Buffalo Bill Events

1846 Feb 26 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody is born
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917) was an American soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory (now the American state o...
1857 Buffalo Bill takes a job as freight carrier after his father's death
While giving an anti-slavery speech at the local trading post, his father so inflamed the supporters of slavery in the audience that they formed a mob and one of them stabbed him. Cody he...
1863 Buffalo Bill enlists with the Seventh Kansas Calvary
After his mother recovered Cody wished to enlist as a soldier, but was refused for his age. He began working with a United States freight caravan which delivered supplies to Fort Laramie....
1866 Mar 6 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody marries Louisa Frederici
After the war, on March 6, 1866, Will married Louisa Frederici in St. Louis, Missouri and their first child, Arta Lucille, was born the same year. Three more children would follow - Kit ...
1867 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody hunts buffalo to feed construction crew of Kansas Pacific Railroad
Finally, in 1867, Cody took up the trade that gave him his nickname, hunting buffalo to feed the construction crews of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. By his own count, he killed 4,280 head ...
1868
to 1872
William "Buffalo Bill" Cody serves as a scout for the United States Army
From 1868 until 1872 Cody was employed as a scout by the United States Army. Part of this time he spent scouting for Indians, and the remainder was spent gathering and killing bison for t...
1872 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody receives Medal of Honor
Cody received a Medal of Honor in 1872 for "gallantry in action" while serving as a civilian scout for the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. In 1917, the U.S.Congress—after revising the standards for...
1872 Dec Buffalo Bill Makes Stage Debut in 'The Scouts of the Prairie'
In December 1872 Cody traveled to Chicago to make his stage debut with friend Texas Jack Omohundro in The Scouts of the Prairie, one of the original Wild West shows produced by Ned Buntli...
1883 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody creates "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" show
It was the age of great showmen and traveling entertainers. Cody put together a new traveling show based on both of those forms of entertainment. In 1883 in the area of North Platte, Nebr...
1887 Buffalo Bill's Wild West tours Europe
In 1887 he took the show to Britain in celebration of the Jubilee year of Queen Victoria. The show was staged in London before going on to Birmingham and then Salford near Manchester, whe...
1896 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody founds the city of Cody, Wyoming
In 1895, William Cody was instrumental in the founding of Cody, the seat of Park County in northwestern Wyoming. The site where the community was established is now the Old Trail Town mus...
1917 Jan 10 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody dies
William F. Cody died of kidney failure on January 10, 1917, surrounded by family and friends at his sister's house in Denver. On his deathbed, Cody was baptized into the Roman Catholic Ch...