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Summary
Summary
Everyone knows the name Buffalo Bill, but few these days know what he did or, in some cases, didn't do. Was he a Pony Express rider? Did he serve Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn? Did he scalp countless Native Americans, or did he defend their rights?
This, the first significant biography of Buffalo Bill Cody for younger readers in many years, explains it all. With copious archival illustrations and a handsome design, Presenting Buffalo Bill makes the great showman come alive for new generations. Extensive back matter, bibliography, and source notes complete the package.
This title has Common Core connections.
Author Notes
Candace Fleming is the author of many acclaimed picture books and biographies for young readers, including Papa's Mechanical Fish , Oh, No! and the recent, highly awarded The Family Romanov which received six starred reviews, and was named a Sibert Honor book, and won the NCTE Orbis Pictus. Candace lives in Chicago.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Fleming's even-handed biography of William Cody, the "hardscrabble frontiersman who became America's legendary showman," is more than just the story of a larger-than-life figure. Fleming (The Family Romanov) weaves Cody's life into a history of the development of the West in the late 19th century and provides a clear and sensitive study of the treatment of American Indians during that era. Each chapter opens with a vivid description of a scene from the outrageously successful Wild West spectacle that Cody produced, followed by real-life events that link to-and possibly inspired-the scene. In comprehensive sidebars entitled "Panning for the Truth," Fleming examines some of the hyperbolic tales Cody spun, holding them up to other primary and secondary sources for confirmation or dismissal. Fierce battles are described in detail, and historical figures such as Sitting Bull, Custer, Annie Oakley, and even Queen Victoria come to life in Cody's incredible story, as do his relations with the loving family he was born into and the tenuous one he created. Fascinating period photos, an extensive bibliography, and online sources are included. Ages 10-14. Agent: Ethan Ellenberg, Ethan Ellenberg Agency (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Fleming's (The Family Romanov, 2014) insightful biography of William Buffalo Bill Cody isn't just about the making of this legendary persona but also the myth of the Wild West. Having gained his nickname while working as a buffalo hunter, Cody continued to earn fame as a U.S. Army scout during the American Indian wars. When a dime novelist began spinning fictitious stories about Buffalo Bill, his character was established as a western action hero. To cash in on his reputation, Cody created his Wild West show, solidifying his stardom and shaping the Wild West narrative, including its quest for expansion and stereotyped Cowboys vs. Indians mythos. Fleming teases facts from the legends surrounding Cody, conceding that sometimes the truth lies somewhere in between, and presents chapters filled with period photographs as acts in the showman's life. Considerable coverage is given to the unjust treatment of Native Americans at this time; and an author's note addresses Fleming's mindful use of terminologies (many still problematic) when writing about Native American people. An illuminating look at an American legend.--Leeper, Angela Copyright 2016 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
LEARNING ABOUT A COUNTRY'S real past is a fraught activity; once mythological versions become embedded in the public consciousness they are tough to dislodge. Take the American West. Those of us who came of age in the last century did so with movies, books, television shows, toys, games and school curriculums that told us of wide-open and empty spaces, of buffalo and land free for the taking, of sturdy and stoic white settlers, of adventurous cowboys, and of fierce and frightening indigenous people. This romanticized notion of the so-called Wild West is remarkably resistant to correction and stubbornly enduring, as evidenced by those who can't see why American Indian sports team names and mascots are offensive. As for who was responsible for the myth in the first place, many names could be suggested, among them Buffalo Bill Cody and Ernest Thompson Seton - as young readers of two new books will discover. William Frederick Cody, who had moved with his family from Iowa to the unruly territory of Kansas in 1854, took on every sort of role the West had to offer, starting in his early teens. Cattle herder, wagon train worker, Pony Express rider, buffalo hunter, gold prospector - he did them all. Or so he claimed. What is certain is that his rugged good looks and rumored feats caught the attention of a dime-novel writer who renamed him Buffalo Bill Cody and featured him in hundreds of sensational and completely fictional stories, catapulting him to national fame. This enabled him, some years later, to create Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, a massive and massively popular entertainment that helped cement that mythic Western construct we still grapple with today. Now Candace Fleming, the author of several acclaimed nonfiction books for younger readers, including "The Family Romanov" and "The Great and Only Barnum," has taken on the task of unpacking Cody's story, unscrambling the truth from the fiction and placing it within the history of the West. Using a straightforward chronological structure, Fleming begins each chapter by conjuring an act from one of Cody's shows. The first is titled "The Boy Will Cody, or Attack on the Settler's Cabin by Indians and Rescue by Buffalo Bill With His Scouts, Cowboys and Mexicans.'" While Cody's description of the attack was clearly fictional, he had real experience to draw upon: His childhood home had been set upon, just not by American Indians but by hostile fellow settlers. Because of Cody's tendency to embellish, Fleming supplements his own descriptions with other sources and voices. For particularly dubious accounts such as his self-proclaimed Pony Express exploits or lingering questions such as how the show's American Indian performers were treated, she provides "Panning for the Truth" sections, presenting sometimes conflicting primary evidence and differing conclusions by those who study the past. Along with primary source images, many of them photographs, with informative captions, these insightful windows into the work of historians are fascinating as well as important reminders for young readers of the need to be constantly revisiting and reconsidering what was previously known, especially when it comes to a bigger-than-life historical personality. HUMANS WERE AT the heart of Buffalo Bill's stories. But for the artist and writer Ernest Thompson Seton it was wolves. His 1898 story "Lobo: The King of Currumpaw" is the basis for a beautifully designed oversize picture book by the British artist William Grill, whose first book, "Shackleton's Journey," was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and the winner of Britain's Kate Greenaway Medal. Invited to New Mexico to hunt down and kill the infamous wolf Lobo, Seton sets himself to the task with determination, using such methods as poison and traps. Marveling at the animal's ability to repeatedly outwit him, the persistent Seton finally succeeds by trapping and using the wolf's mate, Blanca, as bait. Grill's spare text is harrowing enough, but it's even more emotionally elevated by his colored pencil drawings, which he has said were inspired by the scenery of New Mexico as well as Native American tapestries and rugs. Hauntingly beautiful full-spread landscapes are scattered throughout, some from Lobo's point of view and some from Seton's, supplemented by images of widely varying sizes that further the story line. On one striking full page, Grill grimly presents the 130 distinctive traps Seton used. After the two wolves' deaths, a spread filled with small oval portraits silently memorializes them. The sober tone continues in a coda to the main story, in which Grill relates how the experience with Lobo transformed Seton from a brutal hunter into an avid conservationist. By forgoing Seton's first-person perspective for the more distant third-person voice and tightening the account, Grill has created a powerful picture book that is certain to provoke feelings of empathy for the regal Lobo and Blanca, though one perhaps best appreciated by animal-loving younger readers with an adult nearby. I would also recommend that a grown-up be on hand to talk about a series of small images in an introductory section called "The Old West" featuring American Indians, one showing an indigenous man on his knees begging for mercy as soldiers point guns at him. While these drawings are no doubt intended to remind readers of the horrific treatment of the First Nations during the "dying days of the Old West," there are no words accompanying them, which may be confusing and disturbing, as if the book is making literal the larger culture's silencing of native people's own stories and their place in the history of the American West. In different ways, "The Wolves of Currumpaw" and "Presenting Buffalo Bill" provide opportunities for young readers to critically explore some stubborn historical fictions about the West. There is so much more to be done, yet it's increasingly possible to hope that more accurate historical stories will eventually replace the many tired myths with something closer to the truth. MONICA EDINGER, a fourth-grade teacher in New York City, is the author of "Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad." She blogs at Educating Alice.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Fleming captivates readers from beginning to end with her biography of William F. Cody (aka Buffalo Bill). Cody cultivated an image, and throughout the text, Fleming deftly integrates what Cody said about himself alongside existing historical evidence. She relies on photographs, show memorabilia, and drawings to emphasize the scale of Cody's shows, relay the depths to which he would go to promote himself, and demonstrate how these pieces of history may not be accurate. Cody's shortcomings are laid bare, and Fleming addresses the criticism Cody faced for how American Indians were portrayed in his shows. She details the atrocities committed by the U.S. government against many Native tribes, too. In a beginning author's note, Fleming states that, whenever possible, she has identified American Indians as members of specific tribes. She also considers how terms like Native American, Native performer, and Indian will appear in context. However, the term warrior is often used to describe specific American Indians, and in a discussion of the Congress of Rough Riders of the World, the text refers to the Russian Cossacks, Argentine gauchos, English and German cavalrymen, and Syrian riders as "colorful and exotic horsemen." In addition, librarians should be aware that the work does feature stories of violence against American Indians, specifically the retelling of Cody's scalping of Yellow Hair-a potentially upsetting scene. VERDICT An informative examination of Buffalo Bill and his legacy for the middle and high school set, and to be handled with care.-Hilary Writt, Sullivan University, Lexington, KY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| A Note from the Author | p. ix |
| Introduction | p. xi |
| Fanfare | p. 3 |
| Act 1 The boy Will Cody | p. 7 |
| Act 2 Boy on the plains | p. 35 |
| Panning for the Truth: The Mormon war | p. 46 |
| Act 3 The Youngest rider on the Pony Express | p. 53 |
| Panning for the Truth: The Pony Express | p. 60 |
| Act 4 Becoming Buffalo Bill | p. 71 |
| Panning for the Truth: winning the Name "Buffalo Bill" | p. 84 |
| Panning for the Truth: The Death of Chief Tall Bull | p. 97 |
| Act 5 Starring Buffalo Bill | p. 109 |
| Panning for the Truth: yellow Hair | p. 129 |
| Act 6 Rootin', Tootin', Ropin', and Shootin' | p. 141 |
| Panning for the Truth: Native performers | p. 166 |
| Act 7 Rough Riders of the World | p. 179 |
| Act 8 Show's End | p. 209 |
| Afterword | p. 229 |
| Bibliography | p. 231 |
| Source Notes | p. 237 |
| Picture Credits | p. 261 |
| Index | p. 263 |
