Created by sculptor Peter Fillerup in 2010, this sculpture of William Cody (still a teenager, young Bill Cody had not yet achieved his moniker of "Buffalo Bill" at that time) was made to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Pony Express in 1860. Whether or not Bill
actually rode for the Pony Express is a story unto itself, but this sculpture of young Bill on his horse at full gallop is, nonetheless, a fine 150th anniversary commemorative piece.
The sculptor
Peter Fillerup, actually grew up in Cody, spending summers on the family ranch halfway between Cody and Yellowstone Park. The recipient of numerous art awards which include several gold medals from the American Indian and Cowboy Artist Show, Best of Show from the Old West Museum in Cheyenne and Peoples’ Choice Award at the Buffalo Bill Art Show in Cody, his works grace many collections, both public and private. As well as being a superb sculptor, Fillerup has broadened the scope of his work, creating bronze light fixtures, furniture, sconces and hardware.
Bill Cody - Hard and Fast All the Way
By Peter Fillerup
2010
Location: Southeast of the building, next to the street
Located along 8th Street in front of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Bill Cody—Hard and Fast All the Way by Peter Fillerup depicts William F. Cody as a Pony Express Rider. Completed in 2010, the sculpture commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Pony Express, and sculptor Fillerup called it at the sculpture’s dedication “a tribute to Buffalo Bill’s contributions to the Pony Express.”
While many historians question whether Cody rode for the overland mail service at all, he always honored the riders of the Pony Express as part of his Wild West show, and, notes Fillerup, “no one did more to keep the memory of the Pony Express alive than Buffalo Bill.”
From the Buffalo Bill Center of the West
Buffalo Bill Cody
Hunting and killing over 4,000 buffalo earned Buffalo Bill Cody his nickname, and his status as an Old West legend was cemented with his traveling Wild West show.
Synopsis
Born near LeClaire in Scott County, Iowa, in 1846, Buffalo Bill Cody rode on the Pony Express at the age of 14, fought in the American Civil War, served as a scout for the Army, and was already an Old West legend before mounting his famous Wild West show, which traveled the United States and Europe.
Beginnings of a Legend
Born near LeClaire in Scott County, Iowa, on February 26, 1846, William F. Cody worked for a freight company as a messenger and wrangler before trying his luck as a prospector in the Pikes Peak gold rush in 1859. The next year, at age 14, Cody joined the Pony Express, fitting the bill for the advertised position: "skinny, expert riders willing to risk death daily."
Buffalo Bill: The Hero
Cody later served in the American Civil War, and in 1867 he began buffalo hunting (to feed constructions crews building railroads), which would give him the nickname that would define him forever. His own assessment puts the number of buffalo he killed at 4,280, in just over a year and a half.
In 1868, Cody returned to his work for the Army as chief of scouts (and his ongoing work with the military garnered him the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1872, which was subsequently stripped and then reinstated), all the while becoming a national folk hero thanks to the dime-novel exploits of his alter ego, "Buffalo Bill.” In late 1872, Cody went to Chicago to make his stage debut in The Scouts of the Prairie, one of Ned Buntline’s original Wild West shows (Buntline was also the author of the Buffalo Bill novels). The next year, "Wild Bill" Hickok joined the show, and the troupe toured for ten years.
Beyond a Showman
In 1883, Cody founded his own show, "Buffalo Bill's Wild West," a circus-like extravaganza that toured widely for three decades in the United States and later in Europe. Besides Buffalo Bill himself, the Wild West show starred sharpshooter Annie Oakley and, for one run, Chief Sitting Bull.
A champion of women’s rights and a lifelong soldier, Buffalo Bill Cody was more than just a Wild West showman and buffalo hunter. But his larger-than-life persona, at times real and at others fictitious, is what lives on in the hearts and minds of fans of the frontier West.
From Biography Dot Com