Thomas Edwin Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He was Hollywood's first Western star and helped define the genre as it emerged in the early days of the cinema.
Lucille Mulhall was a well-known cowgirl and Wild West performer.
Helen Gibson was an American film actress, vaudeville performer, radio performer, film producer, trick rider, and rodeo performer; and is considered to be the first American professional stunt woman.
Western lifestyle or cowboy culture is the lifestyle, or behaviorisms, of, and resulting from the influence of, the attitudes, ethics and history of the American Western cowboy. In the present day these influences affect this sector of the population's choice of recreation, clothing, and consumption of goods.
Lillian Frances Smith was an American trick shooter and trick rider who joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1886, at the age of fourteen. She was billed as "the champion California huntress," and was a direct rival to Annie Oakley in the show.
John Hartford Hoxie was an American rodeo performer and motion-picture actor whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1930s. Hoxie is best recalled for his roles in Westerns and rarely strayed from the genre.
Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of cowboys, Plains Indians, army scouts, outlaws, and wild animals that existed in the American West. While some of the storylines and characters were based on historical events, others were fictional or sensationalized.
Gordon William Lillie, known professionally as Pawnee Bill, was an American showman and performer who specialized in Wild West shows and was known for his short partnership with William "Buffalo" Bill Cody. In 2010, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
History of rodeo tracks the lineage of modern Western rodeo.
Jay Wilsey was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1924 and 1944. He starred in a series of very low-budget westerns in the 1920s and 1930s, billed as Buffalo Bill Jr.
Jose Barrera became famous as Wild West showman "Mexican Joe". Barrera was reportedly born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1876.
Bee Ho Gray was a Western performer who spent 50 years displaying his skills in Wild West shows, vaudeville, circus, silent films, and radio. While he was primarily known as an expert at trick roping, he was also skilled with knife throwing, bullwhips, trick riding, and the banjo. He wove all of these skills together in a homely comic routine. Throughout his long career, he was constantly compared to Will Rogers, which was befitting, considering the two performers worked together several times and developed their acts together in the early 1900s.
The Miller Brothers 101 Ranch was a 110,000-acre (45,000 ha) cattle ranch in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma before statehood. Located near modern-day Ponca City, it was founded by Colonel George Washington Miller, a veteran of the Confederate Army, in 1893. The 101 Ranch was the birthplace of the 101 Ranch Wild West Show and one of the early focal points of the oil rush in northeastern Oklahoma. It was the largest diversified farm and ranch in America at the time. Bill Pickett's grave and the White Eagle Monument are located on the ranch grounds. The location of the former working cattle ranch was subdivided and all of its buildings destroyed. An 82-acre (33 ha) area of the ranch is a National Historic Landmark. In 2003, the ranch was inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame.
Georgian horsemen were notable participants of the Wild West shows in the 1890s. Billed as Russian Cossacks, the riders from Georgia featured in circuses and shows well into the first half of the 20th century. Their performances, featuring trick riding and folk dance, were extremely popular and exerted significant influence on cowboys in the United States.
William James Ahern was an American vaudeville entertainer at the beginning of the 20th century. He is best known for being part of a comedy duo with his wife, Gladys Reese Ahern. As part of their act, Ahern told jokes and performed rope tricks while his wife, using a Mexican accent, sang and danced.
John Edward Joyce was an American horse trainer. He was colorful figure in the world of horsemanship and animal training, who had nearly a ten-year career with Buffalo Bill on his Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Joyce toured throughout Europe until the late 1920s. He retired in upstate New York and died June 16, 1934.
Show Indians, or Wild West Show Indians, is a term for Native American performers hired by Wild West shows, most notably in Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders. "Show Indians" were primarily Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota. Performers took part in reenacting historic battles, demonstrating equestrianism and performing dances for audiences. Many veterans from the Great Plains Wars participated in Wild West shows, during a time when the Office of Indian Affairs was intent on promoting Native assimilation. Many went on to act in silent films.
Wild Westing was the term used by Native Americans for their performing with Buffalo Bill's Wild West and similar shows. Between 1887 and World War I, over 1,000 Native Americans went "Wild Westing." Most were Oglala Lakota from their reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, the first Lakota people to perform in these shows. During a time when the Bureau of Indian Affairs was intent on promoting Native assimilation, William Frederick Cody used his influence with U.S. government officials to secure Native American performers for his Wild West. Cody treated Native American employees as equals with white cowboys.
Mamie Francis Hafley (1885–1950), born Elba Mae Ghent, was a performer in Wild West shows and rodeos from about 1901 until 1940. She was famous for her daring horse-diving act that involved jumping off a 50-foot tower into a pool of water, for her sharpshooting ability from the back of a galloping horse, and for her high school horse-riding acts.
