Do you know someone who was as popular as Danial Boone, Kit Carson, and Davy Crocket? Well, we do, his name was William F. Cody, otherwise known as "Buffalo Bill". He got his nickname, "Buffalo Bill," because he killed 4,280 buffaloes in 17 months!

William F. Cody was born in 1846 in Scott County, Iowa. His father died when he was 11. Then he and his mother moved to Kansas.

When he was only 13 he was a prospector in the Pikes Peak gold rush. The next year he saw a poster which inspired him to be a Pony Express Rider. They wanted young, skinny, wirey fellows, not over 18, expert riders, willing to risk death daily, and they preferred orphans. He fit all of them. He got $25.00 a week.

In the Civil War he was a Union scout against the Kiowa and Comanche. He was in 16 battles and helped defeat the Cheyenne. In 1872 he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

He became a showman in 1872. He started his very own show called "The Scout of the Plains". In 1883 he organized "The Wild West Show". It was all about his lifestyle in the wild west. It had horses, buffalo, cowboys and Indians and their animals. He travelled all over the world with his show.

Buffalo Bill died on January 10, 1917. He is buried on top of Lookout Mountain near Denver, Colorado.

Do you think someone could do that much in a life time? Buffalo Bill did more!

We got our information from
the PBS web site called New Perspectives on the West
The Sweetwater Run by Andrew Glass