Buffalo Bill Writes Out and Signs His Famous Wild West Motto, “True to Friend and Foe.”
Signed as Cody and Buffalo Bill in the year he expanded his show.
One of the most colorful figures of the Old West, Buffalo Bill became famous for the shows he organized with cowboy and western themes, and which toured in Great Britain and Europe as well as the United States. Audiences were enthusiastic about seeing a piece of the American West.
In 1893 Cody...
One of the most colorful figures of the Old West, Buffalo Bill became famous for the shows he organized with cowboy and western themes, and which toured in Great Britain and Europe as well as the United States. Audiences were enthusiastic about seeing a piece of the American West.
In 1893 Cody changed the title to "Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World". The show began with a parade on horseback, with participants from horse-culture groups that included US cavalry and other military, American Indians, and performers from all over the world in their best attire. Turks, Gauchos, Arabs, Mongols and Georgians displayed their distinctive horses and colorful costumes. Visitors would see main events, feats of skill, staged races, and sideshows. Many historical western figures participated in the show. For example, Sitting Bull appeared with a band of 20 of his braves.
Cody's headline performers were well known in their own right. People such as Annie Oakley and her husband Frank Butler did sharp shooting, together with the likes of Gabriel Dumont. Performers re-enacted the riding of the Pony Express, Indian attacks on wagon trains, and stagecoach robberies. Some of the shows were said to end with a re-enactment of Custer's Last Stand, in which Cody portrayed General Custer.

Buffalo Bill's now famous motto, coined prior to his entrance in a show in 1883, was "True to Friend and Foe," a phrase he would occasionally write out for admirers.
Autograph quotation signed, 1893, the year he expanded his Wild West Show, measuring approximately 4.5 inches by 3 inches. "True to friend and foe, W.F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill," 1893."
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