Offered here is an ancient, 1898-dated cut signature of William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody, the famous America West pioneer who lived from 1946 to 1917. The notable bison hunter, U.S. Army scout, Pony Express rider, Indian fighter, actor and impresario dramatized the American West in his adult heyday through fiction and melodrama. His colorful Wild West show called "Buffalo Bill’s Wild West" evolved into an international institution and made him one of the world’s first global celebrities.
When Cody was just a young boy, his father was stabbed while delivering an antislavery speech and would later die from the wounds. Buffalo Bill then began working for the Russell, Majors & Waddell freight company when he was nine years old to support his family. At age 11, he killed a Native American while defending a cattle drive in the Great Plains, the same cattle drive that would introduce him to "Wild Bill" Hickok.
Buffalo Bill's autograph is super rare in the hobby, and this one is done in slightly smeared black ink. The full signature reads, "W.F. Cody 'Buffalo Bill' 1898". The perfectly rectangular cut piece of paper is is encapsulated authentic by the experts at PSA/DNA.