Today’s image was taken between 1895-1905 and features none other than William F. Cody, otherwise known as Buffalo Bill with one of his mounts. They are on the backlot of his Wild West Show in Illinois.
Why We Like It
Even by today’s standards, this photograph is excellent quality, this is a man who clearly loved to be photographed. Cody became a Pony Express rider at the young age of 15 and served the Union during the Civil War. His swaggering nickname came after the war, when he took a contract to supply bison meat (called buffalo back then) for the workers on the Kansas Pacific Railroad. He then proceeded to slaughter thousands of buffalo over two years, earning the Buffalo Bill moniker by winning a shooting contest against another hunter called Bill. His Wild West show days obviously came later in life, but his relationship with horses seemed never to change.