William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody Autobiography

"Buffalo Bill" with Lucretia Borgia

I recently read William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody's autobiography on my Kindle.  It really was a good read but some might find the language a bit much.  It is the typical for the period formal, flowery form but still very readable.

Much of the book is given over to Cody's life and exploits on the plains and very little to mention of his family although one does get the impression that he cared for them (at least in his "own way").  Among those stories are accounts of his buffalo killing with his 1869 Springfield Trapdoor .50-70 Government rifle, his "needle gun", Lucretia Borgia.

I've been given to understand that this is the only known photo of Cody with that rifle.  It is this rifle with which Cody, on his horse Brigham, made his reputation.

We recently had one of these rifles in the shop and while it seems a bit lighter than the rifled-musket from which it was converted, it is still just as long and, I would think, ungainly on horse or in confined spaces.  Clearly, Cody was extremely competent with that rifle as nearly all the accounts of his witnessed exploits agree in nearly every detail.  In truth, I know of no dispute of his accounts.