Begun in the 1880s, such shows remained a popular form of amusement for approximately three decades until declining around World War I due to the rise of films. Nordo most spectators realize that the first Days of ’76 celebration was at times a controversial affair involving strong opinions about how Deadwood should best deal with its notorious past.Īs many historians have pointed out, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and similar shows played a critical role in shaping both American and European images of the West. (“Buffalo Bill”) Cody, spiced up with influences of the “blood and thunder” dime novel. Today, most visitors who step out of the town’s plentiful gambling establishments to watch the parade or attend the rodeo are unwitting witnesses to a significant cultural artifact, a remnant of the Wild West show made famous by William F. Although it has changed over the years, the event still serves its original purpose: to confirm Deadwood’s place as a “real” western town. Known as the “Days of ’76,” the celebration culminates in a nationally recognized professional rodeo. For a few days each July, the famous Black Hills town-whose reputation as a western Sodom once rivaled that of Tombstone and Dodge City-stages a parade featuring horseback riders bedecked in western garb accompanied by a procession of wagons and floats to commemorate its beginnings as a wide-open frontier boomtown. Like many western towns, Deadwood, South Dakota, keeps the memory of its early frontier days alive with an annual community celebration. Download PDFs of articles from the first 43 years and obtain recent issues of South Dakota History at /journal. Members support the Society's important mission of interpreting, preserving and transmitting the unique heritage of South Dakota. Membership in the South Dakota State Historical Society includes a subscription to the journal. South Dakota History is the quarterly journal published by the South Dakota State Historical Society. South Dakota History, volume 40 number 1, 2010 The Wild West Show as Community Celebration
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