Blog Archives

Buffalo Bill Parading through LancasterLancastrians loved William F. Cody, famously known as “Buffalo Bill Cody.” They flocked to outdoor arenas when his “Wild West Shows” came to town, and packed the Fulton Opera House for his premiere in 1873. But when Cody took the Fulton stage in a show about killing Indians on the western frontier, he was standing in the same spot where the Paxton gang murdered the last of the Conestoga Indians 110 years ago. Leslie Stainton, author of Staging Ground, and Jack Brubaker, LNP’s The Scribbler, explore this uncanny connection in this colloquium. Buffalo Bill Cody’s popularity in Lancaster and across the United States said much about the way Americans grappled with the turbulent history of native and non-native American relations in the 19th century.

Leslie Stainton is the author of Staging Ground: An American Theater and Its Ghosts (Penn State Press, 2014) and Lorca: A Dream of Life (Bloomsbury, 1998; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999). A two-time Fulbright award recipient, Stainton holds a B.A. in drama from Franklin & Marshall College and an MFA in dramaturgy from the University of Massachusetts. Jack Brubaker has written The Scribbler, a LNP column exploring the history, culture and humor of Lancaster County, for more than three decades. He has also authored a dozen historical books and magazine articles including Massacre of the Conestogas and Remembering Lancaster County (History Press, 2010).

The colloquium Buffalo Bill in Lancaster will take place on Thursday, May 12, 2016 in Ryder Hall at LancasterHistory.org, 230 N President Avenue, Lancaster. A social gathering will begin at 4pm, followed by the lecture from 4:30-5:30pm. Stainton and Brubaker will be available to sign copies of their various books at 4pm during the social. This event is free and open to the public.