William Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, was one of the most colorful figures of the American Old West, and mostly famous for the shows he organized with cowboy themes. He got his nickname for supplying Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with bison meat, having won the name from Bill Comstock in a bison killing contest. In addition to his documented service as a soldier during the Civil War and as Chief of Scouts for the Third Cavalry during the Plains Wars, Cody claimed to have worked many jobs, including as a trapper, bullwhacker, "Fifty-Niner" in Colorado, a Pony Express rider in 1860, wagonmaster, stagecoach driver, and even a hotel manager, but it's unclear which claims were factual and which were fabricated for purposes of publicity.Photo credit: Moffett
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