It an idea born not so much from inspiration as desperation.
Beginning in 1883, William F. (Buffalo Bill) Cody’s famed Wild West stage spectacular had been playing to sold-out audiences around the world. The was show featured historical legends such as Sitting Bull and sharpshooter Annie Oakley and included dramatic reenactments of Pony Express rides, an attack on the Deadwood stagecoach, and a spectacular grand finale with buffalo, elk, deer, wild horses, and steers stampeding with cowboys and Indians.
But by 1913 the crowds began to dwindle, and Cody was forced to declare bankruptcy and auction off props from the show. Audiences had turned to a new form of entertainment — silent films, and here the famed showman saw an opportunity for financial recovery.
Cody was no stranger to movies, having appeared in several short films through an association with Thomas Edison that began shortly after the inventor introduced moving pictures. But this time he knew that only something bigger and more extravagant would generate the profit he needed.
THE IDEA
After securing a $50,000 investment from the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, and the owners of the Denver Post and Kansas City Post newspapers, Cody approached the United States government with the idea to shoot historical reenactments of the last battles fought between United States troops
