Buffalo Bill Museum (Rita Farro)

Learn more about the fascinating Buffalo Bill Museum!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Getting a chance to talk to Rita Farrow, the executive
director Buffalo Bill Museum, and big stuff happening. Rita, thanks again.
We had a little problem with our first interview. Now
we're making sure that we get this second one ready
to go. And there's plenty of reason to be talking
about this because it's a big event near the end
of the month about one of our more famous citizens

(00:23):
that was born in the born in the state of
Iowa before it was the state of Iowa. And it's
Buffalo Bill Cody.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Bufflo Bill Cody born in eighteen forty six, right in Leclair,
and he became in his lifetime Patt And I think
this is amazing, the most recognizable person on the planet. Yeah,
that's our guy.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
And what's so cool about what's going to be happening here.
This is really going to be This event will be
like a throwback to for people to forget the Wild
West shows. I mean, Buffalo Bill was doing this stuff
over in Europe. I think he made eight to ten
over into Europe YEP.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Thirty years and many people. Twenty thousand people would attend
a single show that would be an evening performance. The
estimate is that ten million people saw that show live.
It was amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
And another fantastic thing was that I believe the show
at night. At some point it was the first lighted show,
or at least yeah, lit with electricity.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Electricity became a thing. Of course. He met Thomas Edison
and he played at Madison Square Garden. But the first show,
and I think that was it was around the turn
of the century, nineteen oh eight, was in Hoboken, New Jersey,
and he hired thirty electricians who at the time were
called I think power engineers, and under the lights like
a thousand candle at lights. So yeah, and then he traveled,

(01:48):
they traveled with the show. It was lit up when
they got to Europe. Yep.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
And that brings up another thing too, because we think
about the history of Buffalo Bill Cody, and we think
about this quad this famous well we didn't even have
the quad cities back then when he was born, but
this famous resident. And he was also quite the promoter too.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, and that's how he became famous, of course, was
the Wild West Show. And he traveled with a cast
and I think this is amazing, like fifteen hundred people.
Most of that travel took place on trains, they would
leave after the evening performance, travel in the middle of
the night, get to the next town at five am.
They had their tent set up for breakfast by six thirty.

(02:33):
And I mean they had to make like eight hundred stakes.
They went through thirty dozen eggs. It was his endeavor
was I mean, the more I learned about the guy,
the more amazing than it is. But it was a
well oiled machine.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
And I liked how you described this here when you
talk about that traveling the group that was with him,
the troop, it was like a traveling boom town. Wherever
they were at, you knew there was a lot of
desk being kicked up by Buffalo Bill.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
And I love the group that we have coming to
Leclair on June twenty eighth and twenty ninth, and we're
calling it the Best of the wild West. It's a
group of reenactors from Wisconsin. Wayne Reddick is our very authentic,
very history oriented Buffalo Bill reenactor. But this we did
it last year. We brought it to Cody Elementary and
had two thousand people, which was just an amazing number

(03:22):
for you know, the first time we kind of tried
this and had no idea how it was going to go,
so we're bringing them back this year. But they do.
It's fifty people on horseback, the cowboys. Annie Oakley does
her trick shooting acts and they really do depict many
of those famous acts from the original wild West. This
group is very well considered its history and it is

(03:43):
living history and they just do a wonderful job. They
set up at Cody Elementary School on fourteen acres and
they actually bring boom count so they live in those
tents for four days. They cook over campfires and they
actually live a very authentic they're dressed and period costume.
Even when they're setting up the show, they're you know,
no zippers, no bel crow.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
But they're not letting other people do it with modern tools.
They're setting it up like it would like they would
have done.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
Absolutely. You know, they dig up the side and make campfires.
And I have to make a point that when they're done,
Wayne Reddick are Buffalo Bill. He inspects the grounds and
everything has to be put back exactly as it was.
And last year I heard from the people at Pleasant
Valley when they walked the grounds, they didn't find so
much as a bottle cap out of plate. The day
after the show. So they're really a wonderful group to

(04:34):
deal with, and we have are just delighted to bring
them back for a second year.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
It sounds like they they left the place better than
it was before.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
They can well in their beautiful grounds Cody Elementary. We're
a little concerned this year. Have you and Paul heard
about the traffic jam?

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Pat Well, I know that I know there's a little
bit of construction, and so when you're talking about adding
on that construction headache, it's an under statement, but that
construction certainly is going to cause some issues for people
that are wanting to go over there, right and.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
But we have hopefully well and we have one you know,
the Buffalo Bille Museum sits right on the Mississippi River.
We're right on the levee there Leclair, and our next
door neighbor is the Riverboat Twilight, which they just the
best neighbor any museum could possibly have. But the Twilight
has sponsored last year they shop, they sponsored shuttle buses

(05:28):
to take people from because there's very limited parking up
at Cody Elementary that we recommend you bring your own
chair and you can come down to the levee. We
have two party buses this year, and I love that
quad city party buses. I did request we won't have
neon lights, there won't be poles on it. No Dan too. No, that's.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
That rita that's going to send the wrong image.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
I think. I think you can get on that bus
and carry your your own lawn chair, which we do
recommend people bring their own chairs. But the twilight is
on thor the two shuttle buses, so that's the easiest
way come to the museum. You can get into Leclair
from either direction and if you get down to the museum,
you can get on the shuttle bus. They're going to
run continuously both days, Saturday and Sunday.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
Great and we're making that possible now. Along with along
with the re enactors and the show, you've also got
some music.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yes, and today, well, Angela Meyer is going to be
She's a local country western singer.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
And wait, amazing this country and western country and she
does country and western. What are you talking? She is
a she is a talented musician. We've seen her on
the Mississippi Valley Fair and she's the sweetest lady. Her
husband's great guy too. But she's going to be there.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
Really into Horses.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, So she's going to be our opening concert both
days at eleven from eleven to twelve, Angela Meyer is
going to be singing her or performing right on the
showgrounds that because they come into the Into Code Elementary,
you know, three days prior to the show, and when
they set up their arena, it's one hundred and fifty
feet by three hundred feet. Wow, and so that's all

(07:06):
roped off and fenced.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
I can see, you know what. I can see why
there's no parking because that's taking up all the that's
taking up everything.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Oh yeah, Cody Elementary is such a beautiful location and
we don't use the parking lot. There is some parking
up there. People who are familiar will understand, but we
expect that to be filled very quickly. So then your
really best bet is to take the shuttle bus. But besides, Boomtown,
which takes place on the north side of the arena,
is on the north side of the school all set up,

(07:36):
we have haybale seating. We're bringing in fifteen hundred bales
of hay and we do what we can, but it
just isn't enough for everybody. So we do recommend you
bring law care or blankets, you know. So, but then
on the other side of the school, on the south
side is an actual boom Town. So that's where these
cowboys and reenactors with their horses, they live and eat,
and they live in these very authentic of the Civil

(07:58):
War era canvas tents, and there's a lot of activities
for kids when they go over there. They have like
a panning for gold, and there are cowboy you know
games that kids played at the turn of the century,
wooden toys, there's some. Yeah, So there's a lot of
demonstrations going on in those tents both days. So visit
to Boomtown. You shouldn't miss Boomtown if you come to

(08:20):
the show.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yep, sounds good. Now, will any of the participants in
the in the show? Will they occasionally? Will you find
one sneaking off just to go to McDonald's or do
you think this is all there's strictly.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
Roads construction is going to make that.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
Like, it's fine, you go to McDonald's. They could go
up towards Clinton if they wanted to, you know, but
I'm just the horse. Take the horse back up there,
you know.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
Right up the whole It is so interesting in Buffalo Bill,
when you think about him feeding fifteen hundred people break
to lunch and dinner. So this crew, although it's certainly
of a much smaller scale, but they do get together
on Saturday night and the museum provides we host a
dinner and have permission from the school and the one
activity where we go inside and on Saturday night they

(09:07):
all sit together and eat a meal. And so are sponsors.
This year Modern woodmen Is are presenting sponsor, and of
course in the twilight they sponsored the you know, our
shuttle buses. So the sponsors are invited to eat with
the re enactors. And yeah, so Saturday night there is
a little bit of a galloping gourmet thing happening.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
The galloping Gourmet. Hey, I do think it was interesting
when you talked about Buffalo Bill and providing the meals.
He was a hands on guy.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
Well, he hired chefs, he I mean, this wasn't like
a He hired a professional cater of New York City
who traveled with the show for over twenty years and
they had the he all of that. Yeah, he ate
with his people. I think he was really ahead of
his time in so many ways, Like he paid everybody
the same way. The women of the show, the performers
made the same money as the male cowboys to the

(10:00):
American Indians, so they got paid the same money. And
before he went into every town. I loved this story
that Wayne Reddick told about Buffalo Bill. Again, there was
always an advance team that went in two to four
weeks prior because they had to set up for the groceries,
the bread, the eggs, the beet buying was a big
thing provisions for this show and every community he came

(10:22):
into this is a real economic boom for them. But
he every time they went into the advanced team was
told to go to the orphanage. And at that point
in history, every town had an orphanage and they would
line up. So the children of the orphanage were became
a part of the parade. When the parade came into
town to welcome the show, the kids were up on

(10:43):
the wagons and they were a part of the parade,
and they always had tickets and they were given free
tickets to be in the front row. So yeah, he
was ahead of a sign in many many ways.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
And you know a lot of that too worked out well.
When you start to talk about the promoting end of things,
because I got people excited for what's coming, and then
also being able to give away free tickets would also
encourage more people to come by and just see what's happening.
And when we talk about his Wild West show, it
was it was a little bit of panash, a little

(11:14):
bit of entertainment, but there was also history in this.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Too, and there was a he actually depicted the American
West for the people in Europe had no idea, I mean,
and it was you know, it was called the Wild
West for a reason I don't know, but he when
he went over there, he depicted real scenes from the
history of the West. And because he had been a
real guy, he'd been an Indian, he was an army
scout and then he became a buffalo hunter for the

(11:39):
Kansas Pacific Railroad. And I did think he gets a
bad rap for Okay, he didn't care the buffalo when
he was hunting buffalo in the eighteen fifty late eighteen sixties,
it was to feed the railroad cruise as they were
trying to rush across the continent. They had a lot
of workers who had to be fed, and that was
his job. They paid him to do that, and you know,
there was a competition with another Bill Comstack, and he

(12:02):
came out the winner that day, which is how he
got the nickname. But the real, you know, the horrific
extermination of buffaloes took place in the eighteen nineties, and
that was because they wanted the hide. They were just
hunting for the hide because of the Industrial Revolution back east,
and Buffaloville was not a part of that. By the
by that time he was traveling, he had the Wild
West Show, and he was horrified by what happened to

(12:23):
the buffalo herds at the end of the century.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
And I thought he was a proponent of trying to
make sure that hey, wait a minute, back off on this,
let's try to let them still coexist. I thought he
was a little bit more outspoken on hey, you can't
do that, you can't do what they were doing.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
And he also he did he had a small herd
of buffalo on his farm in Cody, Wyoming, and he did,
at the end of his life considered himself a conservationist,
although I don't think they had that word at that
point in time. But for example, when he traveled the
Lakota Indians were a part of his troop and he
traveled with I mean, the travel was amazing when you
think about five hundred animals, fifteen hundred people in this troop,

(13:03):
and one hundred of those people were Laquota Indians and
they were not only allowed, but encouraged to bring their
families along. They lived in their own tents, They had
their own food that they wanted to eat, which the
chef prepared for them. I mean, there were all kinds
of different people they had to provide food for. At
the end, he became a very United Nations kind of

(13:24):
a show.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
Well, you know, that's the beauty and maybe at times
the unknown factor about how great of a guy Buffalo
Bill was. But when we talk about what's going to
be there on June twenty eighth and twenty ninth, and
again we were talking to Rita Ferrow, the executive director
Buffalo Bill Museum. Buffalo Bill Cody was born at the

(13:47):
time Leclair Territories, Iowa wasn't even a state yet. I
think a year later Iowa became a state. But this
thing initially started off at the museum when we started
to do this thing, and it's grown so big now
that you'll be over at the Cody Elementary School, which
is fitting that it would be over in there.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Absolutely, and he was born in a cabin right across
the road from Cody Elementary.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
That's a nice little symmetry out of all of this
is so wonderful.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
It is wonderful to bring him back his full circle.
This is the biggest fundraiser the museum has all year,
of course, and so it's twenty The tickets are fifteen
dollars in advance for adults, eight dollars for kids, and
then if you wait and buy at the gate, it's
twenty dollars for adults and ten dollars for kids.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
I want to make sure you bring this up again
because it's about selling tickets, it's about making money. But
this is a fundraiser for the museum, it is.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
And when we it's just a perfect fit for us
because it really is doing living history. I mean, I
love because it's at the school grounds. Of course, I
will offer prohibits beer or cigarettes on the ground, and
so it's a very family friendly event. It's a wonderful
thing for grandparents to do with their grandkids. And really
this was the beginning. The Leclair was a jumping point

(15:04):
for that whole settled the west. People came from the
east and they had to cross the Mississippi and they
ended up in Leclair. The museum does a wonderful job
of telling that story early American history, and Buffalo Bill
is certainly a part. He is our most famous sun.
But people are realizing eighteen fifty nine, Pat we had
nineteen mercantile stores in Leclaire, Iowa. Nineteen because when people

(15:28):
were coming from Boston and New York or Cleveland and
they're going west it was the gold Rush, they have
to stopped across the river. Well, they're not going to
buy their supplies on the Illinois side because they have
to raft everything across. There were no bridges, so they
waited till they got on the Iowa side, and hello,
here's Leclaire.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
So in this and look back, look back at what
this was like.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Now.

Speaker 1 (15:49):
The Mississippi River is not like this relatively tame waterway
that we have now. It was completely different. Just to
be able to negotiate it and then to get over there.
For some of them they probably said, Okay, I'm not
going any further, let's stop here. But that's why it was.

(16:10):
It was just amazing talk about it wasn't a boomtown.
But just think of the number of people that thought
about maybe staying right in the Clare. And yet at
the same time it's coming back to where people are
rediscovering the great things that Leclaire has right.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
Now, well Claire does, and I think it's so important.
Angeline Mclair, our founding father had one of the first stairies,
and those pioneer settlers the first they would carry about
their kind of stoga wagon and then they had to
go back to get the horses right two trips. They
had to pay for it.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
So it's just amazing. But again, when we talk about
June twenty eighth and twenty ninth, the Buffalo Bill Best
of the wild West, fifty re enactors, and they'll be
and this is not just people talking about it. These
are people talking the talk and walk in the walk.
When we talk about sharpshooters, trick writers, we're going to
see it all there. Plus not only a Buffalo Bill impersonator,

(17:07):
an Anti Oakley impersonator too.

Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yep, antiop We you know Frank Butler, Anti Oakley's husband,
Texas Jack. So all of the old they were famous
and they were performers in their own rights, and we
are just delighted. Tickets are available on our Facebook page
or our website. They can go to the Buffalo Bill
Museum of Leclair and buy them in advance, and we
just we're hoping for good weather.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
For people buying the tickets. Now, if they wait till
the day of the shows, yep, they can get them.
But the prices do go.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Up, I know. So it's fifteen dollars in advance, twenty
dollars a day of the show, and say for kids
it's eight dollars in advance and ten dollars a day
of the show.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
Okay, now, yeah, we encourage everybody, and now I will
This is one last thing that I asked the other day,
and I want to make sure that we get this in.
If Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Bill Cody came back down June
twenty eighth and twenty ninth and looked at what you
are putting together, what do you think he'd say about that?

Speaker 2 (18:10):
I think Buffalo Bill would be amazed that here we are,
I mean, my gosh, one hundred and seventy eight years
after he was born, in the little town where he
was born, and that we still treasure his story and
honor his life. And yeah, do you know what, I'm emotional,
But I think he'd be really proud.

Speaker 1 (18:28):
That is, when you're kind of doing some backstories on
Buffalo Bill Cody, what's the one thing that maybe you
discovered that maybe most people don't even realize that he
was a part of or he did that nobody gave
him credit for.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
And he was. He was the thing I'm most impressed
with because in my life and career of marketing has
been kind of my focus. He was such a great marketer.
Like the Chicago Exposition, the World's Fair in eighteen ninety three,
you know, they didn't want to let him in because
they were afraid that he would, you know, steal their thumb.
So he said, okay, fine, I mean he just went
boom and opened up his show here blocks away.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
That will teach him well, but promoting and just being
able to want thing to promote, but to move that large,
that expansive roster that he had, not just not just
the cast, but how you got it all over the
country and into Europe.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
I know. And he and he really was a man
of his time who took advantage of every improvement, whether
it was railroads or electric lights, or the way they
served the dinner, the way they cooked the food, the
way they handled the I mean handling the food. He
had he had a big refrigeration truck. That was that
was way ahead of its time, no doubt. Yeah, and
he was. He was he adapted and I think that

(19:48):
I really admire that. But he in a way he
was so ahead of his time, like the way he
paid his performers and the troop, the way he cared
for people, and he at the end he prot like
the the Indians to travel with him. They because he
does get a bad rap, like he was an Indian fighter.
But at the end, and this is that he became
such an advocate and they wanted to travel with him,

(20:11):
they wanted to be a part of the show. He
provided them with employment, money for their families and wanted
them to live their regular life, travel with their families,
live in the tps, honor their customs. So yeah, he
was in a way, he had a big heart. But wow,
he employed a lot of people.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Well I think too that a lot of town. When
you think about anything that we any of us have
done when we were twenty is completely different. Near the
end of our lives, how things have changed. And so
for people that maybe have one perspective or one attitude
of Buffalo Bill, come up to twenty eighth and twenty
ninth and find out maybe a little bit more of

(20:51):
something you didn't know about the man.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
And I think this is the thing to think about
when he every time he entered the stadium for twenty
four years, he played the Star Spangled banner, and that
was how he came in riding a big white horse.
And our show opens the same way. And here's because
the show that's coming to Leclair uses all the original
music from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. It's professionally Corey
wrapped and scripted, and the songs go with the acts.

(21:17):
But here's the thing. That song didn't become the national
anthem until twenty four years after he started using it,
and he is credited with making that. That's the reason
that the Star Spangled Banner became the national anthem of
the United States of America. So there you go. He's
our guy.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
He's a pioneer in a lot of a lot of
different ways and history. You're going to be able to
check it out in person. Toune twenty eighth and twenty ninth.
Again A readA. If you want to tell them the
tickets or how to get the tickets, whyted't you. We'll
wrap up the interview that way. Huh.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
Thank you so much for giving us, for giving me
this opportunity, and the tickets are available right now on
our website, which is the Buffalo Bill Museum of the Claire,
or on our Facebook page. Just go to Facebook and
type in Buffalo Bill Museum of Leclaire Boom ticket.

Speaker 1 (22:04):
I tell you what, Rita I get the second time?
Was the charm for our interview? We want?

Speaker 2 (22:09):
I was?

Speaker 1 (22:10):
I was scaring Rita that I said, well if we
screw it up, well we'll do it a third time,
so we don't. We don't have to do that, Rita, Congratulations.

Speaker 2 (22:18):
We got it done. Thanks again, Pat, this is just wonderful.
Thanks so much for this opportunity. Appreciate it.