WILD BILL AND EBEN LOCKE MASON, JR.

In the 1870s, Buffalo Bill Cody had opened a new play called Scouts of the Plains to take advantage of Easterners' fascination with the exploits of the frontier. One of the characters in the play was Wild Bill Hickok, who was justifiably famed as a lawman and sharpshooter. To play the part of Wild Bill Hickok, Cody was able to recruit a reluctant Hickok, always short on cash, to come East and play himself. Though panned by critics, the play was a smash hit in New York.

He was hailed as something of a celebrity as the well-dressed gunfighter strode to and from the theater on Broadway near Prince Street. Inside Niblo's Garden, during performances, the audience was witnessing up close not one but two heroes of the American West, detailing their most dangerous and thrilling adventures. A few of them were actually true.

"The crowds were not put off by the sketchy acting and poor dialogue. 'The money was flowing in,' Louisa Cody recalled. 'Bad as the "stars" knew their play to be, it was what the public wanted, and that was all that counted. Week after week they played to houses that were packed to the roofs, while often the receipts would run close to $20,000 for the seven days. It was more money than any of us ever had dreamed of before.'

"Hickok felt like he was risking his integrity and dying a bit with every performance because he became further convinced that acting was a foolish occupation. One night, hoping to escape attention, he took one of his real pistols and shot out the spotlight that had been fixed on him. The audience applauded the dramatic reality of the production as well as Hickok's famous marksmanship.

When they realized that Hickok gave a more natural and compliant performance after a few shots of whiskey, they encouraged imbibing before the curtain went up -- until one night. One scene had Wild Bill, Texas Jack, and Buffalo Bill passing around a bottle as they sat at a campfire offering stories about adventures on the Great Plains. Fed up with the iced tea the bottle contained, Hickok suddenly spit it out and shouted, 'You must think I'm the worst fool east of the Rockies that I can't tell whiskey from cold tea!' He then called offstage for someone to bring him a bottle of real whiskey.

"The audience cheered in agreement. A bottle was produced, and Wild Bill took a long pull and then told a story as casually as if he'd been sitting at a gaming table in an Abilene saloon. That was the good news. The bad news was from that night on, Hickok wanted whiskey before and during each performance.

To read the complete article, see:
WILD BILL MAKES HIS NEW YORK ACTING DEBUT -- 5/22/20 (https://delanceyplace.com/view-archives.php?p=4111)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
EBENEZER LOCKE MASON, JR. (1826-1901) (https://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n37a18.html)
DIME NOVELIST NED BUNTLINE (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n12a20.html)

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