Buffalo Bill Cody

Born: February 26, 1846, near Le Claire, Iowa
Died: January 10, 1917 (age 70), Denver, Colorado

William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was an American soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory, near Le Claire. He was one of the most colorful figures of the American Old West, and mostly famous for the shows he organized with cowboy themes. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872.

1. William Frederick ("Buffalo Bill") Cody got his nickname after he undertook a contract to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat. The nickname originally referred to Bill Comstock. Cody earned the nickname by killing buffalo in eighteen months (1867-68). What is the number of buffalo killed during those eighteen months?

• 3,500 buffalo
• 4,280 buffalo
• 5,780 buffalo

2. Cody was suppose to have been a Pony Express rider in 1860. What age would he have been?

• 14
• 18
• 22

3. From 1868 until 1872 Cody was employed as a scout by the United States Army. Part of this time he spent scouting for Indians, and the remainder was spent gathering and killing bison for them and the Kansas Pacific Railroad. What was the regiment he scouted for?

• 3rd Cavalry
• 7th Cavalry
• 10th Cavalry

4. When was the combat action Cody received the Medal of Honor?

• April 26, 1868
• April 26, 1870
• April 26, 1872

5. Where did gallantry in action take place?

• Platte River, Nebraska
• Snake Creek, Iowa
• Cave Creek, Arizona

6. This medal was revoked on February 5, 1917, 24 days after his death, because he was a civilian and therefore was ineligible for the award under new guidelines for the award in 1917. The medal was restored to him by the army in 1989.

• Fact or Myth?

7. In December 1872 Cody traveled to Chicago to make his stage debut with friend Texas Jack Omohundro in The Scouts of the Prairie, one of the original Wild West shows produced by Ned Buntline. During the 1873-74 season, Cody and Omohundro invited their friend James Butler Wild Bill Hickok to join them in a new play called Scouts of the Plains. The troupe toured for ten years and his part typically included an 1876 incident at the Warbonnet Creek where he claimed to have scalped a Cheyenne warrior. Whose death was he acting in revenge?

• George Armstrong Custer
• Sam Rayburn
• Wild Bill Cunningham

8. In 1883 at North Platte, Nebraska he founded "Buffalo Bill's Wild West," (despite popular misconception, the word "show" was not a part of the title) a circus-like attraction that toured annually. What was the year?

• 1883
• 1886
• 1893

9. Surrounded by family and friends at his sister's house in Denver, what was the cause of death on January 10, 1917?

• Pancreatic cancer
• Kidney failure
• Horse riding accident

10. Where is William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody buried?

• Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum, Golden, Colorado
• Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California
• Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri

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