Description

Description: This four-page affidavit details William F. Cody’s (“Buffalo Bill’s Wild West & Pawnee Bill’s Great Far East Combined”) position in relation to the charge brought against him by F. G. Bonfils and H. H. Tammen of The Sells-Floto Show Company, Denver, CO. (Sells-Floto was a dog and pony show and circus owned by Frederick G. Bonfils and Harry H. Tammen. They featured Buffalo Bill’s Wild West during the 1914-1915 seasons). Cody attests that he “never personally borrowed the said sum of money $20,000 of the said plaintiffs . . .”

Cody attests that the initial demands on him of $50/day had been addressed by Tammen who called him “father”: “Just forget it, father, go on and be friends and stay with the show.” Cody claims that he was unaware of the most recent “summons and complaint in any suit brought by Bonfils and Tammens,” until he was contacted by his attorney Henry J. Hersey on June 10, 1916.

Signed affidavit is typed on four pages of 13” x 8½” ivory paper, bearing notary public, George M. Austin’s signature and embossed stamp. Has blue end sheet and all pages are gathered together along the left margin with three brass fasteners. Item #A01856

William F. Cody (1846-1917) served in the Civil War, was an army scout during the Indian wars, and a noted showman. He was nicknamed “Buffalo Bill” after he began supplying buffalo meat to the Kansas Pacific Railroad workers. He founded the Buffalo’s Wild West in 1883, a company he took on tour in the United States, Great Britain, and Europe.

Condition: Has mailing folds otherwise is in very good condition. Comes with a 1982 bill of sale from , now deceased, well-respected Pennsylvania autograph dealer.