A ROYAL WELCOME.
While in the midst of extensive preparations for their opening,
the proprietors of the Wild West received an intimation that the
ex-premier, the Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M. P., proposed honoring them
with a preliminary call. The date fixed for the visit was the 25th of
April, and shortly after 1 o’clock P. M. on that day the distinguished
visitor arrived at Earl’s Court with Mrs. Gladstone, and accompanied
by the Marquis of Lorne (husband of the Princess Louise), attended by
Lord Ronald Gower and Mr. Waller (Consul-General of the United States),
escorted by Nate Salsbury.
The cowboy band welcomed the visitors with the strains of “Yankee
Doodle,” and they were presently introduced to Colonel Cody, who in
turn presented to them the denizens of the encampment. The Grand Old
Man was soon engaged in conversation with Red Shirt, to whom Colonel
Cody had explained that Mr. Gladstone was one of the great white chiefs
of England. Red Shirt was much puzzled by Mr. Gladstone’s inquiring,
through an interpreter, if he thought the Englishman looked enough
like the American for him to believe that they were kinsmen and
brothers. Red Shirt created quite a laugh by replying that “he wasn’t
quite sure about that.” It would be hard to picture the astonishment
of the visitors when the Indians, in full war-paint, riding their
swift horses, dashed into the arena from an ambuscade, and the
enthusiasm grew immense when Colonel Cody placed himself at the head
of the whole body and wheeled them into line for a general salute.
It was a real treat to see the ex-premier enjoying himself like a
veritable school-boy when the lasso, the feats of shooting, and the
bucking-horses were introduced; and when the American cowboys tackled
the incorrigible bucking-horses he sometimes cheered the animal and
sometimes the man. At the conclusion of the exhibition Mr. Gladstone
expressed himself as having been greatly entertained and interested,
and spoke in warm and affecting terms of the instrumental good work
the Wild West had come to do. In a brilliant little speech he proposed
“success to the Wild West Show,” which aroused the enthusiasm of all
present. His demeanor on this and other occasions when he met the
Americans made clear to them the reason of the fascination he exercises
over the masses of his countrymen.
[Illustration: A REDSKIN VILLAGE IN A PALEFACE CITY--LONDON.]
Then for Colonel Cody commenced a long series of invitations to
breakfasts, dinners, luncheons, midnight layouts, and other attentions
by which London society delights to honor a distinguished foreigner.
In addition to many receptions tendered him, he was made an honorary
member of most of the best clubs, notably the Reform Club, where he
was presented to the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, and many
prominent gentlemen. He was afterward a guest at a civic lunch at the
Mansion House, with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress; a dinner at the
Beaufort Club, where that fine sportsman the Duke of Beaufort occupied
the chair; and a memorable evening at the Savage Club, with Mr.
Wilson Barrett (who had just returned from America) presiding, and an
attendance comprising such great spirits as Mr. Henry Irving, John L.
Toole, and others great in literary, artistic, and histrionic London.
At the United Arts Club he was entertained by the Duke of Teck, and
at the St. George’s Club by Lord Bruce, Lord Woolmer, Lord Lymington,
Mr. Christopher Sykes, Mr. Herbert Gladstone, and others. Subsequently
he dined at Mr. Irving’s, Lady McGregor’s, Lady Tenterden’s, Mrs.
Charles Matthews’ (widow of the great actor), Mrs. J. W. Mackay’s, Lord
Randolph and Lady Churchill’s, Edmund Yates’, and at Great Marlow.
These are but a very few of the many invitations he was called upon
to accept during this visit. When Mr. and Mrs. Labouchere gave their
grand garden production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Colonel Cody
was an honored guest. He also accompanied Lord Charles Beresford in
the Coaching Club Parade in Hyde Park, and was prevented by press of
business from accepting an invitation to a mount with the Honorable
Artillery Company of London (the oldest volunteer in the kingdom), in
the parade in honor of her majesty the queen’s birthday.
Considering the fact that the Indians were all new from the Pine Ridge
Agency and had never seen the exhibition, and that 100 of the ponies
came direct from the plains of Texas and had never been ridden or
shot over, it is a wonder how Colonel Cody, with these social demands
made upon his time, succeeded in forming so good an exhibition on the
opening day.
During all this fashionable hurly-burly Colonel Cody received the
following letter:
MARLBOROUGH HOUSE,
PALL MALL, S. W., April 26, 1887.
DEAR SIR: I am desired by the Prince of Wales to thank you for
your invitation. His royal highness is anxious I should see you
with reference to it. Perhaps, therefore, you would kindly make it
convenient to call at Marlborough House.
Would it suit you to call at 11.30 or 5 o’clock either to-morrow
(Wednesday) or Thursday? I am, dear sir,
Yours faithfully,
(Signed) FRANCIS KNOLLYS,
_Private Secretary_.
This resulted in an arrangement to give a special and exclusive
performance for H. R. H. the Prince and Princess of Wales, although
everything was still incomplete, the track unfinished, and spoiled by
rainy weather and the hauling on of vast timbers. The ground was in
unspeakably bad condition. The Prince of Wales being busily occupied
in arranging matters for the queen’s jubilee had but limited latitude
in regard to time, so postponement was out of the question. The royal
box was handsomely rigged out with American and English flags, and
the party conducted into the precincts of the Wild West was a strong
one numerically as well as in point of exalted rank: The Prince and
Princess of Wales, with their three daughters, Princesses Louise,
Victoria, and Maud, led the way; then came the Princess Louise and
her husband, the Marquis of Lorne; the Duke of Cambridge; H. S. H. of
Teck and his son; the Comtesse de Paris; the Crown Prince of Denmark;
followed by Lady Suffield and Miss Knollys, Lady Cole, Colonel Clarke,
Lord Edward Somerset, and other high-placed attendants on the assembled
royalties.
Colonel Cody was introduced by the Prince of Wales to the princess, and
introductions to the other exalted personages followed, in which Nate
Salsbury and the writer were included. This was one of many meetings
between his royal highness and Colonel Cody, and before leaving London
the prince presented to the colonel a very handsome diamond copy of
his crest--the three ostrich feathers mounted in gems and gold--as a
breastpin.
When the prince gave the signal the Indians, yelling like fiends,
galloped out from their ambuscade and swept round the inclosure like
a whirlwind. The effect was instantaneous and electric. The prince
rose from his seat and leaned eagerly over the front of the box, and
the whole party seemed thrilled at the spectacle. From that moment
everything was all right; everybody was in capital form and the whole
thing went off grandly. At the finish an amusing incident occurred. Our
lady shots, on being presented, cordially offered to shake hands with
the princess. Be it known that feminine royalty offers the left hand,
back uppermost, which the person presented is expected to reverently
lift with the finger-tips and to salute with the lips. However, the
princess got over the difficulty by taking their proffered hands and
shaking them heartily.
Then followed an inspection of the Indian camp and a talk between
the prince and Red Shirt. His royal highness expressed through the
interpreter his great delight at what he had seen, and the princess
personally offered him a welcome to England. “Tell the great chief’s
wife,” said Red Shirt with much dignity, “that it gladdens my heart to
hear her words of welcome.” While the ladies of the suite were petting
John Nelson’s half-breed papoose, the prince visited Colonel Cody’s
tent and while there seemed much interested in the gold-mounted sword
presented to Colonel Cody by the generals of the United States Army.
Despite the muddy state of the ground, the prince and his party made an
inspection of the stables, where 200 bronco horses and other animals
were quartered. He particularly gratified Colonel Cody by demanding
a full, true, and particular history of Old Charlie--then in his
twenty-first year--who had carried his owner through so much arduous
work on the plains and who once bore him over a flight of 100 miles in
nine hours and forty minutes when chased by hostile Indians.
[Illustration:
H.R.H. Princess of Countess of Dudley Grand Duchess Serge
Saxe-Meiningen of Russia
H.R.H. Princess of VICTORIA H.R.H. Princess
Wales EMPRESS OF INDIA. Beatrice, Battenberg
Princess Louise H.R.H. Princess Queen of the Belgians
Mary Adelaide
ROYAL VISITORS TO THE WILD WEST, LONDON.]
At 7 o’clock the royal visit, and our first full performance in
England, terminated by the prince presenting the contents of his
cigarette-case to Red Shirt.
A walk around the principal streets of London at this time would
have shown how, by anticipation, the Wild West had “caught on” to
the popular imagination. The windows of the London bookseller were
full of editions of Fenimore Cooper’s novels, “The Pathfinder,” “The
Deerslayer,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Leather Stocking,” and, in
short, all that series of delightful romances which have placed the
name of the American novelist on the same level with that of Sir Walter
Scott. It was a real revival of trade for the booksellers, who sold
thousands of volumes of Cooper, where twenty years before they had sold
them in dozens, while Colonel Prentiss Ingraham’s realistic “Border
Romances of Buffalo Bill” had a tremendous sale. There is no doubt that
the visit of the Wild West to England set the population of the British
Islands to reading, thinking, and talking about their American kinsmen
to an extent theretofore unknown. It taught them to know more of the
mighty nation beyond the Atlantic, and consequently to esteem it better
than at any time within the limits of modern history.
The Wild West having made its début in London, the following comment of
the _Times_ and letters from General Sherman will be appreciated by the
reader:
AMERICAN WILD WEST EXHIBITION.
The American exhibition, which has attracted all the town to
West Brompton for the last few months, was brought yesterday to
an appropriate and dignified close. A meeting of representative
Englishmen and Americans was held, under the presidency of Lord
Lorne, in support of the movement for establishing a Court of
Arbitration for the settlement of disputes between this country and
the United States. At first sight it might seem to be a far cry
from the Wild West to an International Court. Yet the connection
is not really very remote. Exhibitions of American products and
scenes from the wilder phases of American life certainly tend, in
some degree at least, to bring America nearer to England. They are
partly cause and partly effect. They are the effect of increased
and increasing intercourse between the two countries, and they
tend to promote a still more intimate understanding. Those who
went to be amused often stayed to be instructed. The Wild West
was irresistible. Colonel Cody suddenly found himself the hero
of the London season. Notwithstanding his daily engagements and
his punctual fulfillment of them, he found time to go everywhere,
to see everything, and to be seen by all the world. All London
contributed to his triumph, and now the close of his show is
selected as the occasion for promoting a great international
movement, with Mr. Bright, Lord Granville, Lord Wolseley, and Lord
Lorne for its sponsors. Civilization itself consents to march
onward in the train of “Buffalo Bill.” Colonel Cody can achieve no
greater triumph than this, even if he some day realizes the design
attributed to him of running the Wild West show within the classic
precincts of the Coliseum at Rome.
This association of the cause of international arbitration with the
fortunes of the American Wild West is not without its grotesque
aspects. But it has a serious import, nevertheless. After all,
the Americans and the English are one stock. Nothing that is
American comes altogether amiss to an Englishman. We are apt to
think that American life is not picturesque. We have been shown
one of its most picturesque aspects. It is true that Red Shirt
would be as unusual a phenomenon in Broadway as in Cheapside. But
the Wild West, for all that, is racy of the American soil. We can
easily imagine Wall Street for ourselves; we need to be shown the
cowboys of Colorado. Hence it is no paradox to say that Colonel
Cody has done his part in bringing America and England nearer
together.--_Editorial from the London Times_, November 1, 1887.
* * * * *
The following letters were received by Buffalo Bill from Gen. W. T.
Sherman soon after the opening of the Wild West in London.
FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL,
NEW YORK, May 8, 1887.
DEAR CODY: I was much pleased to receive your dispatch of May 5th
announcing the opening of the Wild West in old London, and that
your first performance was graced by the presence of the Prince and
Princess of Wales. I had penned a short answer to go by cable, but
it fell so far short of my thoughts that I tore it up and preferred
the old-fashioned letter, which I am sure you can afford to await.
After your departure in the State of Nebraska I was impatient until
the cable announced your safe arrival in the Thames, without the
loss of a man or animal during the voyage. Since that time our
papers have kept us well “posted,” and I assure you that no one of
your host of friends on this side of the water was more pleased
to hear of your safe arrival and of your first exhibition than
myself. I had, in 1872, the honor and great pleasure of meeting
the Prince of Wales and the Princess Alexandra on board our fleet
in Southampton Bay, and was struck by the manly, frank character
of the prince, and the extreme beauty and grace of the princess.
The simple fact that they honored your opening exhibition assures
us all that the English people will not construe your party as a
show, but a palpable illustration of the men and qualities which
have enabled the United States to subdue the 2,000 miles of our
wild West continent, and make it the home of civilization. You and
I remember the time when we needed a strong military escort to
go from Fort Riley in Kansas to Fort Kearney on the Platte; when
emigrants to Colorado went armed and organized as soldiers, where
now the old and young, rich and poor, sweep across the plains
in palace cars with as much comfort as on a ride from London to
Edinburgh. Your exhibition better illustrates the method by which
this was accomplished than a thousand volumes of printed matter.
The English people always have, and I hope always will love pluck
and endurance. You have exhibited both, and in nothing more than
your present venture, and I assure you that you have my best wishes
for success in your undertaking.
Sincerely your friend,
W. T. SHERMAN.
* * * * *
FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL,
NEW YORK, June 29, 1887.
HON. WM. F. CODY,
London, England.
DEAR CODY: * * * In common with all your countrymen, I want to let
you know that I am not only gratified, but proud of your management
and general behavior; so far as I can make out, you have been
modest, graceful, and dignified in all you have done to illustrate
the history of civilization on this continent during the past
century.
I am especially pleased with the graceful and pretty compliment
paid you by the Princess of Wales, who rode in the Deadwood coach
while it was attacked by the Indians and rescued by the cowboys.
Such things did occur in our days, and may never again.
As near as I can estimate, there were _in 1865 about nine and a
half millions of buffaloes_ on the plains between the Missouri
River and the Rocky Mountains. All are now gone--killed for their
meat, their skins and bones.
This seems like desecration, cruelty, and murder, yet they have
been replaced by twice as many _neat_ cattle. At that date there
were about 165,000 _Pawnees, Sioux, Cheyennes, Kiowas, and
Arapahoes_, who depended on these buffaloes for their yearly food.
They, too, are gone, and have been replaced by twice or thrice as
many white men and women, who have made the earth to blossom as
the rose, and who can be counted, taxed, and governed by the laws
of nature and civilization. This change has been salutary, and
will go on to the end. You have caught one epoch of the world’s
history, have illustrated it in the very heart of the modern
world--London--and I want you to feel that on this side the water
we appreciate it.
This drama must end; days, years, and centuries follow fast; even
the drama of civilization must have an end.
All I aim to accomplish on this sheet of paper is to assure you
that I fully recognize your work and that the presence of the
queen, the beautiful Princess of Wales, the prince, and British
public, are marks of favor which reflect back on America sparks of
light which illuminate many a house and cabin in the land where
once _you guided me honestly and faithfully in 1865-66 from Fort
Riley to Kearney in Kansas and Nebraska_.
Sincerely your friend,
W. T. SHERMAN.