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An Autobiography of Buffalo Bill (Colonel W. F. Cody)
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Kindle Edition
,
214 pages
Published
May 17th 2012
(first published 1879)
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Community Reviews
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This is a fantastical read, which makes me take nearly everything Col Cody says with a big pinch of salt. Still, for the larger than life figure Buffalo Bill has become, it is fitting that his autobiography is a tall tale.
About 15 chapters in and I had to give up. This tales are the same, he rolls into a town, is almost attacked by bandits/Native Americans/Confederates and not only manages to heroically save himself, he saves a few damsels that happen to be in distress. All at the age of 10. Lat ...more
About 15 chapters in and I had to give up. This tales are the same, he rolls into a town, is almost attacked by bandits/Native Americans/Confederates and not only manages to heroically save himself, he saves a few damsels that happen to be in distress. All at the age of 10. Lat ...more
Aug 29, 2014
Katherine
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2014-summer-reading
The Life and Adventures of William F. Cody, As Told by Himself, produces a picture of life in the old west. Mr. Cody's writing leaves something too be desired and the tales told, especially once he became employed in the army, were repetitive at best. Many of his tales of hunting buffalo began and ended in the same manner, either with a successful hunt, or with a chase involving an angry band of indians. Very little is spoken of concerning his life off of the plains and the author seems to striv
...more
Getting a Kindle has gotten me into reading much of the 19th century (it's all free, which helps pay for the Kindle).
This one's from 1879, soon after Buffalo Bill had switched from scout and buffalo/Indian slaughterer to theater producer, but a few years before he established his Wild West show.
Cody's an odd bird. From the off-hand way much of the book's written (and I'd presume at least partly ghost-written) I tend to think it's largely truthful (and later accounts by others back this up in mo ...more
This one's from 1879, soon after Buffalo Bill had switched from scout and buffalo/Indian slaughterer to theater producer, but a few years before he established his Wild West show.
Cody's an odd bird. From the off-hand way much of the book's written (and I'd presume at least partly ghost-written) I tend to think it's largely truthful (and later accounts by others back this up in mo ...more
This is entertaining and enlightening. Entertaining because it rattles along from one adventure to another. Buffalo Bill started work before the age of ten, seemingly doing a man's job and getting a man's pay working on "bull trains", hauling freight across dangerous Indian-infested (as they said then) territory. He was also a Pony Express rider. He became a famous army scout and one of the most famous "hunters" involved in the massacre of buffalo, killed frequently just for the fun of it, and h
...more
BB drops the N-word a lot less than David Crockett, which is nice and unexpected coming from a bonafide 19th century plainsman. Crockett would sling a racial epithet as often as some people say "um." Bill on the other hand was a bit more a man of the people. "Autobiographies" like these were common and just as commonly ghost written. Whoever wrote Buffalo Bill's story at least clearly had an education and a command of the language. This makes for a pleasant read.
The other thing I noticed was the ...more
The other thing I noticed was the ...more
The Life of Buffalo Bill: Or, the Life and Adventures of William F. Cody, as Told by Himself by William F. Cody is pretty much what I thought it would be. Above all was Buffalo Bill a showman and this autobiography is tailored for an audience thirsting for the adventures of the now obsolete Wild West. I have read similar works by George Custer and U.S. Grant and I must say that they sounded more factual and realistic as this written record. Exaggeration wouldn't be an overstatement in this book.
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Good read
I always thought of buffalo bill as a showman. this look goes into his life prior to becoming a showman. What a interesting life he lived. Lots of stories and lots of adventures.
I always thought of buffalo bill as a showman. this look goes into his life prior to becoming a showman. What a interesting life he lived. Lots of stories and lots of adventures.
It was good
I liked the whole storyline a whole lot this book was very cool
I would recommend this to cowboy fans of all ages
I liked the whole storyline a whole lot this book was very cool
I would recommend this to cowboy fans of all ages
Dry but informative
The book read like a travel log without the detail that makes for a rich experience. Interesting but somewhat redundant.
The book read like a travel log without the detail that makes for a rich experience. Interesting but somewhat redundant.
Extremely interesting first hand accounts of what it was like taming the American west. Accounts of many, many scouting trips and Indian skirmishes gets a little boring along the way. However, a good American history refresher. If you read this be sure to google and have handy a map of the American frontier that notes all of the American army forts and the major rivers. These are a helpful reference to understand exactly where things were happening. Very well written considering he only had a fe
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Puur jeugdsentiment. Ik was helemaal weg van deze verhalen tussen mijn tiende en dertiende. Bezat er een tiental boeken van.
Mar 11, 2013
Lynn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
a-classic
,
adventure-books
,
autobiography
,
history-books
,
memior
,
non-fiction
,
travel
,
war
William F. Cody writes his autobiography in the typical 19th century style, light talky and not too deep. But he gives a good account of his life and what he did for a living, including Pony Express, Buffalo hunter, scout, performer and other various jobs. He became so famous at the end of his life he hosted a Russian Duke and gave him a taste of a buffalo hunt on the prairie. Since Buffalo Bill is so important to the West, it was good to read his own account and I found it interesting.
Somewhat disappointed in this one. This was written by Buffalo Bill at the point in his life when he was just getting ready to head out to the European stage. A lot of self-grandizing in this book. And, it's troubling that he demonstrated such a cavaliar attitude toward the killing of Native Americans and bison alike. In tems of his relations with Native Americans, he wriates about sitting down with them in peace at one moment, and then shooting them without a second thought the next.
Apr 26, 2012
Chris Johnson
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-i-had-to-read-for-class
,
history
Buffalo Bill may not have written this autobiography but he most likely dictated it to someone. There are so many versions of this out there and it has been revised so many times it is hard to find the truth on Buffalo Bill. This one is about as close as it gets and seems to be fairly well done. I would like to see a version with some annotations but overall it is a good read. Especially if you are interested in the life of a western legend, Buffalo Bill Cody.
At least it goes by fast. I got bored and angry about 2/3 of the way through. It's a historically inaccurate, chest-pounding, hyped up and fanciful depiction of the "wild" west. It shows as much about the intended reader and the general knowledge and gullibility of the state of the world as it does about anything that it depicts. Also it's just boring. I'll reread the Court-Martial of Daniel Boone again instead.
A fascinating look into the blustering life of one of America's great iconic western figures, and a fascinating look at the mores of his times from his perspective. I've heard it said of this autobiography that Cody exaggerated something fierce, but I didn't get that impression from his writings. Exaggeration? Sure, definitely some. But not so much that you don't feel the record is pretty close to authentic.
I have two somewhat contradicting ideas about this one. When confronted with the outrageous falsity of 90% of Cody's personal claims, I'm alternately disgusted and tickled. Buffalo Bill was quite a character, and, as a professor I know says, you get a lot more out of this if you read Cody as the storyteller of the West, binding as one narrative all the exploits he heard in saloons and around campfires.
The life of buffalo bill is a really good book. I like hunting and adventure.this book did exactly that. This was a good combination. I've never been this attached to a book before. I would read this book again and again. This is a good book for people who like the old west, out doors, action, and adventure.
Wow, what a piece of history. It's a autobiography. From farming to scouting and hunting to the stage, it's all there.Comments about peoples at the time. Takes on the Indians. For those interested in the history of the American west, this is a book to read/listen to. (Available free on LibriVox.)
This is an excellent autobiography, giving rich details about Cody's frontiersman lifestyle,his encounters with Indians, and the origin of his nickname. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in American frontier history.
The chapters on his younger days were quite interesting but after he became entangled with the army the stories all seemed to be the same. Glad I read it but would not do it again.
Most interesting. Autubiography written before my parents wre born. Gives me a different picture of the old west.
interesting perspective of life 150 years ago. these guys were Tough!
Fun read. Interesting to hear Buffalo Bill's view of the west and his history.
I was thoroughly surprised by how good this book was.
A great story of a great and fascinating life.
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William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917) was an American soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), in Le Claire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US Army as a scout. One of the most colorful
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More about William F. Cody...
“I am and always have been a friend of the Indian. I have always sympathized with him in his struggle to hold the country that was his by right of birth. But I have always held that in such a country as America the march of civilization was inevitable, and that sooner or later the men who lived in roving tribes, making no real use of the resources of the country, would be compelled to give way before the men who tilled the soil and used the lands as the Creator intended they should be used.”
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“The White Man has taken most of our land. He has paid us nothing for it. He has destroyed or driven away the game that was our meat. In 1868 he arranged to build through the Indians' land a road on which ran iron horses that ate wood and breathed fire and smoke. We agreed. This road was only as wide as a man could stretch his arms. But the White Man had taken from the Indians the land for twenty miles on both sides of it. This land he had sold for money to people in the East. It was taken from the Indians. But the Indians got nothing for it.”
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