managed to drive a wedge between Buffalo Bill and his sister Julia. Prodded by her mother, Arta asked her father to give her and her husband the job of taking care of the ranch. Julia and Al were deeply hurt when William terminated their duties and hired his daughter and son-in-law to take their place. The Goodmans moved out of the area to Kansas.
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In late 1892 William and more than five hundred cast members sailed home from London after another successful European tour. The following spring Buffalo Bill's Wild West show opened in Chicago. Twenty-five thousand people attended the program daily.
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Irma and Arta frequently visited their father during the six-month run of the show in the Windy City. Louisa periodically went with them but didn't always let her husband know she was coming. Her surprise visit to William's Chicago hotel room in early 1894 resulted in scandal for the showman. It was then that Louisa discovered the depth of his relationship with actress Katherine Clemmons.

William met Katherine in London and saw great potential in her talent. The porcelain-skinned beauty dreamed of appearing onstage and eagerly accepted William's offer to help finance her career. She traveled with him to Illinois to plan for her theatrical debut in America. The hotel they stayed at in Chicago listed them in the guest registry as man and wife. Louisa was furious when she arrived and learned what was going on. The Codys' marriage survived the affair, and by February 1896 they were adding a new chapter to their tumultuous life together in Wyoming.

William was a key player in the Bighorn Basin project, which included planning and helping to build the town of Cody and digging canals to irrigate the valley and make it prosperous. The
Shoshone Valley Newspaper
ran an article about the Codys and their plans for the territory. William and Louisa were civil to each other during the interview. The reporter saw no evidence that their union had experienced any strain. Not only did he write about how the pair were developing the area, but he also noted how warmly the two treated each other. Those closest to the Codys believed that the article must have been about two other people. As the newspaper story read,

It has often been said that Louisa's untiring efforts and unselfish devotion to Colonel Cody has enabled him to reach the highest rounds in the ladder of fame, and indeed we scarcely ever see a popular man where there is not the hand of a devoted wife or mother helping guide him on the road to greatness. Mrs. Cody is a lovely lady in every sense of the word. She is beautiful, too, of the darkest brunette type, and she is intellectual and kind hearted to all
.
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Although they were busy with their own lives, Arta and Irma visited their parents in the newly established Wyoming town as often as they could. Irma was finishing her education at a school in Omaha, and Arta was raising her two children, a daughter named Arta Clara and a son named William Cody Boals. Close friends and relatives observed that Louisa and Buffalo Bill's marital problems seemed to fade when they spent time with their grandchildren. They were proud and loving, and nothing else seemed to matter when the grandchildren were around.

With Arta's attention more on taking care of her own family than on running the Nebraska ranch, William approached Julia and Al about returning to their old job. Through letters and several heartfelt conversations, the siblings had been able to repair the damage Louisa and Arta had done to their relationship. “I will give you a 5 to 10 year contract to run that place,” William wrote his brother-in-law. “I will agree to any kind of proposition you can suggest to board the help, yourselves, or pay Julia a salary to look after boarding the men…. Who works harder than you do? … There will be no one to interfere with you anymore than if you owned it.”
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In October 1896 the entire cast and crew of the Wild West show invaded North Platte to perform at an exhibition William wanted to put on for his hometown. The reception he received at each stop his train made from Omaha, where the show had been stationed, was overwhelming. His sister Helen accompanied him on the journey. “The trip was a continued ovation,” she wrote in her memoirs. “Every station was thronged, and Will was obliged to step out on the platform and make a bow to the assembled crowds, his appearance being invariably greeted with a round of cheers. When we reached the station at North Platte, we found that the entire population had turned out to receive their fellow townsman.”
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Helen eventually transformed the experiences she had with her brother and the tales of his exploits into a book entitled
Last of the Great Scouts
. The tome was her attempt to let his adoring public know how “tender, dedicated and truly kind” her brother was. Published in 1899, the book was an instant best seller. The sales of
Last of the Great Scouts
were enhanced by another tour of the Wild West show across the United States. The show opened in New York in April and abruptly concluded in Kansas City in October when William collapsed after a performance.
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A telegram was sent to Louisa informing her that William had typhoid fever. She quickly made arrangements for her husband to be returned to his home in Nebraska. She stayed by his bed watching him drift in and out of sleep. His breathing was short and shallow. Beside him on a nightstand was a hot cup of Garfield tea she had prepared for him. The tea contained twelve drops of a substance known as dragon's blood. Louisa had acquired the concoction from a gypsy who promised that the mixture would act as a love potion. She had served the potion to William twice before, and each time he had become violently ill.
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Mrs. John Boyer, one of the Scout's Rest Ranch employees who was aware of the effect the special tea had on Buffalo Bill, witnessed Louisa serving the potion to him a third time. “She will kill him this time sure,” she remarked to a coworker. Mrs. Boyer approached Louisa and warned her that if William died, she would report the matter to the authorities and have every doctor examine him. “I will rule him or ruin him,” Louisa snapped back.

Rumors that William was not only suffering with typhoid fever but also stricken with a broken heart over his estrangement with his protégée Katherine Clemmons contributed to Louisa's desperate measures. At the Codys' divorce trial, a hired hand swore that he had heard Louisa say, “Before he goes from under my control I'll kill him.”
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“After taking the Garfield tea Louisa prescribed,” William remembered years later, “I became very ill again and said I didn't care to take any more of these different mixtures.” His health slowly improved, but he was afraid to eat or drink anything while staying at the ranch with his wife. “She had threatened to fix me,” he testified at his divorce hearing in 1905. “I wasn't going to take a chance of that happening.”
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I went down there and they were not looking for me and I cleaned out the house
.

—L
OUISA
C
ODY, TO FRIEND
M
RS
. B
OYER IN RESPONSE TO NEWS THAT
W
ILLIAM HAD A MISTRESS
(1905)

O
n February 17, 1894, the posh Chamberlain Restaurant in Washington, D.C., was filled to capacity with well-dressed guests enjoying the elegant ambiance and sumptuous food. Forty-eight-year-old William Cody was among the fashionably coiffed patrons. Wearing a tailored suit and tie, he was seated at one of the pristinely set tables. His long hair was combed neatly away from his handsome face, and his signature beard and mustache were trimmed and waxed. Katherine Clemmons, a San Francisco–born actress with soft, stunning features and a petite frame, sat across from William sipping a glass of wine and drinking in every word the showman said. It was obvious from the way he looked at her that the two were more than just dinner companions. They ate their meal and shared a bottle of champagne as a handful of musicians serenaded the patrons with a delicate, classical piece.

In the midst of the harmonious setting, Fred May entered. Fred, an acquaintance of both William and Katherine, walked across the eatery to their table. Fred and Katherine exchanged a flirtatious glance as ordinary pleasantries were exchanged. Sometime during the tense conversation that transpired among the three, William punched the man in the face and knocked him to the floor. The distinguished clientele sitting nearby halted their eating and quietly speculated about what had happened.

The waitstaff hurried to the table and apologized profusely for the disturbance while helping Fred to his feet. With a slight bow and broad grin to the other diners around him, William quickly tried to defuse the awkward situation. “Just a difference of opinion between gentlemen,” he told them.
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In a few short moments, Fred was gently escorted out of the restaurant, and everything was as it had been before he entered the scene. Katherine took a quick look in the direction Fred had exited, not saying a word. She drank down the wine in front of her and poured herself another glass. William regretted the public incident. He anticipated that the altercation and the woman he was with would make the newspapers. Louisa's suspicions that her husband was involved with Katherine would be confirmed.

Before the meal ended, William decided to return to Wyoming to avoid a potential scandal.

A year before the episode at Chamberlain Restaurant, Louisa had discovered William and Katherine's relationship. In 1893 Mrs. Cody traveled to Chicago, where the Wild West show was on a scheduled stop, to surprise her husband with an impromptu visit. When Louisa arrived in town, she headed straight for William's hotel. She did not give her name when she asked about Buffalo Bill at the reception desk. The clerk informed her that he would be happy to escort her to “Mr. and Mrs. Cody's room.” Louisa was furious.
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Neither William nor Katherine was in the room when Louisa arrived. The mere thought of her husband betraying her prompted Louisa to charge into the room. She overturned furniture, busted lamps and vases, and knocked items off the walls. When William later met with Louisa, he explained to her that his association with Katherine was strictly professional.

Louisa accompanied William to Wyoming, while Katherine remained in Washington. Katherine happily entertained the curious press with news of a theatrical production William was financially backing entitled
A Lady in Venice
. She boasted about her dramatic background, her starring role in the play, her relationship with Buffalo Bill, and the $50,000 he had invested in her career.
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