The Evolution of a Legend

The story behind Buffalo Bill.

For a time, William F. Bill Cody was the most famous man in America. His rise to fame was meteoric. In 1869, dime novelist Ned Buntline (Edward Zane Carroll Judson) met the 23-year-old Cody in Nebraska. Cody already had a reputation as an army scout and hunter—and had been nicknamed “Buffalo Bill.” Buntline wrote an article and dime novel about the young man. That turned into a stage show in 1872. And in 1883, Cody began what became an international legend—the Wild West show.