Buffalo Bill Cody was a bison hunter, Union Army soldier, Pony Express rider and all-around frontiersman. But by 1886 he’d become a showman. That year, he took his Wild West show to New York for a stint at Madison Square Garden. And New York audiences couldn’t get enough.
It must have been quite a spectacle. The show featured Cody, assorted cowboys and cowgirls, plus more than 100 Native Americans. They reenacted powwows, buffalo hunts, stagecoach trips, mining camp life, and other elements of the mythologized West.
“Taken as a whole, the show is excellent,” The New York Times wrote. “The scenery is more than good, the incidents of frontier life realistic, the dances and ceremonies of the Indians are spirited and effective.”
Cody returned to MSG with different incarnations of his show over the years until it went bankrupt in 1913. The photo above was taken at the Garden with chiefs Red Cloud and American Horse. Below, a poster for the 1886 Madison Square Garden show.
The arrival of the Wild West show in cities across the country was often accompanied by a parade. It’s unclear where this 1902 parade footage takes place—could it be New York?
Tags: American Horse, Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Bill Cody, Frontier Life, Madison Square Garden, Old West, Red Cloud, Wild West show
Ephemeral New York 
March 12, 2009 at 2:19 pm |
There was a Broadway play called “Buffalo Bill Indian’s” by Arthur Kopit 1969 that I saw years ago with Stacy Keach in the lead role.
March 15, 2009 at 7:43 pm |
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show also appeared right here in Brooklyn at Washington Park.
June 9, 2010 at 4:04 pm |
Help i have a poster of buffalo bill’s wild west show its been around for a while. how do i tell if its original or replica ?? it has the numbers in the left hand corner n.y. 1680. i have it in a glass fram
November 27, 2011 at 5:32 am |
The Colorado Historical Society or Denver’s Buffalo Bill museum should be able to help you out.