William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody
| Buffalo Bill | |
|---|---|
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|
| Born |
William Frederick Cody February 26, 1846 Le Claire, Iowa Territory, U.S. |
| Died | January 10, 1917 (aged 70) Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Kidney failure |
| Resting place |
Lookout Mountain, Golden, Colorado 39°43′57″N 105°14′17″W / 39.73250°N 105.23806°W |
| Other names | Buffalo Bill Cody |
| Occupation | Army scout, Pony Express rider, ranch hand, wagon train driver, bison hunter, fur trapper, gold prospector, showman |
| Known for | Buffalo Bill's Wild West shows |
| Spouse(s) | Louisa Frederici (m. 1866) |
| Children | 4 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/ |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1863–1865, 1868–1872 |
| Rank | Private (Chief of Scouts) |
| Unit | Third Cavalry, 7th Kansas Cavalry (Company H) |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War, Indian Wars (16 battles total) |
| Awards | Medal of Honor |
| Signature | |
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William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917) was an American scout, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in his father's hometown in Toronto Township, Ontario, Canada, before the family returned to the Midwest and settled in the Kansas Territory.
Buffalo Bill started working at the age of eleven, after his father's death, and became a rider for the Pony Express at age 14. During the American Civil War, he served the Union from 1863 to the end of the war in 1865. Later he served as a civilian scout for the US Army during the Indian Wars, receiving the Medal of Honor in 1872.
One of the most colorful figures of the American Old West, Buffalo Bill's legend began to spread when he was only twenty-three. Shortly thereafter he started performing in shows that displayed cowboy themes and episodes from the frontier and Indian Wars. He founded Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1883, taking his large company on tours in the United States and, beginning in 1887, in Great Britain and continental Europe.
Cody was born on February 26, 1846, on a farm just outside Le Claire, Iowa. His father, Isaac Cody, was born on September 5, 1811, in Toronto Township, Upper Canada, now part of Mississauga, Ontario, directly west of Toronto. Mary Ann Bonsell Laycock, Bill's mother, was born about 1817 in New Jersey, near Philadelphia. She moved to Cincinnati to teach school, and there she met and married Isaac. She was a descendant of Josiah Bunting, a Quaker who had settled in Pennsylvania. There is no evidence to indicate Buffalo Bill was raised as a Quaker. In 1847 the couple moved to Ontario, having their son baptized in 1847, as William Cody, at the Dixie Union Chapel in Peel County (present-day Peel Region, of which Mississauga is part), not far from the farm of his father's family. The chapel was built with Cody money, and the land was donated by Philip Cody of Toronto Township. They lived in Ontario for several years.
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