The controversial, half-fictitious career of William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917), American scout and publicist, helped create the prototype "Wild West" hero.

William Cody, born in Scott County, lowa, and raised on a farm, served briefly in the Civil War. Hunting buffalo for construction crews of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, he was dubbed "Buffalo Bill" because of his proficiency. He also served as civilian scout for U.S. generals Sheridan and Carr. Though he went east to begin a stage career in 1873, he returned west in 1876 to avenge Gen. Custer's defeat. Claiming to have killed Chief Tall Bull, he later brought the Wild West indoors and toured widely with his Wild West Show. Clever publicists, like Ned Buntline, Prentiss Ingraham, and John Burke, billed him as "Prince of the Plains" and made him the hero of countless stories and novels.

Often in trouble and always in debt, Buffalo...