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Great Writing - Home > Extended > Dakota Diary - Chapter 4
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Extended Work
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| Dakota Diary - Chapter 4 | |
| By jean.day | ||||||||
| 26 September 2008 | ||||||||
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Chapter 4 - Springfield and the Wild West Show We hoped we would be able to get tickets for the 1st of June performance as soon as we got there, as Mr. Lester had said that there had been as many as 7000 at a time attending the shows in Omaha. It seemed very early when we boarded the train south. We had said goodbye to Mr. Lester the previous evening after dinner, but he said that if we came back to Chicago, we should look him up again before we went on to La Crosse. The view was rather boring during the long hot crossing of Illinois. There were farms with crops growing well, but not many trees and not many towns. The first city we came to was called Summit, which was set on a gentle rise between the Chicago and the Des Plaines Rivers. It apparently was an important portage point for Indian tribes over the ages, and Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet used it during their return from the Mississippi in 1672. Now there is a canal in the town, part of the Illinois and Michigan Canal built in 1845. But as a farming community it was important for shipping vegetables from there to Chicago. We were given potted histories of the various towns along the route by other passengers, and we also had a book about Illinois that Mr. Lester had lent us. We were interested in a man called Mr. Paige, who came to Jolliet, from our own county in Wisconsin, and developed a process for bottling flavored drinks under pressure using carbonic acid gas. We bought one of these drinks when the train stopped at Joliet. Soda Pop, it was called, and very refreshing it was, too. Another town we went through was called Lincoln, and we were told it is the only town in the United States which was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president. He practiced law there from 1847 to 1859. The town was officially named on August 27, 1853, in an unusual ceremony. Abraham Lincoln, having assisted with the platting of the town and working as counsel for the newly laid railroad which led to its founding, was asked to participate in a naming ceremony for the town. During the proceedings, Lincoln chose a ripe watermelon from a nearby wagon, broke it open, and squeezed the juice on the grounds, as an informal rite of baptism. Lincoln College was founded in early 1865. News of the establishment and name of the school was communicated to President Lincoln shortly before his death making Lincoln the only college to be named after him while he was living. Finally we arrived in Springfield, the Capitol of Illinois. We knew a bit about its history too. Springfield's original name was Calhoun, after Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. The land that Springfield now occupies was originally settled by trappers and traders who came to the Sangamon River in 1818. The settlement's first cabin was built in 1820, by John Kelly, its site is at the northwest corner of Second Street and Jefferson Street. In 1821, Calhoun became the county seat of Sangamon County; due to the fertile soil, and trading opportunities, settlers from Kentucky, Virginia, and as far as North Carolina came to the city. By 1832, Senator Calhoun had fallen out of the favor with the public and the town was renamed Springfield. The designation was largely due to the efforts of Abraham Lincoln and his associates. In 1837 Lincoln moved to Springfield and spent the next 17 years rising in political importance there. When the American Civil War erupted in 1861, it came as a mixed blessing to the city of Springfield; even though the war took many to battle, new industries, businesses, and railroads were constructed in the city to help support the war effort. Ulysses S. Grant began his Civil War career in the city, marching out of Springfield at the head of a militia on July 3, 1861; Grant would later become President of the United States. We checked into the station hotel, and immediately inquired as to whether we could get tickets. We were in luck, and as it happened, we were told that Mr. Cody, himself, was staying at our same hotel. Feeling that we had nothing to lose, and armed with the knowledge that we had been sent by Mr. Barnum to see him, we inquired at the reception if we might have a few words with him. After several moments he came down to the lobby and we met the legendary Buffalo Bill. He is a handsome man - slim as you would expect from his horse riding expertise - and with skin dark and well weathered. His hair is long and curly and he sports a long handle-bar moustache. He seemed somewhat in a fuss, no doubt with many arrangements yet to be made for the next day’s show, but when he heard that we had been sent by Phineus Barnum, his attitude changed completely. “That old codger. How is he? I can remember the fun we had buffalo hunting together. Have you seen his circus? Of course, you have. Everyone has. Now, you girls must come to the show. You can have complimentary seats in the special tent.” He pulled some out of his jacket pocket and wrote on something on them. “And I would be pleased to talk to you again tomorrow night, after the show, to see what you thought of it all.” Because it would be our only opportunity to see anything of Springfield itself, we walked into the center to view the capitol building. It was built about 15 years ago, and is certainly impressive. Apparently it is the tallest capitol building in the United States. We were just in time to get in to view the main hall. The building is shaped like a Latin Cross. The dome, we were told, is plated in zinc to provide a silver facade that does not weather. Inside the dome is a plaster frieze, showing points in Illinois history, and stained glass windows, with one of them showing the Illinois flag. We had a quick meal at a cafe in the town, and made our way back to our hotel. We had a sound sleep, after all our long day of traveling, and after a hearty breakfast, went outside to await the first aspect of the Wild Show - which was to be a parade - going through town and featuring all the special acts. There were huge posters all over town. We had been told that a field had been made ready - as the booking had been known of for some time - and there were tents there for the performers and animals. There were dozens of buffalo and hundreds of horses for the show. The parade which started at 11 with the Cowboy band, was very exciting and the streets were lined with well wishers. Tickets were not cheap - 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children, but of course, our tickets were free, compliments of Mr. Cody. When 2 o’clock finally came, we made our way to the enclosure. We were each given a free copy of one of the Dime Comics about Buffalo Bill - which had made his already famous in the country. The cowboys on their horses road around and around the ring, firing their pistols into the air (I was assured that they were firing blanks) and the buffalo were driven around too, looking huge and dangerous. According to the programs which we bought at the gate, the official title of the show was The Wild West, Rocky Mountain and Prairie Exhibition. Buffalo Bill last night said we were wrong to call it a “SHOW” because it was all real and true people doing the things they normally did - and not something special that had been made up. The "grand entrance" claimed the interest of all the onlookers. The furious galloping of the Indian braves - Sioux, Arapahoe, Brule, and Cheyenne, all in war paint and feathers; the free dash of the Mexicans and cowboys, as they follow the Indians into line at break-neck speed. Frontiersmen, rough riders, Texas rangers - all plunging with dash and spirit into the open, each company followed by its chieftain and its flag; forming into a solid square, a riot of color. Then a quicker note to the music; the galloping hoofs of another horse, the finest of them all, and "Buffalo Bill," riding with the wonderful ease and stately grace which only he who is "born to the saddle" can ever attain, enters under the flash of the lime-light, and sweeping off his sombrero, holds his head high, and with a ring of pride in his voice, advances before his great audience and exclaims: "Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce to you a congress of the rough riders of the world." The first act was Dr. W.F. Carver, who apparently was a part time dentist but also a marksman who billed himself as an “Evil Spirit of the Plains” the “champion Rifle shot of the World” the “Wizard Rifleman of the West, conqueror of all American and Cynosure of People, Princes, Writers and Kings” and boasted that he played a vital role in wining the West despite any supporting evidence for this claim in the program. The next star was Captain A. H. Bogardus, a trap shooter who billed himself as the Champion Pidgeon shot of America. There were also Mexicans, and Frank North, who worked on the ranch with Buffalo Bill, John Nelson, whose Indian wife and their children intrigued patrons. There were buffalo, elk, deer, wild horses, cattle and a stage coach to add appeal to the program consisting of riding shooting, roping and a “Staring and Soul-Stirring Attack upon the Deadwood Mail Coach.” This was supposedly a true reenactment of an event that happened in Deadwood in the Summer of 1876 when several attempts were made to reach Deadwood by stage from Cheyenne but were turned back due to the danger of marauding Indians following their defeat of Custer at the Little Big Horn. On Sept. 25, however, Dave Dickey brought the first stage into Deadwood. In this show, it was Buffalo Bill who rescues the stage coach after it has been surrounded by Indians. Cody was heralded as the grand marshal for the “Old Glory Blowout.” Cora Sue said, “I heard one reporter say that Cody had out-Barnumed Barnum. I must remember that and report back to Phineus, as I am sure he will be much amused by it.” It was felt, I was told, that this show was so appealing because it demonstrate to Americans that the fight for the Plains was complete and had ended in victory. Why else would the Indians agree to appear as vanquished foes? There were those who questioned the veracity of the acts. But Buffalo Bill insisted that when he advertised pony express riders that they had actually been pony express riders, and that his Deadwood stage had actually seen service on that route. Buffalo Bill said that nobody in his troop was allowed to impersonate Indians, and he himself, only played himself. Another star was little Johnnie Baker, a protégé of Cody, who featured as “The Cow-boy Kid” in feats of marksmanship. The center pieces of the show was the Duel and Custer's Last Stand. The Last Stand starred "Buck" Taylor as Custer. In the production, the circle of soldiers under attack by the Indians gradually became smaller and smaller. At the end when all had been killed, Buffalo Billdramatically appeared, while a rider came out with the following banner, "Too Late!" Bill wore a gaudy vaquero outfit and another act in the show was him shooting and scalping of Yellow Head, which was actually what had happened, partly in retribution for the Little Big Horn travesty. Both Cora Sue and I were dreading this part of the performance, but it was handled well, we though, and not as bloodthirsty as we had been led to expect. One of the reporters sitting near us observed, “It is a bold and original idea, this of mimicking the scenes which have been our country’s blood curdling realities.” We felt that Buffalo Bill’s Wild West was wild enough to suit the most devoted admirers of western adventure and prowess and it made it so much more easy to now understand the dangers which beset and checked the pioneers and whetted their appetite for blood and strife. Lone Wolf, an Indian performer in the show, boasted that he had seven bullets in his body, scars of many fights between the white and Indians. And Buffalo Bill himself claimed to have 137 scars on his body from his fights. I read on a billboard, “This show will write frontier history in blood.” After the show, we made our way back to the hotel. "I have an idea," I said to Cora Sue. "Why don't we each interview one of the stars of the show, and write them up. I could do Buffalo Bill, and you could do Captain Beaugardis, who is his partner." "I couldn't do an interview," said Cora Sue. "Well, you wouldn't tell them it was an interview. You would just ask questions, and remember what they said, and then tomorrow on the way home, we can use our time on the train to write the articles up." "Isn't that dishonest, pretending that you are just talking to someone, but really interviewing them?" "Well, we couldn't write anything that we felt they told us in confidence. But they will be pleased for publicity. Remember Mr. Barnum said, 'Any publicity is good publicity.'" "Well, I will only do it if I can do Buffalo Bill. That other man frightens me. He is so big." "All right, if that is the only way I can get you to agree. But make a list of the questions you want to ask before we go down to supper, and make sure you ask him something that we don't already know." "Let's wear our new blouses we bought the other day." "Well, we were going to use them for a special occasion, and I think this might well count as that."
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