| The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a study of the history, structure, personnel, and imagery of Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and its contribution to the formation of the myth of the American West. Between 1882 when Cody began organizing the first Wild West, and 1913 when he finally went bankrupt, the millions of people who saw his show in a dozen countries were exposed to a version of the winning of the West that claimed to be genuine, but was based almost entirely on illusion. Because the image that Americans have of themselves, as well as the image which Europeans have of Americans, is tied to both the reality and the myth of the American West, Buffalo Bill's Wild West, as a principal creator and distributor of the myth, merits study and consideration.;Recently scholars have begun to see population entertainment as a barometer for understanding middle class tastes and attitudes. Efforts are now being made to establish methods of description and evaluation for these forms. This study attempts not only to describe such a form, but to discuss its influence on other entertainment events and on the mythology of a nation.;The dissertation is based on extensive research of the following primary sources: photographs, programs, couriers, route books, and the scrapbooks of newspaper clippings kept by W. F. Cody, Nate Salsbury, Annie Oakley, and Johnnie Baker. The work is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter establishes the social, economic and cultural conditions in the West as the frontier was slowly settled, and also establishes what people in Europe and the Eastern United States were being told about the American West. From this base the dissertation provides a chapter each on the history, logistics, performance events, performers, and management of the Wild West. The final two chapters attempt a semiotic analysis of the Wild West, and a series of conclusions concerning the show. Two appendices provide a chronological listing of programs of events and side shows as well as information on the current location of programs, routes, and rosters. |
