This "pencil" was drawn
using a photograph for
reference taken by
photographer, Eugene
Pirou in Paris, France in
1896.
This piece was published in the
Buffalo Bill Historical Centers "Points
West" Fall 2004 Magazine.
I have added a brief history
of "Buffalo Bill" below. There
are some facts there that I
did not know.
The original is 7.75" x 10.5"
overall. It is drawn on
medium weight, hot press
Crescent Illustration Board.
German made
Faber-Castell Drawing
Pencils were used. The
majority of the "pencil' was
done with a #6 lead, while
the remainder was
darkened with a #8 lead.
Total time to complete was
almost 16 hours.
William F. "Buffalo Bill"
Cody was born just west of
the Mississippi River near
LeClaire, Iowa on February
26, 1846. At the age of 12,
he worked for a wagon train
going to Fort Laramie; one
year later he participated in
the gold rush to Colorado;
at age 15, he rode for the
Pony Express. By the end of
his life, Buffalo Bill had
come to symbolize the
American frontier
itself.
Cody served as a scout for
the Union's 7th Kansas
Cavalry during the last
years of the Civil War. Cody
began hunting buffalo for
Kansas Pacific work crews,
earning his moniker
"Buffalo Bill" and his
reputation as an expert
shot. The next year, Cody
was employed by the U.S.
Army as a civilian scout and
guide for the Fifth Cavalry.
His experience and skills
as a plainsman made him
an invaluable tracker and
fighter. In 1872, Cody
became one of only four
civilian scouts to be
awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honor during the
Indian Wars for valor in
action.
General Phillip Sheridan
saw in Cody a combination
of charisma and frontier
know-how - a natural public
relations windfall for the
Army of the West, which
was in need of some good
publicity. Under the
protection of the Army,
visiting dignitaries - such as
the Grand Duke Alexis of
Russia - took lavish hunting
expeditions with Buffalo Bill
as their guide and
accompanied by General
Sheridan and Brevet Major
General George Armstong
Custer. These excursions
were full-scale media
events, glamorizing both the
military and Cody.
The pulp industry
romanticized the exploits of
the heroes and villains who
roamed the plains, and
Buffalo Bill was a central
figure of these inflated
truths. In 1872, Cody was
persuaded by dime novel
writer Ned Buntline to take
to the stage, portraying
himself. The show
business bug hit, and led to
the formation of Cody's own
"combination" troupe in
1873. The group included
Wild Bill Hickok and Texas
Jack Omohundro - being
authentic Western
characters, they gave some
credence to the
melodrama.
During the height of the
Plains Indians resistance to
white settlement, Cody
returned to the prairies in
the summer to scout for the
Fifth Army. On July 17, 1876,
just three weeks after
Custer and the Seventh
Cavalry were defeated at
Little Big Horn, Cody's
regiment intercepted a
band of Cheyenne warriors.
When Buffalo Bill, in his
stage clothing, killed and
scalped a Cheyenne
warrior named Yellow Hair
(often miss-translated as
"Yellow Hand"), he
reportedly cried out "First
scalp for Custer!" Buffalo
Bill the frontiersman had
proven that Buffalo Bill the
character was no mere
actor.
In 1883, Cody created what
would become Buffalo Bill's
Wild West, a vehicle that
propelled him to fortune
and worldwide fame. The
Wild West would run - in
one form or another- for 30
years, charming crowds
throughout the United
States and Europe. In
Europe, Cody was called
"Nature's Nobleman"
because he was someone
who had grown up on the
frontier yet represented all
of those best aspects of
civilization.
Despite his characterization
as a figure from the past,
Buffalo Bill always looked to
the future. As a
businessman, he invested
in projects that he hoped
might bring economic
growth to the West. With his
earnings he invested in an
Arizona mine, hotels in
Sheridan and Cody,
Wyoming, stock breeding,
ranching, coal and oil
development, film making,
publishing, town building
and tourism. Taking
advantage of his celebrity
status, Cody was an early
advocate of women's
suffrage and the just
treatment of American
Indians.
By the turn of the 20th
century, William F. Cody
was probably the most
famous American in the
world. No one symbolized
the West for Americans and
Europeans better than
Buffalo Bill. He was
consulted on western
matters by every American
president from Ulysses S.
Grant to Woodrow Wilson.
He counted among his
friends such artists and
writers as Frederic
Remington and Mark Twain.
He was honored by royalty,
praised by military leaders,
and feted by business
tycoons. Cody was
America's ideal man: a
courtly, chivalrous,
self-made fellow who could
shoot a gun and charm a
crowd. Yet as Annie Oakley
put it - he was the simplest
of men, as comfortable with
cowboys as with kings.
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