Sarah J. Blackstone – författare

The Business of Being Buffalo Bill provides new insight into a colorful figure in American history. William F. Cody was interested in developing the American West through irrigation, transportation, and settlement. He invested heavily in development projects such as mining, newspapers, and an entire town, Cody, Wyoming. In his correspondence, Cody discussed his various failures and successes, talked of personal problems, and spoke of his longing to end his show business career and retire to the West he loved. These candid letters present a unique view of Buffalo Bill as a man of many interests and enthusiasms. Containing previously unpublished correspondence between Cody and his business partners, relations, and friends, this volume examines Cody's business endeavors and his personal relationships.

Blackstone focuses on the career of William F. Buffalo Bill Cody during the years in which he organized, promoted, and starred in his celebrated Wild West show. Basing her research on primary sources such as photographs, programs, route books, and scrapbooks of newspaper clippings kept by Cody and other participants in the show, Blackstone provides a vivid history of the famed extravaganza. Included in her discussion are the logistics of touring a huge show, the performers and their origins, semiotic analysis of each performance event, and the treatment of Indians and other minorities. Blackstone also deals with the iconography of the show and the way in which it instilled in the public consciousness a mythic image of the American West that has survived to the present day. Blackstone's conclusions help to put Buffalo Bill's Wild West into proper historical and cultural context. The volume includes numerous photographs, most of which have never been published before, and a bibliography containing original listings of primary source information.