WILD: This Day In History, from History.com, shared that today — in 1872 actually — was the debut of Buffalo Bill Cody in his first stage appearance “in a Chicago-based production of ‘The Scouts of the Prairie.’

“Unlike many of his imitators in Wild West shows and movies, William Frederick Cody actually played an important role in the western settlement that he later romanticized and celebrated.

“During the Civil War, Cody joined forces with a variety of irregular militia groups supporting the North. In 1864, he enlisted in the Union army as a private and served as a cavalry teamster until 1865.”

He earned his nickname in 1867, providing buffalo meat to workers for the Union Pacific Railroad construction. “His reputation for skilled marksmanship and experience as a rapid-delivery messenger attracted the attention of U.S. Army Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan, who gave Cody an unusual four-year position as a scout-a testament to Cody’s extraordinary frontier skills.

“Cody’s work as a scout in the western Indian wars laid the foundation for his later fame.”

He served as a hunting guide for the rich and famous and a hero of Wild West novels before performing became a way of life.

“Once he had a taste of the performing life, Cody never looked back. Though he continued to spend time scouting or guiding hunt trips in the West, Cody remained on the Chicago stage for the next 11 years. Buffalo Bill Cody was the hero of more than 1,700 variant issues of dime novels, and his star shone even more brightly when his world-famous Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show debuted in 1883. The show was still touring when Buffalo Bill Cody died in 1917.”

You may remember we talked about his local connections back in July.