Popular Culture Review Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1993 | Page 59

The Menace of the Wild West Shows

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guaranteeing his future success. A poster for Buffalo Bill's Wild West
in 1898 showed a South American Gaucho, a Mexican Vaquero, a
Cossack, an American Indian, an Arab and an American Cowboy
riding side by side with the promise to exhibit the "Wild Rivalries
of Savage, Barbarous & Civilized Races."^^ American audiences had
little difficulty in comprehending which of the figures represented
the "civilized races." There is evidence that Buffalo Bill planned to
capitalize on racist sentiments in another type of show as well. In a
show called "Black America," Cody hoped to present an exposition on
the history of American slavery.
Mr. Cody said,"Negro humor and melody will in this
show reach the acme of perfection, as we have
engaged a large company of the most celebrated opera
and jubilee singers and each and every member of the
aggregation will possess musical talent, so that the
grand chorus of one thousand voices will be a thrilling
performance." Imagine one thousand Negroes, in
varied costumes, parading and singing in one great
wave of melody, those old plantation songs. Scenes
descriptive of the ante-war period will be presented,
showing the plantation with cotton pickers at work
and the various other phases of plantation life, even
the auction block and the whipping post will be
faithfully shown. 14
Despite the fact that Cody's plan failed, which may have been
solely due to poor management as Salsbury was sickly at the time,
the original concept reveals a very stereotyped image of the Negro as
a musical and comic entertainer. The reporter commenting on Cody's
description of the show displays his bias by focusing on the promised
enactments of plantation life, with the whipping post and the
auction block, potent S)mibols of subjugation, particularly mentioned.
Unlike the Indians, however, the Negro's position in society after the
Civil War improved slightly as more and more Americans became
convinced that the former slaves could benefit by education and
learning.