This article was originally published in a winter 1977 Buffalo Bill Center of the West newsletter. A bugle-blowing cavalry charge to rescue two damsels in… Read More
Celebrate the Buffalo Bill Center of the West's Centennial
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West celebrated its Centennial in 2017! Throughout 2017, we shared posts, images, and tidbits about the Center's history. Take a look for some blasts from the past...
Our Founders
William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody was the consummate storyteller and enthusiastic student of history. More than a century ago, as his Wild West played in arenas around the world, Buffalo Bill contemplated his legacy. He dreamed of a new arena that would "teach people by seeing history." For more than 100 years, the Center of the West has nurtured Cody's dream, teaching and sharing the West he loved. With a most sincere thanks to our founders, we enter our second century and continue to share how Cody's dream shapes and defines how the Center celebrates the Spirit of the American West. For more information, enjoy a lecture by the Center's own Peter Hassrick, Director Emeritus and Senior Scholar.
Center History
Since Buffalo Bill's death in 1917 and the founding of our parent organization, the Buffalo Bill Memorial Association, the Center has had several significant milestones and grown to our current complex of five museums and a research library, all inviting you to discover the real and mythic West through art, culture, history, and natural science. Click here for a quick summary of our history.
VIDEO: To learn more about how the Center got its start, check out this video presentation by Jeremy Johnston, our Curator of Western American History.
VIDEO: And find out more about Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, another indispensable person in the history of the Center.
Explore more about our Centennial below.
Story Behind a Painting
The Remington Studio
This article was originally published in a spring 1981 Buffalo Bill Center of the West newsletter. Much of the Western image in the public mind… Read More
Buffalo Bill: Art Collector
This story was originally published by Richard Frost in a winter 1980 Buffalo Bill Center of the West newsletter. Col. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody… Read More
A Charles M. Russell Letter
This piece was originally published in a winter 1976 Buffalo Bill Center of the West newsletter. The letters of Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) are as… Read More
Please, Mr. Custer
This article was originally published in a 1986 Center of the West newsletter and written by former curator Paul Fees. When you say “Custer,” what… Read More
The Printing Press
This article was originally published in a 1983 Center of the West newsletter The most solid emblems of permanence in a western pioneer town were… Read More
Plains Indian Cradles
This article was originally published in a 1977 newsletter and written by Leo A. Platteter. The making of a beautifully decorated cradle was one of… Read More
A Roosevelt Rifle
This article was originally written by Richard Rattenbury and featured in a 1982 newsletter. Theodore Roosevelt, America’s “cowboy in the White House,” was not simply… Read More
The Congress to William F. Cody
This article was originally written by Paul Fees, former Buffalo Bill Museum curator, and featured in a summer 1984 newsletter. William F. Cody, guide, age… Read More