William Cody "Buffalo Bill" Billboard from 1878 Discovered in Jamestown, NY
Images: Copyright 2002 Civic Center Development Corp. Use of images is prohibited without the express written permission of the Civic Center Development Corporation. To contact the CCDC call: 664-2465 ext. 202.
"A wall came down and a historic treasure emerged", according to Sue Jones, President of the Reg Lenna Civic Center and the Civic Center Development Corporation in Jamestown, NY.An exterior brick facade wall came loose from a building owned by the Civic Center Development Corporation on the corner of Third St. and Pine St. in Jamestown, NY, and was about to collapse. To ensure public safety, the wall had to be taken down before it collapsed. The board and staff felt devastated by the task and the costs ahead. The construction crew removed the last of the bricks on Thursday, 6/6/02. As they did so, they discovered that the wood sheathing behind it had a 26'x10' billboard on it advertising a William Cody (Buffalo Bill) show in Jamestown. A member of the crew from Fiske and Sons, recognized there was something important there, stopped the work, and contacted Keith Schmitt, Acting Director of the Arts Council.
"We knew we had to act quickly," said Mr. Schmitt. "Some of the pieces were already coming away from the wall and blowing away".
With help from several volunteers, Keith Schmitt and Kurt Moore , owner of Chautauqua Visuals, photographed and recorded as much information as possible. They collected and temporarily stored the pieces that were removable.
The approximately 24 inch square individual wood block prints form a billboard announcing the show "Buffalo Bill in his new theatrical drama.... May Cody". The images under these words include that of a young Buffalo Bill, waving his hat to an admiring crowd and 2-3 prancing horses and a mule. The billboard announces a performance of this show at the Allen Opera House on March 14, 1878.
The largest single image that was still glued to the exterior wooden wall is approx. 8' x 3.5" showing a man standing, holding a rifle. Research identified him as John Nelson, a "mountain man" who had a major role in the show.
After the bricks were removed, the wall was covered with tarps to protect the prints and was uncovered briefly only for conservation purposes. Even slight breezes were causing damage to the fragile 124 year old paper.
Karen Livsey, from the Fenton Historical Society, did some quick research and found that the performance being advertised was of a 6th anniversary tour of "The Buffalo Bill Combination", an early theater troupe that was organized by and starred William (Buffalo Bill) Cody. Ms. Livsey located copies of the newspaper advertisements in advance of the show titled "May Cody— as well as reviews of it.
The text on the billboard describes this drama as "depicting the true nature of life among the Mormons". It goes on to mention the Mountain Meadow Massacre, an incident that occurred in September, 1857, during the Mormons' early settlement in Utah.
"It is interesting that this billboard was found at this time because the Mountain Meadow Massacre has been in the news in the past few years, since a monument has been erected at the site and extensive research has been done recently concerning this incident—, said Karen Livsey. She went on to say that this drama played in Jamestown the year following the execution of John Lee, who had been convicted in relation to the Mountain Meadow Massacre.
"Buffalo Bill's drama was a relatively fresh news story played out on the stage", Ms. Livsey pointed out.
The performance advertised in this billboard was presented in 1878 in the Allen Opera House, which at that time, according to Ms. Livsey's research, was located where the present Reg Lenna Civic Center is today. That original Allen Opera House burned down and was later rebuilt on Second Street on the site of today's Little Theater.
William Cody's show business career was launched in 1872 by famed dime novelist, Ned Buntline. The following year Buffalo Bill began his own theater troupe, The Buffalo Bill Combination, which toured the country for ten years, until 1883, when he began the Wild West Show. This era has been documented in a recent book titled "Buffalo Bill, Actor: A chronicle of Cody's Theatrical Career" written by Sandra Sagala of Erie, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Paul Fees, historian and former curator of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY., concurred that this billboard is from very early in Cody's theatrical career. According to Dr. Fees, the image of John Nelson is rare as Mr. Nelson is usually referred to only in text. The name across the bottom of the large poster is "Cha-Sha-Sha-O-Poceo", the Lakota name of John Nelson, who joined the Buffalo Bill shows about the time of this appearance in Jamestown. Dr. Fees referred to John Nelson as "a fascinating historical character." Buffalo Bill prints from the 1870's in general are very rare
C. Wesley Cowan, from CowanŒs Historic Americana Auctions, examined the pieces of the billboard now in storage and verified that they are "among the earliest graphic representations of Buffalo Bill known to exist." After viewing the Buffalo Bill material and touring the restored Reg Lenna Civic Center, he said, "You folks are doing all the right stuff!"
Pat Anzideo, Secretary of the Reg Lenna Civic Center Board , contacted a number of accredited paper conservators. Laura Schell, a graduate of SUNY College at Buffalo's Conservation Program and a free-lance conservator, was hired to begin conservation of the paper. The first step in the process was to get the paper off the wall in a way that stabilized the fragments and thus affording the time needed to deal with other conservation issues. Mrs. Schell provided a full condition report in writing following her initial visit on June 15, with recommendations about conservation. This condition report is an important element in further consulting with historians and appraisers. Ms. Schell returned on June 22 to remove the remaining portions of the billboard, primarily text.
Ms. Schell describes the billboard as having been done with a block printing process which uses consecutive blocks cut to allow the registration of multiple colors. Red, black, yellow and green have already been identified. "More colors may be discovered following cleaning of the poster," she said.
"The material in the poster is brittle and prone to breakage," she went on. "The state of degradation is not unexpected after some 100+ years, especially when considering that the poster was formed as ephemera and not originally intended for longevity. Fortunately, the paper was not exposed to the elements for most of its history."
The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation assisted in paying the fee for the emergency work done by Mrs. Schell. The remainder of the funds were supplied through private donations.
Prior to the poster's removal, the entire mural was thoroughly photographically documented by Kurt Moore of Chautauqua Visuals and videotaped by Michael Flaxman from the Arts Council Board of Directors.
After being removed from the wall, the pieces of the poster were temporarily stored in boxes specially constructed by Mr. Flaxman from materials donated by Jamestown Container Corp.
"The effort to save these historical items has been a demonstration of the best kind of community cooperation", said Ms. Anzideo. "So far the arts organization has received invaluable help from Chautauqua Visuals, Fenton Historical Society, Alltel, Jamestown Container Corp., Prendergast Library, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, Chautauqua Institution, and several volunteers in identifying and securing the pieces of the billboard."
"We feel we have done the right thing in relation to this historically significant piece of Americana", Sue Jones added. "Instead of just covering it over again we are doing our best to preserve it so that as many people as possible can enjoy it in the future."
Unlike some other antique items, antique print historians and other experts encourage the restoration of paper because this kind of printed material not only because it responds to restoration remarkably well but also because, unless it is stabilized it will continue to deteriorate.
Buffalo Bill was one of the earliest users of the multi-sheet billboard type advertisements, and did much to popularize their use.
As additional information is gathered, it will be posted on the online site maintained by the Arts Council: BigSplat.net. The website now includes photographs, taken and owned by the Arts Council, showing the location of the mural when it was found, the process of removing the prints from the wood, and closeup views of some of the prints.
"This has all happened so fast the Civic Center Development Board has not had time to consider what we will do with the poster. We are still collecting information about conservation, value, and historical significance," Mrs. Jones said.
On a hot, sunny day, one member of a volunteer crew of four then working under the tarp that was protecting the billboard and creating temperatures in excess of 90 degrees, said something that resonated with the others, "Many people have asked us about the monetary value of this billboard. That's not what drives us and the truth is we don't really know. What we do know for sure is that its historical significance is unquestionable and that we have a responsibility to preserve it. It just the right thing to do."