Social Victorians/1887 American Exhibition/Wild West Leaves the US

The Wild West Boards the State of Nebraska and Leaves the U.S.

Related Events

• The American Exhibition, which opened on 6 May 1887

Later Events

• 16 or 17 April 1887: The State of Nebraska arrives in Gravesend.
• 18 April 1887: The State of Nebraska arrives at the port of London.
• 18 April 1887: The "Wild West" show moves to Earl's Court.

The Event Itself

The Wild West Boards the State of Nebraska and Leaves the U.S.

This description comes from Black Elk

Black Elk worked for the Wild West in the U.S. before going to London. He was a teenager and very young man during this time. His story begins with the Wild West show in the U.S., describes the voyage and ends in London. The Wasichus are the white people.

We stayed there and made shows for many, many Wasichus all that winter.

I liked the part of the show we made, but not the part the Wasichus made. Afterwhile I got used to being there, but I was like a man who had never had a vision. I felt dead and my people seemed lost and I thought I might never find them again. I did not see anything to help my people. I could see that the Wasichus did not care for each other the way our people did before the nation's hoop was broken. They would take everything from each other if they could, and so there were some who had more of everything than they could use, while crowds of people had nothing at all and maybe were starving. They had forgotten that the earth was their mother. This could not be better than the old ways of my people. There was a prisoner's house on an island where the big water came up to the town, and we saw that one day. Men pointed guns at the prisoners and made them move around like animals in a cage. This made me feel very sad, because my people too were penned up in islands, and maybe that was the way the Wasichus were going to treat them.

In the spring it got warmer, but the Wasichus had even the grass penned up.l We heard then that we were going to cross the big water to strange lands. Some of our people went home and wanted me to go with them, but I had not seen anything good for my people yet; maybe across the big water there was something to see, so I did not go home, although I was sick and in despair.

They put us all on a very big fire-boat, so big that when I first saw, I could hardly believe it; and when it sent forth a voice, I was frightened. There were other big fire-boats sending voices, and little ones too.

Afterwhile I could see nothing but water, water, water, and we did not seem to be going anywhere, just up and down; but we were told that we were going fast. If we were, I thought that we must drop off where the water ended; or maybe we might have to stop where the sky came down to the water. There was nothing but mist where the big town used to be and nothing but water all around.

We were all in despair now and many were feeling so sick that they began to sing their death-songs.

When evening came, a big wind was roaring and the water thundered. We had things that were meant to be hung up while we slept in them. This I learned afterward. We did not know what to do with these, so we spread them out on the floor and lay down on them. The floor tipped in every direction, and this got worse and worse, so that we rolled from one side to the other and could not sleep. We were frightened, and now we were all very sick too. At first the Wasichus laughed at us; but very soon we could see that they were frightened too, because they were running around and were very much excited. Our women were crying and even some of the men cried, because it was terrible and they could do nothing. Afterwhile the Wasichus came and gave us things to tie around us so that we could float. I did not put on the one they gave me. I did not want to float. Instead, I dressed for death, putting on my best clothes that I wore in the show, and then I sang my death song. Others dressed for death too, and sang, because if it was the end of our lives and we could do nothing, we wanted to die brave. We could not fight this that was going to kill us, but we could die so that our spirit relatives would not be ashamed of us. It was harder for us because we were all so sick. Everything we had eaten came right up, and then it kept on trying to come up when there was nothing there.

We did not sleep at all, and in the morning the water looked like mountains, but the wind was not so strong. Some of the bison and elk that we had with us for the show died that day, and the Wasichus threw them in the water. When I saw the poor bison thrown over, I felt like crying, because I thought right there they were throwing part of the power of my people away.

After we had been on the fire-boat a long while, we could see many houses and then many other fire-boats tied close together along the bank. We thought now we could get off very soon, but we could not. There was a little fire-boat that had come through the gate of waters and it stopped beside us, and the people on it looked at everything on our fire-boat before we could get off. We went very slowly nearly all day, I think, and afterwhile we came to where there were many, many houses close together, and more fire-boats than could be counted. These houses were different from what we had seen before. The Wasichus kept us on the fire-boat all night and then they unloaded us, and took us to a place where the show was going to be. The name of this very big town was London. We were on land now, but we still felt dizzy as though we were still on water, and at first it was hard to walk. (221–224)

The Perspective of Seward, the Law Firm Representing the Show

The Seward law firm has records that suggest that the Prince of Wales was less uncritical than he seems in other versions of this story. According to a history of the firm,

In the fall of 1884 a project for an American Exhibition in London during 1887 was developed by a group of London and Philadelphia promoters. Displays of American agriculture and manufacturing products were to be supplemented by American entertainment. The Seward firm was retained to represent the venture in the United States; and when it was decided that Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show should be the stellar attraction, [William D.] Guthrie was assigned the task of working out the matter with the temperamental Col. William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) and his partner Nate Salsbury. This was a task for which Guthrie would have seemed not peculiarly fitted, but he went West, met Cody, and won his confidence. In the many ensuing quarrels between Cody and the Exhibition, Guthrie was relied upon to calm Cody.

Guthrie incorporated Cody & Salsbury and became one of its directors, as well as a director of the Exhibition.

The venture was a headache. It got off with a bad press on both sides of the ocean, a quarrel with Joseph Pulitzer, of the World, adding to the discouraging publicity which [ 419 / 420 ] gave all the details of Cody's explosive complaints.1 [fn 1 "OLB-63, p. 334, OLB-64, p. 451, WDG to John R. Whitley, Oct. 23, 1886, Feb. 19, 1887; OLB-63, p. 831, WDG to Burnet Landreth, Dec. 18, 1886."] In London an abortive effort to secure the sponsorship of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) proved "a stupendous blunder" and the Duke of Westminster and the Duke of Argyle both withdrew as sponsors.2 [fn 2 "OLB-64, p. 665, WDG to Landreth, Mar. 12, 1887."] When the time came for the Wild West Show to get aboard ship for London the promised advances for the shipping charges were not forthcoming — and Guthrie was able to get the Show on its way only by having the Seward firm make a substantial advance. Finally it sailed:3 [fn 3 "OLB-64, p. 862, WDG to Whitley, Apr. 1, 1887."]

The Wild West Show got off yesterday as I cabled you. The sight was really one which would have delighted you, for the steamer had out all her flags from mast-head to deck, and the dock and the quays were lined with crowds cheering. I never saw such a crowd before at any sailing of a steamer. ... [sic]

Before the Indians went aboard Wednesday afternoon, they all gathered on the dock and formed a circle, and sang some kind of a song. This custom has been frequently referred to in Cooper's novels — that before embarking on a voyage or an expedition, Indians sing and dance. Those who heard them sing said that it was the most melodious chant they had ever heard from Indians. They are all of them fine fellows, have new blankets, new feathers, seem to be in perfect spirits, and, as we left them down the Bay, actually took of their red and yellow blankets and waved them at us. Two or three of them on the upper deck also danced a war dance. ... [sic]

The following is a list of the animals on board which you may need for entry at the Custom House and for a permit to land:

• 166 Horses and mules,
• 14 Buffalos,
• 2 Calf Buffalos,
• 9 Elk,
• 5 Steers,
• 4 Donkeys,
• 2 Cows,
• 2 Deer in Crates.

Guthrie had promised Cody that he would be in London to straighten out any disputes that might arise with the Exhibition — a promise which the management later suspected he had made to get a trip free of personal expense. But Guthrie fell out with Cody and found it "exceedingly disagreeable ... [sic] to have a question of veracity arise."2 [fn 2 “OLB-65, p. 819, WDG to Whitley, Aug. 12, 1887.”] On the liquidation of the Exhibition in 1888 for the benefit of its creditors, the charges of Guthrie for his London trip, as well as the firm's bill for its services, were disputed.3 [fn 3 “OLB-69, p. 60, WDG to Landreth, May 22, 1888.”] In a letter to Linklater's, from whom the business had originally come, the firm gave the details of its troubles and efforts, and besought Linklater's assistance. Its concluding paragraph expressed a policy long adhered to by the firm:4 [fn 4 “OLB-69, p. 105, May 25, 1888.”]

In regard to our taking legal proceedings, we desire to say that under the circumstances we should decline to have any litigation for fees.

The business ended on a sour note when a nasty letter from the London manager referred to his advances for Guthrie's expenses as "gratuities," "douceurs" and "pecuniary kindnesses. Guthrie replied:5 [fn 5 “OLB-69, p. 454, WDG to Whitley, June 22, 1888.”]

However friendly and intimate our relations were for many years nothing whatever could justify the extreme rudeness of your letter ... [sic] [it] really exceeds all limits. (Swaine 419-421)

Who Was Present

The State of Nebraska was a steamer, and the passenger list is a booklet or program called "Passenger List: Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, per Steamer "State Of Nebraska," A. G. Braes, Commander/ For London Direct, March 31st, 1887."

Two lists of crew and cast members exist, one based on this passenger list for The State of Nebraska and the other from a commemorative program for Queen Victoria's Command Performance. The two lists are not identical, and neither has the same number of people listed that was said to have been part of the show. For example, Red Shirt is not listed among the passengers of The State of Nebraska. The passenger list says the ship carried 90 Indigenous people, 113 members of the "Wild West Combination," 22 other passengers (called Saloon Passengers), and the captain, A. G. Braes.

Perhaps not every cast and crew member arrived by way of The State of Nebraska, and perhaps cast changes had occurred before the Command Performance. Probably these are marketing documents not concerned with the levels of accuracy we would want for research purposes.

Bibliography

• Black Elk
• Austin Baldwin and Co. [General Agents], State Steamship Co. "Saloon Passengers per 'State of Nebraska,' Captain A. G. Braes, New York to London, March 31st, 1887."
• Swaine