On 14 April 1887, the SS State of Nebraska steamship entered the Thames and anchored at Gravesend. At a glance, it appeared to be a fairly ordinary ship – but the Nebraska was carrying a most extraordinary cargo. Its passengers included 176 horses, 16 buffalo, nine elk, a Deadwood stagecoach, materials to construct teepees and log cabins; and a cast of cowboys, sharpshooters, musicians, native Americans and Mexican vaqueros – as well as the legendary figures of Annie Oakley and Colonel William F. Cody, aka Buffalo Bill. The Globe newspaper reported from the scene: ‘The living freight on board the State of Nebraska is probably as curious and certainly as mixed as was ever sent afloat. There stood the Redskins, mute and immovable. Haughty in mien, graceful in manner, picturesque in dress, the Red Indians of the Wild West show and the Last of the Mohicans are one and the same.’ After 14 days at sea – two of which were spent being pummelled by a violent storm – the Americans had come to town. Soon everyone would know of Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show – even Queen Victoria.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, thought to be in Italy (Rome), 1890. The show would travel with all the materials they needed to construct a temporary camp for a troupe of up to 800 performers

Long before the American ‘Wild West’ was portrayed on the big screen, Buffalo Bill was capturing the imagination of the world with his touring open-air show. Featuring feats of bravery and derring-do, and showcasing spectacular live action and reconstructed battles, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show was founded by Colonel William F. Cody in Nebraska in 1882. Cody’s name was already synonymous with the Western frontier. Born in Iowa in 1846, by the age of 15 Cody was already a skilled horse-rider, working first as a cowboy and then graduating up to the Pony Express, carrying messages across the country from New York to San Francisco in a horse relay. In 1864 he enlisted in the Seventh Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, working as a scout for General William Sherman, before becoming a buffalo hunter for Kansas Pacific Railroad from 1867 to 1868. It was during this time that Cody would famously kill over 4,000 buffalo, earning him his nickname. His exploits soon garnered the attention of writer Ned Buntline, who would go on to serialise his adventures in print as well as on the stage, with Cody performing as himself in The Scouts of the Prairie (1872) and then Scouts of the Plains (1873). His star turns did not translate to rave reviews from the critics, but he was a hit with the public and his performances were regularly sold out. Cody toured for ten years, before establishing Buffalo Bill’s Wild West – the popular entertainment show that would secure his place in history, as well as in legend.

Having conquered his homeland, by 1887 he had set his sights on European shores – and Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee celebrations would provide the perfect excuse to cross the Atlantic.

Queen Victoria had rarely been seen in public since the death of Prince Albert in 1861 but mounting pressure from politicians and the press saw the ageing monarch reluctantly return to public life again. The Golden Jubilee of 1887 would provide the perfect platform for Victoria to reignite public support and reassert herself as matriarch of the British Empire. The jubilee would see an entire year of celebrations and merry-making, including a royal banquet for 50 foreign monarchs and their families. Victoria later wrote in her diary that ‘the state of excitement & preparation in London was quite marvellous, the only anxiety one felt, was about the enormous number of people, half a million being expected to come into London.’ Street parades were planned; as well as picnics, parties, grand balls and a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey.

Among all the official festivities, the United States sent a large delegation to populate the American Exhibition being held at Earl’s Court in London, in order to showcase the latest agricultural, mechanical and textile inventions from across the Atlantic, as well as artworks and examples of American culture. The event, which was conceived by British entrepreneur John Robinson Whitley, was a privately funded project, with one-third of the capital coming from English sources and the remainder from American investors. With the backing of influential politicians and businessmen, such as Lord Randolph Churchill and his American-born wife Jennie, the event was expected to rival the Great Exhibition of 1851. The centrepiece was to be provided by an acquaintance of Whitley – William Cody, and the spectacle of his travelling Wild West Show. The American press hoped that ‘Buffalo Bill and his comrades, men and beasts, will be a revelation to the Britishers. They are not mere duplicates of the swells of Pall Mall or of the animals in the “Zoo.” They are wildly original and unique. They are redolent of the ranch and prairie…’ (Abilene Reflector, April 1887) The whole of London was urged to ‘“Hail, Columbia,” and wave the Starspangled Banner – for “Yankee Doodle’s come to town” with an unparalleled show.’ (Penny Illustrated Paper, May 1887)

At the risk of upstaging Queen Victoria herself, Cody’s troupe of over 800 people and a vast menagerie of animals drew thousands of curious onlookers when they made their way to Earl’s Court in April 1887. The excitement and furore he achieved with his arrival in the metropolis secured an audience of 28,000 on the opening night. Sharp-shooter Annie Oakley shot a cigar out of her husband’s mouth, as well as ‘throwing up two balls with one hand, and knocking them both to pieces’ (The Era, May 1887), while a stagecoach ‘wended its way across the arena with its teams of oxen and mules, its ancient waggons, and their burden of families and household goods, to be attacked by a tribe of redskins, who were soon repulsed by the ever-ready cowboys’ – headed up by none other than Buffalo Bill himself. The whole performance was given inside an elaborately decorated arena, which included ‘picturesque scenery’ depicting the mountains, rocks and trees of the prairie. The show opened with a grand parade, including ‘various tribes of Indians in their war-paint and feathers, the Mexicans, the ladies, and the cow-boys… with the chiefs of each tribe, the renowned Sergeant Bates, the equally celebrated Buffalo Bill, the stalwart Buck Taylor, and others who were introduced by Mr Frank Richmond, who, from the top of an elevated platform, described the show as it proceeded.’ (The Era, May 1887) Visitors were also treated to a toboggan slide and switch railway in the grounds of the exhibition, which were ‘extremely popular as long as light lasted. At nightfall the grounds were illuminated in every part with innumerable coloured lamps and Chinese lanterns, while Mr Dan Godfrey’s band provided the necessary music’ (Reading Mercury, May 1887).

Queen Victoria was not present on the opening night, but it wasn’t long before news of the spectacular attraction reached the monarch. The Prime Minister, William Gladstone, had already visited the exhibition – specifically the Indian campsite, where he spoke with Red Shirt, the Chief of the Sioux tribe, in front of the world’s press. Gladstone enquired ‘what he thought of the British and Americans as brothers, to which the cautious aborigine re-joined that he “had not noticed the brotherhood to any great extent”’ (Duluth Daily News, July 1887). It wasn’t the last time Red Shirt would say the wrong thing at the wrong time, as we shall see.

On 11 May, Queen Victoria made the journey to Earl’s Court for a private viewing of the show that had taken London by storm. A special royal box was erected, with a crimson velvet dais decorated with orchids. The show went off without a hitch; the Queen recorded later in her diary that ‘All the different people, wild, painted Red Indians from America, on their wild hare backed horse, of different tribes, cowboys, Mexicans, etc. all came tearing round at full speed, shrieking and screaming, which had the weirdest effect. An attack on a coach, and on a ranch, with an immense deal of firing, was most exciting, so was the buffalo hunt, and the bucking ponies, that were almost impossible to sit. The cowboys, are fine looking people, but the painted Indians, with their feathers, & wild dress (very little of it) were rather alarming looking.’ The ‘alarming looking’ Red Shirt was presented to the Queen and Princess Louise as part of the proceedings, with rather unfortunate consequences, as the Duluth Daily News reported:

“Red Shirt, of the Wild West show has ‘put his foot’ into it again. After the performance in London before Queen Victoria and Princess Louise, he was presented to her majesty, and under the genial influence of the royal favour, thawed out oratorically. He said that he had ‘come a long way to see her majesty. He had heard of the great mother, but never expected to see her.’ He was glad to see ‘the squaw who was bigger than any man.’ As Victoria’s proportions are by no means of the spirituelle order, Red Shirt’s flow of compliments was cut short at this point by a nudge from Hon. Mr. Cody.”

Fortunately, Buffalo Bill appears to have made up for this social gaffe by making a favourable impression on the monarch – she would later recall that he was ‘a splendid man, handsome and gentlemanlike in manner.’ But one particularly remarkable event would stay in the minds of all those who attended – especially the American contingent. It is thought that as the American flag went past the Royal Box, the Queen bowed as an acknowledgment to the banner, followed by the rest of the royal party who removed their hats and bowed while Cody’s troupe saluted. Cody later claimed that it was the first time since the American Declaration of Independence that a British monarch had recognised the star-spangled banner, symbolising an end to any animosity between Great Britain and America. It may have been an audacious piece of verbal PR on behalf of the American party, since none of the contemporary press reports record this momentous moment – but the transatlantic visitors had certainly caught the public imagination. The Penny Illustrated Paper would even go so far as to ‘offer the hand of cordial friendship to our brethren from across the Atlantic… to cement the natural alliance that ought to exist between Britain and the United States. Blood is thicker than water. We are kith and kin. Let us foregather, and become firmer friends yet.’ And so, the ‘special relationship’ came into being – a legacy that exists today.

The ‘special relationship’ wasn’t the only legacy from the American Exhibition – so too was the country’s obsession with all things ‘cowboy’. Buffalo Bill would go on to tour the country in 1891–2 and again in 1902–1904, visiting all the major cities such as Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow, thrilling audiences with his charisma and showmanship. His vision of the American West lived long in the public memory, influencing fairground entertainment, toys, souvenirs – and later, children’s magazines. His commercial appeal was legend – or as John Robinson Whitley observed, ‘every bit as much a genuine product of American soil as Edison’s telephones and Pullman’s railway cars.’ A true American, in every sense of the word.