Advertising the Frontier Myth:
Poster Art of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West
A special exhibition on view in our Anne & Charles Duncan Special Exhibition Gallery
Extended through January 12, 2025!
What comes to mind when you think of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West?
Skilled riders on horseback, sharpshooters performing impressive tricks, dramatic reenactments of real and mythic moments in western American history? These and other compelling images were used in Wild West advertisements. They influenced the first—and lasting—impressions of the fascinating spectacle.
Posters of “Marvelous Marksman” Johnnie Baker, range and ranch saddle horses, and a French version of “Attack on the Stagecoach.” 1.69.18, 1.69.2701, 1.69.6022
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West gained and retains its recognition due in part to the popularity of its namesake, but also due to its tremendous marketing success. Cody’s team of marketers, led by Major “Arizona John” Burke, produced countless posters highlighting the presentation’s scale and drama.
Our poster collection now includes more than 300 originals, from smaller posters for window display to enormous billboard-sized works. This special exhibition, Advertising the Frontier Myth: Poster Art of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, invites you to explore the captivating world of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. Be the first to see our finest selections and newest acquisitions.
The exhibition is based on the award-winning book, Art and Advertising in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West (2019), by guest curator Dr. Michelle Anne Delaney of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Advertising the Frontier Myth is on exhibit in the Center’s Anne & Charles Duncan Special Exhibition Gallery through January 12, 2025. The exhibition is supported with partial funding by Wyoming Humanities.
Read our news release announcing the exhibition, Advertising the Frontier Myth: Poster Art of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
Check out Wyoming Public Media’s story about this exciting new exhibition at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
A Sampling of Posters
Featuring posters from the esteemed Jack Rennert Collection, generously acquired through Naoma Tate and the Family of Hal Tate, alongside treasures from the Center of the West’s own extensive holdings, this exhibition boasts more than thirty large-scale vintage posters, original photographs, and engaging interactives. Here is just a sampling of posters.
Posters for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West displayed on billboards and buildings enticed audiences to attend the show. L–R: London, England, 1902; Italy, 1906; Scotland, 1904. MS 392 Harrison H. Gunning Collection, McCracken Research Library. P.392.008, 006, 009
Unique Scenes
These two works show poster art shared between publishers. Can you sleuth out the subtle differences? This “Museum Minute” podcast may help!
A Dramatic Scene
While many of us think of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West as focusing exclusively on scenes about the American frontier, some recreated contemporary scenes. In this “Museum Minute” podcast from Wyoming Public Media’s Olivia Weitz, former Buffalo Bill Museum Curator Jeremy Johnston talks about this poster called “The Military Pageant – Preparedness” from 1916.
Related Exhibitions
Guns of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Performers & Other Cowboy Acts
Best Seats on the Grounds: Behind the Scenes of Buffalo Bill's Wild West
And visit our McCracken Research Library’s Shiebler Family Gallery for Best Seats on the Grounds: Behind the Scenes of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West. Through photograph and manuscript collections, venture behind the scenes of the posters in Advertising the Frontier Myth. Meet the people who inspired the marketing team that made the Wild West famous around the world. And explore backstage life for the performers and the advertising crew.
