Past Exhibition Cody to the World! Celebrating 100 years at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West June 3, 2017 – February 4, 2018 The year of William F. “Buffalo […]
Centennial
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.
Centennial Spotlight: A Glimpse of the Center’s Past
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West—a complex of five museums and a research library dedicated to sharing the colorful, rugged ways of the American West—celebrates its year-long Centennial. From […]
Centennial History Contest winners
In celebration of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s centennial year, the Center hosted a Centennial History Contest. The contest theme was Taking a Stand in History in the […]
The Great Equestrian Statue Race – Points West Online
Originally published in Points West magazine in Spring 2007 The Great Equestrian Statue Race: Theodore Roosevelt and the Efforts to Memorialize Buffalo Bill By Jeremy JohnstonErnest J. Goppert Curator of […]
Center of the West Centennial Year highlighted by symposia
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West is celebrating its Centennial throughout 2017. Along with events, programs, and posts highlighting the past one hundred years and looking ahead to the […]
Celebrate our Centennial all year!
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West observed our Centennial in 2017! We shared the celebration of our first 100 years on this Centennial page. The Centennial blog includes posts, images, and […]