THE AMERICAN WEST

ROMANCE OF THE WEST: THE WILD WEST SHO- After the Civil War, the West was romanticized by dime novels by writers like Ned Buntline and stage shows featuring frontier luminaries such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickock and Texas Jack Omohundro.

- JIM SUPICA, DOUG WICKLUND AND PHIL SCHREIER

Within a few years, traveling open-air Wild West Shows provided live entertainment to millions across this nation as well as Europe. They might feature romanticized reenactments, trick and rodeo riding, wild animals, roping and exhibition shooting. From 1883 to 1913, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows were the first and best known. The show had a number of iterations and spin-offs. Over the years, Cody productions featured performers included Annie Oakley, Frank Butler, Gordon “Pawnee Bill” Lillie and Jack Crawford “The Poet Scout,”

One of the last was the Oklahoma-based Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show. They performed from 1907 to 1927. America’s fascination with the romance of the west continued in Hollywood movies and TV Westerns.

ANNIE OAKLEY

Born in Darke County, Ohio, in 1860, Phoebe Anne Mosey later adopted the stage name Annie Oakley. As a child, she learned to hunt rabbit and quail, which she sold to supplement the family income. She developed a remarkable skill as a marksman, and in five short years, paid offthe mortgage on the family farm with earnings from game that she shot and shipped to market.