The Wild West Hits Manistee, 1898
On this day in history—July 18, 1898—the streets of Manistee, Michigan, were anything but ordinary. Buffalo Bill Cody, the legendary frontiersman turned showman, rolled into town with his world-famous Wild West Show, bringing with him a spectacle the likes of which the locals had never seen. Thousands gathered from near and far, crowding steamboats, trains, and streets to get a glimpse of the man, the myth, and his traveling band of sharpshooters, horsemen, and international performers.
William F. Cody was born in 1846 in the Iowa Territory and earned his nickname “Buffalo Bill” after reportedly killing more than 4,200 buffalo in just eight months while supplying meat to Union Pacific Railroad workers. A Civil War veteran, scout, and Indian Wars participant, Cody’s larger-than-life frontier tales became favorites of dime-store novels. But it was in 1883 that he took his fame global, founding Buffalo Bill’s Wild West—an extravagant live show celebrating (and romanticizing) the American frontier.
Buffalo Bill Came to Town
By the time the show arrived in Manistee in 1898, it was a well-oiled machine of tents, trains, dynamos, and dazzling performances. An article from the Manistee Daily News gives us a vivid account of the day: three massive trains pulled into town at 9 a.m., unloading hundreds of horses, wagons, and workers. In no time, a 14,000-seat main tent was raised, complete with electric lighting. Spectators flooded into town by every means of transportation available—steamboats, trains, even by foot.
The 10 a.m. parade was a show in itself, weaving through the city streets with Buffalo Bill at the helm. Behind him came cowboys, Native American riders, Arab horsemen, Cuban soldiers, and even German cavalry—truly a global gathering under the Wild West banner. Mounted bands played, flags flew, and the crowd cheered as the procession passed through a “living channel of humanity.”
The afternoon and evening performances included dramatic re-enactments like the stagecoach hold-up and rescue, stunt riding by Arab and Native American performers, and a massing-of-the-nations finale that brought the audience to their feet. Buffalo Bill himself took center stage, the heroic rescuer of the American West.
Piece of History
And believe it or not—a piece of that history resurfaced more than a century later when a construction crew uncovered a poster from the 1898 show on the side of a building in 2021.
Buffalo Bill toured with his show until 1906 and died in 1917 at the age of 70. His legacy, though complex, continues to captivate imaginations as a symbol of American mythmaking and spectacle.
So, the next time you hear the words “Wild West,” tip your hat to the man who brought it to life for millions—and who once turned a quiet Michigan town into the most exciting place on earth, if only for a day.
Learn more about the rich history of the Northwest Lower Peninsula.
