Colorful Effects.

From 1883 to 1916 Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show enjoyed a place as the "National Entertainment." Ownership and the show's title changed several times, but the show always contained cowboys performing feats of skill and daring, stereotyped Indians attacking white settlers, and well-staged battle scenes between the U.S. Cavalry and Indian warriors. After seeing the show Mark Twain wrote: "It brought back to me the breezy, wild life of the Rocky Mountains, and stirred me like a war song."

Cody's Achievement.

This type of entertainment started as a frontier celebration held in North Platte, Nebraska, in 1882 by William F. Cody. A former army scout and hunter, he claimed to have killed 4,280 buffalo in an eight-month period, thus earning the nickname "Buffalo Bill." The success of the 1882 performance encouraged Cody and Dr. W. F. Carver, a crack marksman, to organize a traveling show...