Buffalo Bill Cody!

 On January 10,1917, Buffalo Bill Cody died. He was baptized in the Catholic Church at the Denver Cathedral the day before his death. He received a full Masonic funeral held at the Elks Lodge Hall in Denver. Upon hearing the news of his death thousands across the world sent their condolences including Kaiser Wilhelm II and President Woodrow Wilson.

This cartoon published in the “Boston Evening Record” embodies what many felt on that day.

Buffalo Bill Cody’s early life was shaped in Kansas. At a young age he moved along with his family to the new Kansas Territory in the lead up to the Civil War. His father, Isaac Cody was a Canadian born abolitionist and was involved in local politics where he gave speeches denouncing slavery and pushing for Kansas free statehood. During one speech he was stabbed by a pro-slavery Missourian. Isaac survived but never fully recovered from his injuries. After his father’s death in 1857, William Cody joined the pony express and later joined the Civil War fighting with the Seventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry. In 1867, Cody moved to western Kansas and settled near Fort Hays where he hunted buffalo for the railroad. He co-founded the defunct town of Rome near present day, Hays, KS. It was during this period that William Cody got his famous nickname, “Buffalo Bill Cody”.

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