Dad gave us one very special treat... He took us to see Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show when it came to our town. What a show! Annie Oakley, Indian wars, trick riding, shooting; and as a grand finale, every person and horse in the cast paraded past Cody as he sat on a lovely white horse taking the salute. I remember him sitting there, his grey hair streaming down to his shoulders. Little did I dream that thirty-five years later in Maple Creek [Saskatchewan] I would rub shoulders with Bill Noland, a hunting partner of Buffalo Bill’s.

– George Shepherd

Wild West Shows, the first and best-known being William F. Cody’s “Buffalo Bill” shows, traveled through most of Europe and America during the latter half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. While a popular form of entertainment, these shows were also an incredibly powerful propagator of what has been called “the myth” of the North American frontier. In other words, Cody’s staged shows shaped the perception of the foreign lands of the American frontier.

Source: National Fairground and Circus Archive, University of Sheffield