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THOUSANDS SEE THE WILD WEST. __________
The Ducal Party and the Naval Officers Divide Honors with the Show.
In the rebound of the masses from the closed gates of the Exposition more than 18,000 persons found their way into the big wooden pavilion of the Wild West show to witness its afternoon performance. The congress of rough riding was in session before 3 o'clock, opening with a grand review that took the shine of all the three ring circuses extant. Miss Annie Oakley had broken a basket full of glass balls with her rifle, and a cowboy in buckskin had won a spectacular race in the arena against a Cossack, a Mexican and a Choctaw in war paint, when there was a commotion in the great grand stand crowd. The Cossack was disappearing through a distant mountain that was painted on canvas when the ducal party arrived. The Duke of Veragua, the Duchess, their son, the Hon. Christobel Colon y Aguilera, Dupuy de Lomi, the Spanish Commissioner, and Commander Dickins entered and were shown seats in a box by Manager John M. Burke.
As they took their places a great many of the spectators arose out of respect to them. This courtesy was returned by the Duke, who bowed and smiled blandly right and left. Then he gave his eyes to the sights in the big arena. A pony post-rider delivering the mails, a train of prairie schooners allowing itself to be attacked without fatalities by marauding Indians and a group of Syrian horsemen, each had its turn in amusing the descendants of Columbus. Then the visiting naval officers, in a party of seventy, entered the amphitheater a nd attracted much attention. In this party were Admiral E. G. Howard, short and blonde in a dark cape coat; Admiral Magnaghi, and Capt. Whtie of the English Royal Marines. The modest citizens' attire of the officers was in striking contrast with the gorgeous gold
Chicago Tribune May 8/93.
lace which they wore Saturday. But all the time during their entrance the cowboys were lassoing horses and setting the spectators wild with their evolutions on bucking horses. A dozen Cossacks mounted on yellow ponies paraded around the enclosure singing a weird native human which had all the swing and charm of "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay." Many persons were inclined to believe that the two airs were identical. At all events the song of those red-gowned Cossacks seemed to be the original version of the popular tune, and before the gentlemen from the Caucasus had ended their musical ride the man who has been charged with having written "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay" was proven an impostor.
Somewhat later, when the Deadwood mail coach was captured by a band of red men, the Duke seemed touched with emotion. He acknowledged that is approached a Spanish bull fight in its life and action, but he seemed disappointed that the lineal heirs of the men whom his great-grandfather discovered should be engaged in the disreputable business of robbing a mail coach.
The military evolutions of the cavalrymen gave occasion for a company of United States troops to ride up before the Duke's box and salute him. He arose and bowed in return. Again, when Buffalo Bill had given an exhibition of marksmanship, he dismounted, walked to the Spanish box, and, doffing his broad white hat, bowed to the Duke and Duchess, who received him warmly. His smile thereafter was so broad that he missed some of the glass balls that were tossed into the air as targets.
When the Wild West show was ended the ducal party entered carriages and were driven back to the city. The visiting naval officers before returning to their tally-ho coach, visited the first lunch counter they met on Sixty-third street, and ate a luncheon of doughnuts and coffee. The children of the Duke are this week going to inspect the quarters of Buffalo Bill's congress and see how rough riders live. Last night's exhibition of the Wild West was attended by about 2,000 spectators.
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May 16/93. Chicago Globe
Buffalo Bill's Indians took a look over the Fair grounds yesterday. They created considerable excitement themselves, dressed up in their savage toggery.
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Chicago Record 5/93
INDIANS DO HOMAGE.
BESTOW ROSES ON THE DUCHESS
The Scion of Columbus Honored by the Sons of the Aborigines- Buffalo Bill and His Savages Exhibit Before the Nobles.
The Duchess of Veragua bowed very low to receive a large cluster of roses from the hands of Johnny Burke No Neck. He wore his little war-bonnet with bright-tipped feathers. Around his body was a red blanket. The loose
(IMAGE) PANEL IN AGRICULTURAL BUILDING.
leggings were gay with buckskin fringe and on his feet were beaded moccasins. For a Sioux boy only 8 years old Johnny was very warlike. His coarse, black hair floated rather wildly around his eyes and some one had given him a smear of yellow paint across the nose. When the
(IMAGE) PANEL IN AGRICULTURAL BUILDING.
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Chicago Record
Buffalo Bill's wild west show at 63d street and Stony Island avenue continues an immense attraction. Performances are given every day in the week at 3 and 8 p. m.
May 9/93.
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Chicago Times 5/9
Buffalo Bill's Big Show.
The exhibitions of the great Wild West at Sixty-third street, opposite the world's fair, constantly grow in public favor and the enthusiasm of the spectators is unbounded. The character of the entertainment is so unique, its various features so realistic, and as an entirety it is so practically illustrative of the scenes, incidents, and people who inhabit the prairies and mountains of the far west that it is not suprising that it has already become a fixed and powerful
world's fair attraction. The Wild West is unprecedented as an attraction that introduces the identical characters of whom it tells. The Indians that take part in the entertainment are the very ones who were prominent in the stirring scenes of the frontier; the horses they ride are veritable untamed western products, and the scenes they enact have been actual occurrences. The Cossacks, Arabs, Mexicans, and cowboys are not imitators, but are the genuine articles, and the military are actial enlisted members of the different corps they represent. Last, but the most prominent of all, is Col. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), whose record as scout, guide, and hero of the plains is attested by the highest military authority, and whose history is part of the history of the early days of the great wild west. The vast arena is crowded at every performance, there being two each day, no matter what the character of the weather.
Chicago Times May 9/93