Mysteries in the Archives

1910: Buffalo Bill (1x5)

Air date: Jul 31, 2009

Buffalo Bill was, by reputation, the greatest buffalo hunter of all time. His celebrity included a stint as cavalry scout for George Armstrong Custer, the general killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. But film of William F. Cody shot as early as 1894 and through 1916 presents another image of Buffalo Bill. These images reveal his friendly relations with American Indian tribal chiefs. Footage of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, which toured the United States and Europe for more than 30 years, documents its early, considerable influence on a film genre that still fascinates movie goers: the Western.