Frontiersman and entertainer. By the age of fifteen Cody had already been a horse wrangler, pony express rider, and unsuccessful prospector. He became a scout for the Union army and after the war took a job for a company that supplied meat for railroad construction crews, killing 4280 buffalo during 1867–1868. Dubbed “Buffalo Bill” by writer Ned Buntline, Cody organized his famous Wild West Show in 1883 and toured with it with great success for many years. Ink signature, “W. F. Cody, Chicago, Ills,” on a beige 5 x 2.75 slip, clipped from a letter sent to Cody asking him when he first entered show business, and dated December 1872. Light show-through from text and ink mark on reverse and a touch of light soiling, otherwise fine condition. After being a frontiersman, Buffalo Bill entered show business. He toured the United States starring in plays (e.g. Scouts of the Prairie, Scouts of the Plain) based loosely on his Western adventures, initially with Texas Jack Omohundro, and for one season (1873) with Wild Bill Hickok. His part typically included an 1876 incident at the Warbonnet Creek where he scalped a Cheyenne warrior, purportedly in revenge for the death of George Armstrong Custer. R&R COA.
