He was riding as fast as his pony could go through a ravine one day when
there sprang out in front of him in the narrow track a man with his
rifle at his shoulder. Young Cody knew enough to know that the man had
what was called the "drop" on him. There was nothing to do but pull up
and await events. It was a white man-a desperado of the plains. He told
the boy that he meant him no harm, but that he wanted the money in the
bag. -from "The Pony Express Rider" He looms as large in the American
imagination as do Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Buffalo Bill Cody rode
for the Pony Express, served as a scout for Union Army during the Civil
War, and was a champion of the rights of women and Indians. Yet his
greatest legacy may be his own invention of that legacy. A tireless and
wily self-promoter, Cody, already a superstar, in 1904 published this
autobiography, the cheerful story of his own life, complete with
suspiciously tall tales of battles with Indians, exploits with the army
and the Pony Express, and more. Whether they're wholly true or somewhat
exaggerated, they're totally entertaining. American frontiersman and
showman WILLIAM FREDERICK CODY (1846-1917) toured Europe and North
American with his "Wild West Show" in the 1880s, 1890s, and early 1900s,
helping to establish the legend of the American West, and as a result
may have been the first globally recognized American celebrity.
