This rather splendid statue is in Dennistoun in the East End of Glasgow. It is of Western hero William Cody aka “Buffalo Bill”. Cody came to Glasgow with his wild west show in 1891/1892 and the visits remain in Glasgow’s folklore enough for the above commemoration to have been made a few years ago.
In fact Cody’s manager, in town for the shows, kicked off a friendly match at Celtic Park on New Year’s Day 1892 between the home team and Dumbarton.
A transcription of the old newspaper article is here. The result (0-8) remains Celtic’s record defeat.
Apparently Buffalo Bill’s shows proved so popular in Glasgow that they attracted the biggest crowds for the shows outside the USA.
Here is a clip of the pre-show parade in 1902 although I’m not sure of the location here.
There is a book by Tom F Cunningham which chronicles the visits.
There is an article here about how one artefact from the show donated to the city by Buffalo Bill, a Sioux “ghost shirt” was returned to its rightful owners in 1998.
The Lakota Ghost Shirt
Thanks again Jim J
Filed under: glasgow Tagged: | buffalo bill, celtic, dennistoun statue, dumbarton fc, lakota ghost shirt, william cody
I think the “indistinct” word in the newspaper article is ‘coopering’.
Local urban myth says he came to see the Sons
This was in response to Bill’s enquiry “Where can I look at cowboy outfits while ah’m here?”
He thought he was going to see horses but they were donkeys