William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody was born in LeClaire, Iowa in 1846. While he was still a child, his family moved to Leavenworth, Kansas. Cody left his home in Leavenworth, Kansas, at the young age of eleven.
He herded cattle and worked as a driver on a wagon train, crossing the Great Plains several times.
Cody went on to fur trapping and gold mining, then joined the Pony Express in 1860. After the Civil War, He scouted for the Army and gained the nickname "Buffalo Bill" as a hunter.
Cody’s life in the West offered the stuff from which
legends were made and he soon was popularized in
newspaper accounts and dime novels.
