Matthew Kerns
@matthewkerns.bsky.social
Sour and Western Heritage Award-winning author of Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star.
Buffalo Bill had once been the undisputed star of a global phenomenon, but by the twilight of his career, he was a performer in another man’s circus, haunted by the ghosts of his past feuds and failures.
March 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Buffalo Bill had once been the undisputed star of a global phenomenon, but by the twilight of his career, he was a performer in another man’s circus, haunted by the ghosts of his past feuds and failures.
The rivalry between the two became personal, with Carver challenging Cody’s version of events and attempting to outdo him in the show circuit. Carver’s bitterness persisted long after their partnership dissolved, and he spent years trying to compete with the Wild West’s enduring popularity.
March 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM
The rivalry between the two became personal, with Carver challenging Cody’s version of events and attempting to outdo him in the show circuit. Carver’s bitterness persisted long after their partnership dissolved, and he spent years trying to compete with the Wild West’s enduring popularity.
Another significant rift occurred between Cody and Doc Carver, a sharpshooter and showman who initially partnered with him to launch the Wild West spectacle. Carver’s ego matched Cody’s, and their differing visions for the show led to an early split.
March 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Another significant rift occurred between Cody and Doc Carver, a sharpshooter and showman who initially partnered with him to launch the Wild West spectacle. Carver’s ego matched Cody’s, and their differing visions for the show led to an early split.
He went on to accuse Cody of breaking promises: “He becomes so utterly lost to all sense of decency and shame that he will break his plighted word and sully his most solemn obligation.” Even in death Salsbury’s words remained a testament to the bitter dissolution of their once-lucrative partnership.
March 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM
He went on to accuse Cody of breaking promises: “He becomes so utterly lost to all sense of decency and shame that he will break his plighted word and sully his most solemn obligation.” Even in death Salsbury’s words remained a testament to the bitter dissolution of their once-lucrative partnership.
Before his death in 1902, Salsbury documented his grievances in a memoir he never published, referring to his years working with Buffalo Bill as “Sixteen Years in Hell.” He derisively described Cody as a “Tin Jesus on Horseback,” a man with a grand vision but little control over his affairs.
March 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Before his death in 1902, Salsbury documented his grievances in a memoir he never published, referring to his years working with Buffalo Bill as “Sixteen Years in Hell.” He derisively described Cody as a “Tin Jesus on Horseback,” a man with a grand vision but little control over his affairs.
Nate Salsbury was the driving business force behind Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, handling logistics, finances, and promotion. Without Salsbury, the show might not have achieved its enormous success, but the partnership was strained.
March 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Nate Salsbury was the driving business force behind Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, handling logistics, finances, and promotion. Without Salsbury, the show might not have achieved its enormous success, but the partnership was strained.
Tin Jesus on Horseback: Buffalo Bill’s Bitter Business and Personal Feuds
Buffalo Bill Cody was a legend, but legends are not built alone. His rise to fame depended on key business partnerships, yet those partnerships were often fraught with conflict.
Buffalo Bill Cody was a legend, but legends are not built alone. His rise to fame depended on key business partnerships, yet those partnerships were often fraught with conflict.
March 2, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Tin Jesus on Horseback: Buffalo Bill’s Bitter Business and Personal Feuds
Buffalo Bill Cody was a legend, but legends are not built alone. His rise to fame depended on key business partnerships, yet those partnerships were often fraught with conflict.
Buffalo Bill Cody was a legend, but legends are not built alone. His rise to fame depended on key business partnerships, yet those partnerships were often fraught with conflict.
But from the depths of his sorrow, he eventually rose again—returning to politics, becoming a war hero, and ultimately ascending to the presidency.
February 15, 2025 at 6:53 PM
But from the depths of his sorrow, he eventually rose again—returning to politics, becoming a war hero, and ultimately ascending to the presidency.
Roosevelt reacted to the moment by abandoning his political career, withdrawing from New York politics, fleeing west to the Badlands of North Dakota, establishing himself at the Maltese Cross Ranch in Medora, North Dakota, and reinventing himself as a western man—a cowboy.
February 15, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Roosevelt reacted to the moment by abandoning his political career, withdrawing from New York politics, fleeing west to the Badlands of North Dakota, establishing himself at the Maltese Cross Ranch in Medora, North Dakota, and reinventing himself as a western man—a cowboy.
In a private tribute to Alice, Roosevelt wrote:
"She was beautiful in face and form, and lovelier still in spirit; As a flower she grew, and as a fair young flower she died."
"She was beautiful in face and form, and lovelier still in spirit; As a flower she grew, and as a fair young flower she died."
February 15, 2025 at 6:53 PM
In a private tribute to Alice, Roosevelt wrote:
"She was beautiful in face and form, and lovelier still in spirit; As a flower she grew, and as a fair young flower she died."
"She was beautiful in face and form, and lovelier still in spirit; As a flower she grew, and as a fair young flower she died."
But after that devastating day, he never spoke her name again. Not even to their daughter, Alice Longworth Roosevelt, who grew up never hearing her father utter her mother’s name.
February 15, 2025 at 6:53 PM
But after that devastating day, he never spoke her name again. Not even to their daughter, Alice Longworth Roosevelt, who grew up never hearing her father utter her mother’s name.
That night, Roosevelt opened his ever-present diary and, below a simple “X,” wrote:
“The light has gone out of my life.”
“The light has gone out of my life.”
February 15, 2025 at 6:53 PM
That night, Roosevelt opened his ever-present diary and, below a simple “X,” wrote:
“The light has gone out of my life.”
“The light has gone out of my life.”
Just two days earlier, his wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, had given birth to their daughter. Roosevelt, who was at that time a young state assemblyman serving in Albany, was urgently called home to New York City because his mother, Mittie, had fallen gravely ill with typhoid fever.
February 15, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Just two days earlier, his wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, had given birth to their daughter. Roosevelt, who was at that time a young state assemblyman serving in Albany, was urgently called home to New York City because his mother, Mittie, had fallen gravely ill with typhoid fever.
On February 14, 1884, Theodore Roosevelt suffered an unimaginable tragedy—losing both his wife and mother on the same day, in the same house.
February 15, 2025 at 6:53 PM
On February 14, 1884, Theodore Roosevelt suffered an unimaginable tragedy—losing both his wife and mother on the same day, in the same house.
Mdewakanton chief Big Eagle (Waŋbdí Tháŋka) said, “Now he was lying on the ground dead, with his mouth stuffed full of grass, and the Indians were saying tauntingly: 'Myrick is eating grass himself.'”
January 23, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Mdewakanton chief Big Eagle (Waŋbdí Tháŋka) said, “Now he was lying on the ground dead, with his mouth stuffed full of grass, and the Indians were saying tauntingly: 'Myrick is eating grass himself.'”
Among the most despised was Andrew Myrick, a trader who had married a Santee Dakota woman to secure access to the profitable trade with her people. Despite this connection, Myrick became a symbol of cruelty and greed.
January 23, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Among the most despised was Andrew Myrick, a trader who had married a Santee Dakota woman to secure access to the profitable trade with her people. Despite this connection, Myrick became a symbol of cruelty and greed.
On the morning of August 18, 1862, Dakota warriors launched a devastating attack on the Lower Sioux Agency, igniting the Dakota War. For years, the Dakota had endured broken treaties, starvation, and the callous exploitation of corrupt traders.
January 23, 2025 at 11:03 PM
On the morning of August 18, 1862, Dakota warriors launched a devastating attack on the Lower Sioux Agency, igniting the Dakota War. For years, the Dakota had endured broken treaties, starvation, and the callous exploitation of corrupt traders.
This is the last picture of William F. Cody, known to the world as Buffalo Bill, taken as he left Glenwood Springs the week before his death.
January 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
This is the last picture of William F. Cody, known to the world as Buffalo Bill, taken as he left Glenwood Springs the week before his death.
The lasting legacy of the man is immense. There really is an American West, but the version of it in John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies, in Louis L’amour and Johnny Boggs books, in shows like Bonanza and the Lone Ranger is the one William F. Cody created—Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
January 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The lasting legacy of the man is immense. There really is an American West, but the version of it in John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies, in Louis L’amour and Johnny Boggs books, in shows like Bonanza and the Lone Ranger is the one William F. Cody created—Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
Four days later, Buffalo Bill was dead.
If you have never taken the opportunity, I urge you to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, and the Buffalo Bill Grave and Museum on Lookout Mountain, Colorado.
If you have never taken the opportunity, I urge you to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, and the Buffalo Bill Grave and Museum on Lookout Mountain, Colorado.
January 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Four days later, Buffalo Bill was dead.
If you have never taken the opportunity, I urge you to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, and the Buffalo Bill Grave and Museum on Lookout Mountain, Colorado.
If you have never taken the opportunity, I urge you to visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, and the Buffalo Bill Grave and Museum on Lookout Mountain, Colorado.
Not well enough to leave the train due to his declining health, Cody was unable to walk to Evergreen Cemetery & the grave he had generously erected for his friend. As the train pulled out of the station, Cody waved goodbye for the last time to the people of Leadville and to his old pard Texas Jack.
January 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Not well enough to leave the train due to his declining health, Cody was unable to walk to Evergreen Cemetery & the grave he had generously erected for his friend. As the train pulled out of the station, Cody waved goodbye for the last time to the people of Leadville and to his old pard Texas Jack.
As the train pulled in, he told his daughter and his nurse about his old friend Texas Jack, buried across town. Thirty-seven years after his best friend's death, Buffalo Bill Cody still teared up talking about Texas Jack.
January 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
As the train pulled in, he told his daughter and his nurse about his old friend Texas Jack, buried across town. Thirty-seven years after his best friend's death, Buffalo Bill Cody still teared up talking about Texas Jack.
In late 1916, Cody traveled to Glenwood Springs to recuperate from a bronchial infection. Realizing that his health was not improving, Cody boarded a train to Denver to return to his family. On the return ride home, he made a stop at the Leadville station on January 6th, 1917.
January 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
In late 1916, Cody traveled to Glenwood Springs to recuperate from a bronchial infection. Realizing that his health was not improving, Cody boarded a train to Denver to return to his family. On the return ride home, he made a stop at the Leadville station on January 6th, 1917.
Throughout this time, he extolled and showed to the world the virtues of the cowboy, first popularized by his old friend Texas Jack and now acted out on the world stage by the cadre of entertainers in Buffalo Bill’s entourage.
January 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Throughout this time, he extolled and showed to the world the virtues of the cowboy, first popularized by his old friend Texas Jack and now acted out on the world stage by the cadre of entertainers in Buffalo Bill’s entourage.
Traveling to Europe, Cody became the first American superstar and perhaps the most well-known man in the world by the end of his life.
January 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Traveling to Europe, Cody became the first American superstar and perhaps the most well-known man in the world by the end of his life.