Popular Culture Review Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1993 | Page 60

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Popular Culture Review

. . . The Nation and other magazines contrasted the
treacherous character of the Indian with the Negro's
genial temperament. Words and phrases such as
"fiendishness," "brutal torture," and the killing of
innocent whites by "hearth and home," frequently
occurred in recountings of Indian actions on the
frontier.
Some people speculated that greater
sympathy existed for blacks because they were more
necessary than the Indian to society, esp>ecially in the
South. Besides, in the South blacks and whites lived
in close contact a nd it was claimed that natural
human sympathies developed. In contrast, Indians
were isolated from all but a fraction of white
Americans, who only knew about them from news
accounts, stories and magazine articles. Negroes
seemed to be making more progress than Indians,
partly because they were trying more.^^
Other attempts Buffalo Bill made to satiate the public interest in
seeing their nationalistic dreams and aspirations vilified were more
successful. Fortified by its demonstration of strength in having
"tamed the untanable" on its own continent, the United States began
to look further afield for new wildernesses. In a rapid succession of
events, the country quickly became involved in Cuba and the
Phillipines, spurred by an enthusiasm to share "the American way"
and, not uncoincidentally, prove the assertion of American pxjwer and
dominance. The year after the Spanish-American War, Cody added
"The Battle of San Juan Hill" to the program, employing sixteen of
Teddy Roosevelt's "Rough Riders." Pageants displaying Cubans,
Filipinos and Hawaiians were added to represent the "new islands."
In respxjnse to a growing awareness of European unrest, the theme of
military preparedness became an important asptect of American life.
In the same way that many private lodges and organizations such as
the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of Pythias had begun to
spx)nsor drill teams, so too did Buffalo Bill add militaiy and artillery
exhibitions as integral parts of the performances. The theme of the
show expanded far beyond the original confines of the Wild West,
although these elements always remained a part of the show. As the