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News Briefs
Great headway is being made in the restoration of a historic Buffalo Bill billboard discovered on the wall of a building in Jamestown, PA. A federal save AmericaÕs Treasures grant has been awarded to the Reg Lenna Civic Center to restore an 1878 Buffalo Bill Cody Billboard. Announcement of the grant last fall coincided with the unveiling of the first conserved segment of the billboard to be shown to the public. Cody Family Association Vice President Susanna Cody was present for that unveiling. Upon hearing about the required matching funds needed, Lamar Outdoor Advertising pledged $8,000 to help ensure that the entire billboard, measuring 24 feet by 10 feet, will be restored. The project to restore the entire billboard will take about two years. The finished billboard will be displayed in the lobby of the Civic Center. The poster advertised the Cody Combination production of ÒMay Cody or Lost and WonÓ. The first part of the poster restored shows John Young Nelson (also known by his Indian name of Cha-Sha-Sha-O-Pogeo) one of the stars of the production. The Reg Lenna Civic Center is seeking additional grants and donations to help complete this work. Tax deductible donations can be sent to The Reg Lenna Civic Center, 106 E. Third St., Jamestown NY 14701. Please indicated ÒBuffalo Bill Cody Billboard FundÓ on the check.
It seems that even today many people want to capitalize on the good name and reputation of Buffalo Bill Cody. A story from Cleveland.com tells about a pair of old cowhide gloves and a damaged horse bridle that were supposedly once the property of Cody which were to be auctioned off. They were said to have been the property of George Tomlinson who reportedly appears with Buffalo Bill on the circuit. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center said their was a man named George Tomlinson who worked with the Wild West. Juti Winchester, curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum, said she felt the quality of the gloves in question were not that which Cody would have bought and that some of the materials seems to be too modern. In recent publications several people around the country claim, in promoting their business, to be related to William F. Cody. Apparently these claims cannot be substantiated.
The Denver Post carried a story about 83-year-old Helen Eagen who rode a horse six miles up Lookout Mountain to the grave of Buffalo Bill just as she has done every year on the anniversary of his burial. (Although Cody died in December of 1917, his body was not buried until June of the following year.). The article says that Eagen, one of 14 riders who traveled to the grave site, shuffled slowly in her cowboy boots back to her horse, one hand on a borrowed cane and an arm linked through a friends.
Pahaska Tepee near Cody, Wyoming, has just celebrated its 100th anniversary according to an article in the Cody Enterprise. The Pahaska Tepee Resort is an outpost Buffalo Bill built as the third leg of a three-part tourist destination in the area. The other legs were the town of Cody and Wapiti Valley and Yellowstone Park. When it opened a stay at the Pahaska cost $4 a day, $15-20 per week. Cody was not present for the opening of the lodge in 1904 because of his Wild West touring. Pahaska was the name given to Cody by Indians. It means "Long Hair". He and other frontier scouts wore beaded buckskins and long hair in deference to native plains people who preferred not to cut their hair.
In May of 2004, a 9,000 pound sculpture of Buffalo Bill Cody was placed atop a manmade hill west of Oakley, Kansas. The sculpture took six years of planning and $500,000 to complete. Oakley calls itself the "Birthplace of the Legend of Buffalo Bill Cody" because it was near here that Cody killed a record number of buffalo while hunting for the railroad and therefore earned the title "Buffalo Bill". Promoters of the area hope the statue will increase tourist trade. Oakley is just off Interstate 70 between Hays and Colby.
The Nebraska StatePaper.com reports that vandals did more than $1,500 in damage to the Scouts Rest Ranch house in North Platte formerly occupied by Buffalo Bill Cody. The report says that clubs were used to smash antique Wheelock china and antique glass. Glass littered the floor in the downstairs area of the house. An ornate chandelier was also damaged. The vandals also stole several items from displays. They also struck at the nearby Wild West Arena where a carnival was setting up for Nebraskaland Days celebration. Scouts Rest is now a state park.
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody is hoping to boost attendance by offering a new family rate and making other changes to lure more people from the Yellowstone National Park area. For $40 one or two parents plus their children younger than 17 can visit the center under its new family package. Along with fee adjustments, the center is trying group services and projects with Yellowstone National Park's major concessionaire, and also is looking to improve on getting more information out about it in West Yellowstone, Montana, and Jackson. Attendance at the center in Cody dropped almost 7 percent in 2004.
Dr. Charles R. Preston, Draper Museum of Natural History founding curator, has been named chief curator for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. In announcing the appointment, Dr. Robert E. Shimp, BBHC Executive Director, said: "The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is growing, changing, and learning to serve many audiences through different media and experiences. We made this change to better manage and plan in the years ahead." Prior to opening the Draper Museum, Dr. Preston was Chairman of the Department of Zoology at the Denver Museum of Natural History.
You may have heard that the recent movie Hidalgo has in it a Buffalo Bill Cody connection.
Judi Winchester, curator at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, warns that although the movie bears the title "based on a true story", there appears to be little truth in it other than the way the Wild West was presented.
The movie was based on the life of Frank T. Hopkins who claims to have been, in addition to other things, a member of the Wild West show cast. The movie concerns itself with the supposed race by Hopkins in Arabia.
Winchester says that she has been unable to find in any of the voluminous records in BBHC any mention of Hopkins as a participant in the Wild West.
She said the producers did contact her early on about how the Wild West was presented for inclusion in the movie but not about the reliability of Hopkins' claims.
Copyright 2004 by the International Cody Family Association
