This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
The Original Buffalo Bill Contenders Revealed
A Wisconsin born rider, William Comstock, and rival William Matthewson contest the title before Buffalo Bill Cody. Comstock and Cody duel in a famed 1869 buffalo shoot near Fort Sheridan, where Cody wins 69 to 48 amid dramatic stunts. Comstock dies on a walnut creek expedition. Matthewson claims the name earlier. Cody defends his fame as the greatest Buffalo Bill.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Elmo Scott Watson
Buffalo
William F
Gedy
William Frederick
Cody
Buffalo Bill
William Comstock
Phil Sheridan
Southern Plains
Comstock
Wisconsin State Historical Society
University of Wisconsin News Service
Wisconsin
The
State Historical Society
Charles B. Brown
Alfred Q. Barton
Madison
Homer Wheeler
Fifth Cavalry
Comstocks
Fort Wallace
Kaw
Bobbs- Merrill
Wild Bill
Rose Creek
William F. Cody
Fort Ellsworth
Fort Fletcher
Goddard Brothers
Kansas Pacific
Fort Hays
Buffalo Bill Comstock
Buffalo Bill" Cody
Cady
Kansas Pacific Railroad
Fort Sheridan
Coily
St. Louis
Brigham
Lucretia Borgia
Coty
Sheridan
Plains
Walnut Creek
Beecher
Ater
the Arickaree
Colorado
Grover
Europe
America
Richard Z. Walsh
Bobbs Merrill
William Matthewson
Wichita
Matthewson
William Cody
Matithewson
Nanvel
Colrss
Buffalo B
Buffalo Jones
Buffalo Chips
Walsh