ed a whole half-century of dead and dying events, events
the most thrilling and dramatic in American history, naturally stirred
up the interest of the entire country. The actors, too, were historic
characters--no weakling imitators, but men of sand and grit, who had
lived every inch of the life they pictured.

The first presentation was given in May, 1883, at Omaha, Nebraska, the
state Will had chosen for his home. Since then it has visited nearly
every large city on the civilized globe, and has been viewed by
countless thousands--men, women, and children of every nationality. It
will long hold a place in history.

The "grand entrance" alone has never failed to chain the interest of the
onlooker. The furious galloping of the Indian braves--Sioux, Arapahoe,
Brule, and Cheyenne, all in war paint and feathers; the free dash of the
Mexicans and cowboys, as they follow the Indians into line at break-neck
speed; the black-bearded Cossacks of the Czar's light cavalry; the
Riffian Arabs on their desert thoroughbreds; a cohort from the "Queen's
Own" Lancers; troopers from the German Emperor's bodyguard; chasseurs
and cuirassiers from the crack cavalry regiments of European standing
armies; detachments from the United States cavalry and artillery;
South American gauchos; Cuban veterans; Porto Ricans; Hawaiians; again
frontiersmen, rough riders, Texas rangers--all plunging with dash and
spirit into the open, each company followed by its chieftain and its
flag; forming into a solid square, tremulous with color; then a quicker
note to the music; the galloping hoofs of another horse, the finest of
them all, and "Buffalo Bill," riding with the wonderful ease and stately
grace which only he who is "born to the saddle" can ever attain, enters
under the flash of the lime-light, and sweeping off his sombrero, holds
his head high, and with a ring of pride in his voice, advances before
his great audience and exclaims:

"Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce to you a congress of the
rough riders of the world."

As a child I wept over his disregard of the larger sphere predicted
by the soothsayer; as a woman, I rejoice that he was true to his own
ideals, for he sits his horse with a natural grace much better suited to
the saddle than to the Presidential chair.

From the very beginning the "Wild West" was an immense success.
Three years were spent in traveling over the United States; then Will
conceived the idea of visiting England