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INPRIMATU
Buffalo Bill contradictions
  • Born February 26, 1846 William Frederick Cody, an explorer and hunter known as Buffalo Bill, was born. At just 14 years old, he started working at the newly created courier company Pony Express, becoming an expert rider and hunter. He participated in the War of Secession, in the part of the Union. And at the end of the war, he re-explored the Far West for the railway company Kansas Pacific Railroad. That resume made him a hero and a myth, driven by his novelist and friend Ned Buntline. In the last 30 years of his life he took advantage of this fame through the Wild West show (1883).
Nagore Irazustabarrena Uranga @irazustabarrena 2017ko otsailaren 15
Buffalo Billen ikuskizunaren kartela. (Irudia: Rock Island Auction)
Buffalo Billen ikuskizunaren kartela. (Irudia: Rock Island Auction)

Buffalo Bill killed thousands of American bison. The workers of Kansas Pacific were mostly fed bison meats, and Cody achieved spectacular brands in his supply: In just 30 minutes, the Basque Government issued 48 bisontes, compared with the 4,280 that were counted in eight months. This contribution to the extinction of the species gave him the nickname of Buffalo.

The man also killed dozens, especially the Indians. He participated in sixteen wars against them, Ile Hori killed his Cheyenne leader by hand, and in his shows he despised the Bertatis. However, it preached in a number of areas against what it had done in the past. For example, it promoted measures for the conservation of the American bison. He tried to limit and regulate the hunting season. Useless.

He also attempted to disseminate in the media a discourse in defense of the rights of all human beings. In 1898, the journalist at the Milwaukee Journal asked him if he supported women's suffrage and said yes, at a time when most people would respond with a resounding "no." She was hired for the show by Annie Oakley, the most skilled shooter of the time, and also met Calamity Jane. “He writes in big black letters that I am in favour of female suffrage. The men who say that women have to go back to their place make me laugh. Women can do men’s work the same way and should pay them the same.”

Finally, as has already been said, in the Buffalo Bill shows the Indians were always evil, but not in their speech. According to the newspaper Dallas Morning News, “When I attacked the Indians, I was ashamed of my head, and I was remorsed. They had every right to fight us.”