page_title: Wild West shows
section_title: Performers
hierarchical_section_title: Wild West shows / Performers
caption_attribution_description: English: Photographs show large group of Native Americans mounted on horseback during a wild west show at the Pan-American Exhibition, Buffalo, N.Y.
context_page_description: Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of cowboys, Plains Indians, army scouts, outlaws, and wild animals that existed in the American West. While some of the storylines and characters were based on true events, others were fictional or sensationalized. Native Americans in particular were portrayed in a sensationalistic and exploitative manner. The shows introduced many western performers and personalities, and romanticized the American frontier, to a wide audience.
context_section_description: Wild West shows contained as many as 1,200 performers at one time (cowboys, scouts, Indians, military, Mexicans, and men from other heritages), and a large number of many animals including buffalo and Texas Longhorns. Some of the recognizably famous men who took part in the show were Will Rogers, Tom Mix, Pawnee Bill, James Lawson, Bill Pickett, Jess Willard, Mexican Joe, Capt. Adam Bogardus, Buck Taylor, Ralph and Nan Lohse, Antonio Esquibel, Capt. Waterman and his Trained Buffalo, and Johnny Baker. Johnny Baker was nicknamed the "Cowboy Kid" and considered to be Annie Oakley's boy counterpart. 
  Some notable cowboys who participated in the events were Buck Taylor (dubbed "The First Cowboy King"), Bronco Bill, James Lawson ("The Roper"), Bill Bullock, Tim Clayton, Coyote Bill, and Bridle Bill.
  Women were also a large part of Wild West shows and attracted many spectators. One such performer was Annie Oakley who first gained recognition as a sharpshooter when she defeated Frank Butler, a pro marksman at age 15, in a shooting exhibition. She became an attraction of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show for 16 years. Annie was billed in the show as "Miss Annie Oakley, the Peerless Lady Wing-Shot".
  Calamity Jane was another distinguished woman performer. Calamity Jane was a notorious frontierswoman who was the subject of many wild stories- many of which she made up herself.  In the show, she was a skilled horsewoman and expert rifle and revolver handler. Calamity Jane appeared in Wild West shows until 1902, when she was reportedly fired for drinking and fighting.
  Other notable females in the business were Tillie Baldwin, May Lillie, Lucille Mulhall, Lillian Smith, Bessie and Della Ferrel, Luella-Forepaugh Fish, the Kemp Sisters, and Texas Rose as an announcer.
  "Show Indians" - actors largely from the Plains Nations, such as the Lakota people - were also a part of Wild West shows. They were hired to participate in staged "Indian Races" and what were alleged to be historic battles, and often appeared in attack scenes attacking whites in which they were encouraged to portray "savagery and wildness". The shows "generally presented Native people as exotic savages, prone to bizarre rites and cruel violence." The Native women were dressed in "exploitative", nontraditional clothing such as men's headdresses and breastplates, combined with immodest attire like leather shorts, none of which would have ever been worn in reality. They also performed what was billed as "the Sioux Ghost Dance".
  Chief Sitting Bull joined Cody's Wild West show for a short time and was a star attraction alongside Annie Oakley. During his time at the show, Sitting Bull was introduced to President Grover Cleveland, which he thought proved his importance as chief. He was friends with Buffalo Bill and highly valued the horse that was given to him when he left the show.
  Other familiar Native Americans names who performed in the show were Red Cloud, Chief Joseph, Geronimo, and the Modoc War scout Donald McKay.
caption: A large group of Native Americans mounted on horseback during a Wild West show at the Pan-American Exhibition, Buffalo, N.Y. c.1901
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