Buffalo Bill's Wild West
The First Reality Show in Essex
Format:Paperback
Publisher:ESSEX HUNDRED PUBLICATIONS
Published:1st Oct '18
Should be back in stock very soon
Talks on this subject by the author are available. See https://www.essex100.com/talks-events/
This is the story of Buffalo Bill, the Wild West and how more than a century before `The Only Way is Essex' the county flocked to see the world's first reality show.Buffalo Bill was one of the most famous men in the world. For nearly twenty years he toured America, Britain and Europe with his own Wild West show. This was no circus - the cowboys were real cowboys, the Indians real Indians and the soldiers real soldiers. It was the world's first reality show, fulfilling Buffalo Bill's dream of bringing the excitement of the American frontier to mass audiences. It was a huge undertaking - three special trains were needed to transport it and the portable arena could seat more than 12,000 people. This book tells the extraordinary story of Buffalo Bill, his Wild West show and what happened when theyvisited several Essex towns in the early 1900s.
5* Andy M Two years ago, David Dunford chronicled the history of horse racing in Chelmsford in his book, 'Full Circle'. Now he’s delved into the archives again to give a colourful account of the appearances in Essex of the extravaganza that was Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. The spectacular show was summed up by the Illustrated London News: ‘It is not a circus, nor indeed is it acti ng at all, in a theatrical sense, but an exact reproduction of daily scenes in frontier life.’Audiences around the world were awed by exhibitions of horse-riding, sharp-shooting and rope tricks and re-enactments of battles. Those taking part were the real deal: the cowboys had actually ridden the range, the cavalry men were veterans and the Indians were real native Americans (at least one had fought in the Battle of the Little Big Horn). The whole caboodle was led by the intrepid Buffalo Bill, Colonel William Cody: guide, scout, hunter, trapper and canny businessman. Dunford’s narrative takes a while to reach Essex, but the build-up information is fascinating, fleshing out characters who’d hitherto just been exotic names from our childhoods: Sitting Bull, Annie Oakley, Wild Bill Hickock etc. It’s interspersed with excellent illustrations. The show had Royal patronage when it was in London, and crowds flocked to see it when it moved down to Essex in 1903/4 – the evening performance in Chelmsford attracted an audience of about 11,000. This is a really entertaining and well-written little book that casts a light on what Dunford calls ‘the first reality show in Essex. 5* Clive Stewart. This is a brilliant book, it covers so much of Buffalo Bill from his early life too.
ISBN: 9780993108389
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
114 pages