The Life of Buffalo Bill · Chapter
Conclusion explained
Buffalo Bill returns to North Platte and participates in a spring cattle roundup, then spends time with his family and visits relatives.
What happens
Buffalo Bill returns to North Platte and participates in a spring cattle roundup, then spends time with his family and visits relatives. He purchases a herd of cattle, secures Indian actors for his show, and navigates government interference to continue his theatrical tour. The chapter concludes with his plans to take his drama to England.
Themes in this chapter
The American West as a Land of Opportunity
Buffalo Bill's cattle ranching and show business ventures exemplify the economic opportunities available in the West.
Self-Invention and Celebrity
Buffalo Bill navigates government bureaucracy to retain his Indian actors, demonstrating his ability to shape his own celebrity and business.
Transformation of the Landscape
The roundup and cattle driving illustrate the transformation of the prairie into a managed landscape for ranching.
Characters to notice
- Buffalo Bill
Returns to North Platte, participates in roundup, spends time with family, purchases cattle, and organizes his dramatic troupe.
- Major Frank North
Awaiting Buffalo Bill at North Platte with horses and men; joins the roundup.
- Dave Perry
Anxious to join the roundup for pleasure; provides his own horses, provisions, and bedding.
- Texas Jack
Mentioned as part of the roundup participants.
Key passages
“After my arrival at North Platte, I found that the ranchmen or cattlemen, had organized a regular annual 'roundup,' to take place in the spring of the year.”
When I got back to North Platte, I discovered that the ranchers had set up a yearly spring roundup.
Describes the annual cattle roundup tradition.
“I could not possibly find out where the fun came in, that North had promised me.”
I couldn't see any fun in the roundup, despite what North had said.
Buffalo Bill's wry comment on the hard work of the roundup.
“I proposed to spend a few weeks with my family at North Platte, for the purpose of making their better acquaintance, for my long and continued absence from home made me a comparative stranger under my own rooftree.”
I decided to stay with my family for a few weeks to get to know them again, since I had been away so long I felt like a stranger in my own home.
Reflects on his absence from family life.
“I told the Commissioner that the Indians were frequently off of their reservations out west, as I had a distinct remembrance of meeting them upon several occasions 'on the war path,'”
I pointed out to the Commissioner that Indians often left their reservations in the West, as I had personally encountered them on the warpath many times.
Buffalo Bill's argument to keep his Indian actors.