New York, NY - Urban Archive

South of Union Square

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Buffalo Bill Comes to Brooklyn

Buffalo Bill's West West show brought the frontiers of America to the shores of industrial Brooklyn. William "Bill" F. Cody, a.k.a. "Buffalo Bill" was a real-life American Cowboy who's fantastical (and fictional) antics led him to a career on the stage. The first of his shows opened in Omaha, Nebraska in 1883, at a time when outdoor shows had reached peak popularity. The semi-authentic shows replicated real battles fought between White Americans and Native Americans, sometimes using performers who had participated in the original battles.

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Urban Archive

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976 Third Avenue

976 Third Avenue

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show a popular feature at the outdoor venue of Ambrose Park on the site that would become Bush Terminal and presently, Industry City. William "Bill" F. Cody is credited as popularizing the image of the Wild West that fed the American imagination.

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976 Third Avenue

976 Third Avenue

Buffalo Bill's shows often featured the calm tableau of American Indian life or the daily tomfoolery of a cowboy's day in contrast with historic reenactments of battles between White Americans and American Indians. These fight scenes were lined with skill-acts like sharpshooting, roping, and general horsemanship that captivated audiences.

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976 Third Avenue

976 Third Avenue

Cody's colorful cast included figures such as Annie Oakley and Lakota nation's Sitting Bull, who went "Wild Westing" after he became familiar with Oakley's excellent sharpshooting abilities. "Wild Westing" referred to Nat who chose to perform in Buffalo Bill's shows or similar entertainment acts as a way to inform the larger American population about their culture, and as a passive act of resistance to the Bureau of Indian Affairs policies.

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976 Third Avenue

976 Third Avenue

"Wild Westing" allowed for many indigenous groups to freely practice traditional dances, which were otherwise banned on reservations. Though Cody's narratives perpetuated the stereotype that Native Americans were aggressors, Sitting Bull and other of Cody's Native employees maintained an amicable relationship with the Wild West enterprise.

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976 Third Avenue

976 Third Avenue

While some Native Americans were advocates of "Wild Westing," others warned the practice offered nothing of real value. Before springtime, recruiters would tour reservations with the "show's contract...a sheet of 'guaranteed-to-catch fly-paper," according to a writer for a 1914 issue of the Quarterly Journal of the Society of American Indians. This show was a "Burlesque Act," where performers were traded "a dollar a day and feed" to perform "the white man's idea of a war dance."

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976 Third Avenue

976 Third Avenue

However controversial, Wild Westing provided a means of making a living and allowed Native Americans a role as "political diplomats and entertainers," according to a contemporary source. These shows, though complex in ramifications, were a way to preserve culture and history. A vast majority of the performers were of the Lakota nation community, their performances have shaped our imagination of what "the American Indian" is.

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976 Third Avenue

976 Third Avenue

Cody marketed his experiences as a scout during the Indian Wars, a buffalo hunter who provided to rail-gangs, and a boy who grew up during Western migration. His shows combined American lore and honest fact, deepening the East's fascination with the American frontier.

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