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.
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.