Buffalo Bill - by Mrs. Lebsack

 

    William Frederick Cody is a famous Nebraskan. He was born on February 26, 1846 in LeClaire, Iowa. When he was eight, his father moved their family to Weston, Missouri and later into the Kansas Territory.

    As a young boy living on the open frontier, Bill explored the plains. When Bill was ten years old, his dad died and Bill felt responsible to provide for his family. He went to work as a cavy herder on the trails.

    When Bill was fourteen, he became a Pony Express rider. As a young man, Bill was a scout for the United States Cavalry and killed over 4,000 buffalo to help the men who were laying down railroad tracks across the plains, earning his nickname, “Buffalo Bill”.

    William Frederick Cody is most famous for the circus like show he created called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. The show featured Native Americans, cowboys, Pony Express riders, scouts, stage coach drivers, and sharpshooters. He toured the country sharing what life on the west had once been. He even took his show to Europe!

    William Frederick Cody died in 1917 at the age of 70. Buffalo Bill helped save history so I can better share with my 4th grade students what life was once like on the plains.