The Buffalo
Bill Ranch
Scout's Rest
North Platte
NE
October 22, 1998
As had happened in
the past, we decided to find a place to stop for the night after
traveling for a day, coming out of Wyoming, heading back to
Cincinnati. We had stayed in Lincoln and had a planned stop near
Omaha. We just needed a night's sleep before moving on. So it was
that we stopped in North Platte. After dinner out, we grabbed
some brochures from a local stand
and perused the contents for anything of interest. This was the
beginning of our introduction to the life and times of William
"Buffalo Bill" Cody and the Scout's Rest Ranch. We drove out to this white-framed house off
US 30 (Rodeo Road) to see what was there. As we stepped through
the front door we were met by the
first of many impressions of this famous man. The full size
mannequin of what he must have looked like as he lead his team of
actors and presenters into the ring of the Wild West show he
created. His trusted Winchester rifle in hand, he made a striking
figure to behold. As we reviewed the many photographs and
memorabilia of this historic figure, it became obvious that he was, in fact, one
of the great American adventurers. From his early days in the
army where he served as a scout, to the days on stage and finally
with his creation of the "Wild West" show, Buffalo Bill
Cody was a showman and performer in every sense. Born in 1846, he
was working by age ll. By the age of
14 he was setting records for long distance rides with the Pony
Express. Once he rode 322 miles in just under 22 hours,
exhausting 20 horses. He joined the Kansas Volunteer Infantry
where he served until the end of the Civil War. In 1866 he
married Louisa Frederici and they had two children. He returned
to government service, working as a scout at Fort Elsworth.
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