The Wild West Show

William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody also begins his show business career on the stage, and his “Wild West Show”, a circus style entertainment which draws on many aspects of Western life and legend, may be seen as a combination of dime novel and stage spectacle.  

The show celebrates the accomplishments of the cowboy, such as roping and riding skills and fancy shooting.  It exhibits real live Indians and buffalo.  And it contains embryonic narratives such as an Indian attack on the Deadwood Stage, episodes that came closer than ever before to the cinematic Western.  

In a parallel development, the rodeo gathers popular appeal.  It also plays its part in packaging the riding and roping skills of the cowboy into a form of commercial entertainment.

Page 1 of 1