NEGenWeb Project Resource Center
On-Line Library - News
Exhibition of Buffalo Bill Cody
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Major
Frank J. North and Wm.
"Buffalo Bill" Cody - from the days of the Pawnee
Indians Scouts to the Wild West Show, from
"Past
& Present of Platte County NE", a book on Oldtime Nebraska
website
The Genealogy of WF Cody from Oldtime Nebraska website.
Last of the Great Scouts (Buffalo Bill) - produced by Lynn Waterman for Legacy Preservation Society
Image "Buffalo Bill" W. F. Cody from photo collection of Judy Hinman. Second photo (full figure)
Bronco Bill and John Hancock. - "Cowboy interpretors of the the Sioux and Pawnee Indians" - Buffalo Bill's Wild West
North, Major Frank J. (Pawnee Scouts) - toured in the United States with the Wild West show, but died before the group ever went to Britain. Major North was considered "the best shot them all".
Grand Island Independent, June 1884
"Maj. North of Columbus who during
the war was in command of a body of Pawnee Indians, defending our
frontier and who now accompanies Buffalo Bill in one of the
exhibitions at Hartford, Conn., met with a severe accident. The
girth of his saddle broke and he fell to the ground. An Indian who
was riding close behind him, seeing the accident, tried to guide
his pony to oneside. The animal could not be controlled, and one
of his hoofs came down on Major North's back. Seven ribs were
found to have been broken, and there are other internal injuries.
He was removed to the hotel adjoining the park. It is feared that
he cannot live."
Contributed by Kaylynn
The Democrat - Saturday, 14 March 1885, p 5 (Columbus, NE)
"Major Frank North returned to his
home in this city last Wednesday, from New Orleans. The Major was
taken ill at St. Louis on his way home and his illness assumed a
serious aspect by the time he reached Omaha. He was lying quite
low Friday afternoon but toward evening his symptoms become
favorable."
Contributed by Sherri Brakenhoff of Platte County.
NOTE: Major Frank North died the same
day as the above article was printed - 14 Mar 1885, of pneumonia
in Columbus, NE and was buried there. (Appears in 1885 NE census
mortality schedule and cemetery extracts of Platte County,
NE).
Obituary & services for Major North
from Platte County NEGenWeb Project page
Luther H. North (Captain of Pawnee Scouts, brother of Frank North) from "Past & Present of Platte County NE", Oldtime Nebraska site
Reminiscences by Luther North (regarding Pawnee Indians) from NE History and Record of Pioneer Days, Vol III no. 1, Apr-June 1920
"Letter from Captain Lute North" regarding Indian Treaties from NE History and Record of Pioneer Days, Vol III no. 4, Oct-Dec 1920
The Truth About "Wild Bill" - by Herbert Cody Blake, from The American Rifleman magazine, Vol XXV, no 3, March 1927. A comparison of the shooting skills of Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, the North Bros., etc.
Other members of the cast -
Scottsbluff, July 6 (UP) -- Chief Black Hawk, 84, member of the
world famous Bufalo [sic] Bill Wild West Show, died
yesterday in a traffic accident.
Black Hawk was a Sioux Indian from
the Pine Ridge, S. Dak., reservation.
Black Hawk was killed instantly when
s troik [sic] by an automobile on highway 26, foor
[sic] miles east of Scottsbluff. The car in whiih
[sic] he and four other Indians were riding was stopped
for tire repairs. According to the state highway patrol, Black
Hawk alighted from the car and walked into the path of one driven
by George Goss, Minatare farmer.
Black Hawk and h is [sic]
companions were on their way to Cheyenne, Wyo., where they were to
serve as a welcoming party for celebrities attending the Frontier
Days celebration.
Black Hawk was one of the first
Indians to travel with the Buffalo Bill troupe which toured Europe
in the 1890's.
Note:
Above typed from clipping pasted inside the cover of a history
book in the possession of Sherri Brakenhoff (Platte CC). There is
no indication of the year, or the newspaper title.
If you are interested -
Pony Express Home Station (website)
"The Overland Stage to California" by Frank A. Root (book includes information on Pony Express, as well as stage lines)
© 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 for the NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller