EDUCATORS ’ PERSPECTIVE
ore samples from the mine with refined gold in order to make the worthless mine look like a bonanza . Cody also made a failed attempt at filmmaking during the silent film era . His investments in coal mines and oilfields yielded lackluster returns .
Despite this , Cody remained relatively optimistic . At his death in 1917 , he was still waiting for one of his investments to blossom and transform him into a true capitalist . Bonner concludes , “ Fame and influence are the currency of the celebrity developer , but they are a poor substitute for real money and a good record .” Cody ’ s success in the entertainment industry never transferred to his other business endeavors .
Cody , Wyoming still loves Buffalo Bill . His likeness permeates the town , but it is the likeness of the Wild West Buffalo Bill , not William Cody the financier , who draws in vacationers and makes Cody ’ s cash registers ring during the short summer tourist season . The Irma Hotel still stands in the center of town , and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West anchors the
west end of this small Wyoming burg .
The Shoshone Dam to the west of town was renamed the Buffalo Bill Dam 36 years after its construction . The waters behind the dam in the Buffalo Bill Reservoir irrigate thousands of acres and generate electricity for the Big Horn Basin . Although the region never lived up to William Cody ’ s financial expectations , it remains a monument to the man who , more than anyone , was responsible for creating the myth of the Wild West .
Brian Grinder is a professor at Eastern Washington University and a member of Financial History ’ s editorial board . Dr . Dan Cooper is the president of Active Learning Technologies .
Note
1 . Cody filed for divorce in 1905 . The trial made front page news around the nation , especially when Cody lost . Cody and Louisa eventually reconciled and remained married until Cody ’ s death .
Sources
Blackstone , Sarah J . The Business of Being Buffalo Bill : Selected Letters of William F . Cody , 1879 – 1917 . Praeger : New York . 1988 .
Bonner , Robert . William F . Cody ’ s Wyoming Empire : The Buffalo Bill Nobody Knows . University of Oklahoma Press : Norman . 2007 .
Churchill , Beryl G . Dams , Ditches and Water : A History of the Shoshone Reclamation Project . Rustler Printing and Publishing , Cody , Wyoming . 1979 .
Glen I . Newton Sr . Obituary . The Billings Gazette , 8 . 1979 .
Salvatore , Nick . Eugene V . Debs : Citizen and Socialist . University of Illinois Press : Urbana . 1982 .
Warren , Louis S . Buffalo Bill ’ s America : William Cody and the Wild West Show . Vintage Books : New York . 2006 .
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