Video Installation Galleries
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West
October 22 2011 - March 4
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West was William F. Cody’s innovative entertainment that became his trademark and made him an international celebrity. In the early 1870s, Cody began his career as Buffalo Bill the stage actor, appearing in plays based on dime novels. In 1883, having honed his skills as a showman, Cody launched Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, a touring company that, over the next three decades, traveled through the United States and made three tours of Europe. The Wild West traveled to Nashville seven times, beginning in 1884, with a final performance in 1909, when Buffalo Bill had joined forces with G. W. “Pawnee Bill” Lillie, who had his own Wild West show. They toured together until 1913, when Buffalo Bill’s Wild West went bankrupt.
We invite visitors to enjoy original film footage from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in the five adjacent video stalls, including scenes of parades, marksmanship, bronco busting, a stagecoach attack, and more. During the Wild West shows, the Buffalo Bill Cowboy Band played throughout performances and intermissions. No original recordings exist, but in 1996 the Buffalo Bill Historical Center commissioned a new recording of original tunes, performed here by the Americus Brass Band.
A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore -
On the Stage Coach,
The Original DeadwoodCoach,
Most Famous Vehicle in History, Lithograph, 27.875 x 38.25 inches
The Strobridge Litho Co., Cincinnati, OH and New York, NY - Highly Trained Texas Range and Ranch Saddle-Horses in Entirely New and Sensational Acts,
Lithograph, 26.375 x 36.313 inches.
