Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show: Key Performers and Their Stories

The article profiles six notable performers from Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show, which ran from 1883 for over thirty years. Annie Oakley, born Phoebe Ann Moses, became a star sharpshooter after defeating Frank Butler in a contest; she performed with the show for 16 years, advocating for women's firearm skills. Sitting Bull, the Lakota leader, joined in 1885 after surrendering, earning $50 weekly plus autograph fees, and had a complicated friendship with Cody. Black Elk, a Lakota medicine man, joined in 1886, performed for Queen Victoria in England in 1887, and was stranded in Europe for a year. Giuseppina Morlacchi, a classically trained ballerina from Milan, introduced the can-can to American audiences and fought for performers' rights. Ferris' Satisfied Musical Entertainers, an all-Black 14-piece ragtime orchestra, joined in 1910 but were paid less and performed minstrel acts. Texas Jack (John Burwell Omohundro), a scout and actor from Virginia, co-founded the show with Cody and starred in dime novels before dying of tuberculosis at age 33.