William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody

Feb 26, 1846 – Jan 10, 1917

Born in Iowa Territory

opened Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in Omaha, Nebraska

launching a genre of outdoor entertainment that thrived for three decades and survived, in fits and starts, for almost three more

“Westward the course of empire takes its way.”

Annie Oakley broke ground when she and her husband and manager, Frank Butler, joined Buffalo Bill early in 1885

Lillian Smith toured as a teenager with Buffalo Bill