before the term was forever linked to his name, william f. cody grew up in the wild, wild west. once he was a boy, not a superstar, notot named for the animal that he would kill by the thousands. others, for the record, killed more. but just a boy who played with indians on the great plains, perhaps even members of sitting bull's extended tribe. he would pass through a territory near his home in kansas as they followed the buffalo. so, too, by his own account did he kill an indian in his youth and others later while he was employed as a wagon train hand. but, of course, he was not aware that the curtain would soon fall on their way of life and that he would participate in that last act as well as try to preserve what came before. once he was just a boy who helped his struggling family eke out a living on the frontier. so how he came to hook up with sitting bull is the pretty amazing part of this story. after the battle of the little bighorn during which custer was killed as i hope all of you know -- a [laughter] sittingg bull was blamed for killing custer which was not true, he

thoroughfares that would tilt on top of each paths made by animals and people whoan follow them with william f cody another mythical figure reenacting wartime scenarios that had one out. the end of the red man and the victory of the white. it led the whole parade in celebration of the wild west that became theof national scripture. what were the forces that brought these two men together i wondered. what was the nature of their alliance. were they each trapped in a persona, a veneer that was somewhat true? behind the myth, projected ideas in which they were preserved, who were they in day-to-day life. theirs was certainly an unlikely partnership, but one thing was obvious on its face. both had names that were forever linked with the buffalo. one man was credited with wiping out the species so that was hardly the casee and the other was sustained by its very life. they were, in effect, two sides of the same coin. foes and then friend just as the photo caption on the publicity poster said. this image entered my consciousness. here were two american superstars emma icons, not just of their era country

thoroughfares built on top of ancient paths made by animals and the people who follow them with william f codyanother mystical figure of the great plains reenacting wartime scenarios that had one outcome. the end of the red man in the victory of the white leading is a parade in celebration of the wild west became the national scripture. what were the forces that brought these two together i wonder? what was the nature of their alliance. where they each trapped in a persona, a veneer that was somewhat true. behind the projected ideas in which they were preserved, who were they in day-to-day life. there is was certainly an unlikely partnership but one thing was obvious on its face. both had names that were forever linked with the buffalo. when man was credited with wiping out the species, so that was hardly the case and the other was sustained by its very life. there were two sides of the same coin, foes and friends as the photo caption on the publicity poster says so this image too entered my consciousness, two american superstars, icons not just of their era and country but for all time and ar

before the term was forever linked to his name, william f. cody grew up in the wild, wild west. once he was a boy, not a superstar not named for the animal he would kill by the thousands. others, for the record, would kill more. but just a boy who played with indians on the great plains, he would pass through territory near his home in kansas as they followed the buffalo. so, too, by his own account did he kill an indian in his youth. and others later while he was employed as a wagon train hand. but of course he was not aware that the curtain would soon fall on their way of life and that he would participate in that last act as well as try to reserve what came before. once he was just a boy who helped his struggling family eke out a living on the frontier. so how he came to hook up with sitting bull is a pretty amazing part of this story. after the battle of the little bighorn during which custer was killed, as i hope all of you know -- [laughter] sitting bull was blamed for killing custer which was not true. he did not pull the trigger. but he was nearby, and he was certainly a