Home: William Frederick Cody

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show Ticket Wagon

Some names are very memorable because of associations with things or events.  Yell "Marco!" in a crowd, and someone will probably holler back "Polo!".  If you use names in association games, "Jesse" will likely prompt "James", "Wyatt" will get you "Earp", and "Buffalo" will get you "Bill".  Buffalo Bill of the Wild West: Buffalo hunter, Pony Express Rider, Indian fighter, Army scout, Congressional Medal of Honor awardee, Wild West Show promoter.  Intrepid hero?  Consummate showman?  Ultimate fraud?  Who knows for sure, probably all of the above, just like most people.

Cody Homestead House - limestone portion is original

William Frederick Cody was born in a log cabin near LeClaire, Iowa Territory, just north of the modern-day Quad Cities on 26 February 1846.  His father Isaac Cody built a handsome house of limestone on a hill in the Wipsinicon River valley of Scott County, Iowa with walnut floors and trim.  The house stands today with some additions and serves as a museum to the Cody family and pioneer families of Iowa.  Although a celebrated native, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody did not spend much time at all here.  The family inhabited this particular house for scarcely a year.

Wooden frame additions to Cody Homestead

Isaac Cody, Bill's father, was a wandering sort.  From 1846-1853, the Cody's lived in four residences in and around LeClaire.  In 1850, Isaac set out for the California gold fields, but came home before he got very far, the reason for which was unknown to William Cody.  Kansas Territory was slated to open for settlement in 1854 and the family sold all of their Iowa properties in 1853 for $2000 (about $60,000 in 2016 dollars).  This may have been precipitated by the death of Samuel Cody, Bill's older brother, in a horse-riding accident.   In 1854, they left for Weston, Missouri, where Isaac's brother Elijah lived.

Bison kept on grounds of the Cody Homestead

Historic homes are interesting for several reasons, including: architectural style; sense of family style; sense of family status; and sense of family priorities.  A home can fill in some of the blank spaces in our picture of an individual.  Only two houses from Cody's boyhood are still in existence: this one and one that was moved from LeClaire to Cody, Wyoming.  Looking at this house, you can see the skill and care used by Isaac Cody to build the house, as it is still standing (with additions and renovations) after almost 170 years.  You also get the feeling that Isaac Cody liked the finer things in life, but was never quite satisfied with what he had, always chasing after the next better thing just beyond his reach.

The Codys in Kansas

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show covered wagon

The move West was a fateful one for the Cody family.  Isaac's brother Elijah was a dry goods merchant and sold goods to emigrants on the Oregon-California Trail and settlers in Kansas at Weston, Missouri and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Territory.  Elijah was also a slave-owner and supported the Border Ruffian cause to bring Kansas into the Union as a slave state.  Isaac originally expressed no strong political convictions, he was in Kansas for material gain.  The family settled in the Salt Creek Valley just north of Ft. Leavenworth (near present-day Kickapoo, KS), an area that was settled primarily by pro-slavery families.  Most people just assumed that Isaac was pro-slavery because they knew of his brother's stance.  When pushed to make a speech about his position at Rively's Store in Salt Creek Valley on 18 September 1854, Isaac tried to walk a fine line:  he was no abolitionist; where slavery was legal it should be left in place; he did not want to see slavery extended to new territories; in fact, he envisioned a white state in which no blacks, slave or free would be welcome.  The speech did nothing to help Isaac's position with either camp, and Charles Dunn, an employee of Elijah Cody's, stabbed Isaac twice in the chest with a Bowie knife, damaging a lung.

Wild West Show Poster

The attack was noted in the 28 September 1854 edition of the Democratic Platform (Liberty, Missouri):  "A Mr. Cody, a noisy abolitionist, living near Salt Creek, in Kansas Territory, was severely stabbed while in a dispute about a claim with a Mr. Dunn, on Monday week last. Cody is severely hurt, but not enough it is feared to cause his death. The settlers on Salt Creek regret that his wound is not more dangerous, and all sustain Mr. Dunn in the course he took. Abolitionists will yet find 'Jordan a hard road to travel!'”  You see that the notion of objective journalism is a fairly recent idea, and already out of style.

Although not active in Kansas politics up to that point, Isaac Cody became more outspoken as a Free Soil supporter and helped establish the Free State colony of Grasshopper Falls (now Valley Falls) on the Delaware River.  The Codys became marked, with pro-slavery men stealing their livestock and property, and threatening to kill Isaac should they find him.  Isaac began splitting time between Grasshopper Falls and the Salt Creek Valley, as the violence in "Bleeding Kansas" increased.  Despite the animosity between settlers in Kansas, the venom did not seem to spread in the Cody family, as Elijah continued to aid his brother and his family through the years.   In 1857, Isaac traveled to Ohio to recruit anti-slavery settlers to Grasshopper Falls.  Epidemics of scarlet fever and mumps broke out among the emigrants and Isaac Cody took ill.  He died of pneumonia at his home on 10 March 1857, his stab wounds listed as a contributing cause of death.  Isaac Cody was buried on Pilot Knob in Leavenworth, Kansas. This event pushed young William to look for work to support the family.  He found gainful employment with Russell, Majors and Waddell driving wagons at age 11.  William Cody was off on his life of adventure, becoming a personage as big as the American West itself.

Getting There

William F. Cody c. 1860

Exit I-80 at Exit 306 (LeClaire/Bettendorf) to US-67 north through LeClaire and Princeton, Iowa.  Turn west onto Bluff Road (CR-F33) just north of Princeton (you cannot miss the signs).  Take Bluff Road to 230th Ave.  Directly in front of you and just to the north will be the entrance to the Buffalo Bill Cody Homestead.  A small log schoolhouse is near the entrance, the house is further up the driveway.

Street Address: 28050 230th Avenue, Princeton, Iowa 52768

Waypoint: Latitude 41.713671 N; Longitude 90.4536868 W

Open every day April-October 9 AM - 5 PM
Admission $2

Just north on US-67 is a nice campground, Rock Creek Marina and Campground.  Turn east onto 291st Street to enter the campground.

The wagons pictured are actually in the Circus World Collection in Baraboo, Wisconsin on the grounds of what was the headquarters and winter quarters of the Ringling Brothers Circus.

Further Reading

An Autobiography of Buffalo Bill Cody

Buffalo Bill Cody Homestead

The Cody Graves in Leavenworth, KS