William Frederick Cody February 26, β January 10, , known as Buffalo Bill , was an American soldier, bison hunter , and showman. One of the most famous and well-known figures of the American Old West , Cody started his legend at the young age of Shortly thereafter he started performing in shows that displayed cowboy themes and episodes from the frontier and Indian Wars.
Buffalo Bill started working at the age of 11, after his father's death, and became a rider for the Pony Express at age During the American Civil War , he served the Union from to the end of the war in Later he served as a civilian scout for the U. Army during the Indian Wars. While he was initially awarded the Medal of Honor in for his actions in the Indian Wars, he was among recipients to have the award rescinded in Congress reinstated the medals for Cody and four other civilian scouts in Cody was born on February 26, , on a farm just outside Le Claire, Iowa.
She moved to Cincinnati to teach school, and there she met and married Isaac. She was a descendant of Josiah Bunting, a Quaker who had settled in Pennsylvania. There is no evidence to indicate Buffalo Bill was raised as a Quaker. Isaac Cody was against slavery. He was invited to speak at Rively's store, a local trading post where pro-slavery men often held meetings.
His antislavery speech so angered the crowd that they threatened to kill him if he did not step down. A man jumped up and stabbed him twice with a Bowie knife. Rively, the store's owner, rushed Cody to get treatment, but he never fully recovered from his injuries. In Kansas, the family was frequently persecuted by pro-slavery supporters. Cody's father spent time away from home for his safety. His enemies learned of a planned visit to his family and plotted to kill him on the way.
Bill, despite his youth and being ill at the time, rode thirty miles 48 km to warn his father. Isaac Cody went to Cleveland , Ohio , to organize a group of thirty families to bring back to Kansas, to add to the antislavery population. During his return trip, he caught a respiratory infection which, compounded by the lingering effects of his stabbing and complications from kidney disease, led to his death in April After his death, the family suffered financially.
