Many Loves of Buffalo Bill Read online

  Mrs. Katherine Clemmons Gould, former wife of Howard Gould, came here [Lynchberg Hospital] last night from her country home, Blue Gap Farm, to receive medical attention for what she thought was poisoning. The physician found no need to treat Mrs. Gould and no evidence of poisoning. The former Mrs. Gould drove here during the night behind a team of mules which she lashed all the ten miles of the journey. Greatly excited, she summoned a physician and said she had eaten “queer-tasting food.” She raved wildly. The physician, after examination, said she had taken no poison and that her trouble was merely extreme nervousness.16

  Katherine Clemmons died on October 13, 1930, in Lynchburg, Virginia. She was sixty-seven years old. She left $11,000 in cash to her sister Ella May as well as $80,000 in real estate.

  EIGHTThe Cody Trials

  She drove away my friends. When they were no longer welcome, it was no longer my home.

  —WILLIAM CODY, IN REMARKS TO THE COURT DURING HIS DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS (FEBRUARY 29, 1905)

  Water sloshed out of buckets being passed quickly between the people standing in front of a house fire in the little town of North Platte, Nebraska. The water was frantically tossed onto the flames rising from William and Louisa Cody’s ornate, three-story home in the winter of 1890. With the help of friends and neighbors, the small volunteer fire brigade managed to hold off the blaze long enough for Louisa and daughter Irma to rescue several possessions from the home. The inferno eventually overtook the house the Codys called Welcome Wigwam. Many valuable souvenirs and mementos from Wild West shows performed around the world were lost in the fire.

  William was on a trip to the north plains to meet with Sitting Bull when he was notified by telegram that the house was about to burn down. According to his sister Helen, “His response was characteristically Buffalo Bill.”

  “Save Rosa Bonheur’s painting,” he wrote, “and the house may go to blazes.”1 Although Louisa would have preferred her husband’s initial concerns to have been about her and the children, she wasn’t surprised by his reply. She told a friend that William held an attachment for anything presented to him from women who gave him enormous attention.

  Rosa Bonheur’s painting was among Buffalo Bill’s most prized possessions. In 1889 the famous seventy-year-old artist and sculptor painted a portrait of William on his favorite horse, Tucker. It showed the strong, proud showman leading his majestic ride around a grove of trees. Rosa’s work hung in the parlor beside a painting of the Codys’ son, Kit. The brilliant image was featured on the Wild West show’s playbills, postcards, and posters. The public so admired the painting that art collectors across the United States sought out Rosa to paint more scenes of the American West.2

  Rosa was twenty-four years older than William when she painted his portrait, but the vast age difference did not keep Louisa from feeling threatened. She was aware of the hours that went into producing such a work of art and was jealous of any woman able to spend long periods of time with her husband.

  Within a year of the Codys’ home burning, William rebuilt Welcome Wigwam. Louisa lived in the town house for more than sixteen years. She decorated it with lace curtains, gigantic mountain-scene paintings, saddles, and Indian relics. William occasionally stayed with her at the home when he was in the area, but he spent the bulk of his Nebraska visits at Scout’s Rest Ranch. His practice of inviting many guests to stay for long periods of time at their house always annoyed Louisa. Her public outbursts over the revolving door of company embarrassed him. He reasoned that they could avoid such scenes if they lived in separate homes.

  Louisa was not opposed to every guest who visited the Cody home. She graciously welcomed local businessmen and potential Wild West show investors who came for dinner. She oversaw the meal preparations, conducted tours of the property, and helped William present gifts to their callers in appreciation for their support.3

  Louisa was an impeccable hostess at their daughter Irma’s wedding on February 24, 1903. The grand military ceremony between the Codys’ youngest child and cavalry officer Lieutenant Clarence Armstrong Stott was lavishly decorated with yellow flowers and yellow ribbons. William was traveling through England with the Wild West show and could not attend the nuptials. In addition to his usual duties with the program, William had to do the job his business partner, Nate Salsbury, usually did. Nate had passed away on December 24, 1902, from stomach trouble.4 Louisa tried to make up for William’s absence by giving Irma a gigantic cake, a lace gown, expensive jewelry, and an assortment of other wedding gifts.5

  William shared his disappointment in not attending his daughter’s wedding with his sister Julia. In a letter dated December 29, 1902, he explained his frustration. “Mr. Salsbury’s death gives me more work,” William wrote. “I won’t be able to come over to Irma’s wedding, or attend to business, or to get a day’s rest.”6

  The frequency of William’s letters to Julia increased after her husband died in 1901. He often wrote her about his feelings for Louisa and their rocky marriage. Ironically, while Louisa was helping plan Irma’s wedding, William was seeking Julia’s counsel about a divorce. He wrote her in March 1902:

  Julia, I have tried and tried to think that it was right for me to go on through all my life, living a false lie. Just because I was too much of a morral [sic] coward to do otherwise. But I have decided that if the law of man can legally join together the same law can legally unjoin…. There’s no use of my telling you of my married life—more than that it grows more unbearable each year—Divorces are not looked down upon now as they used to be—people are getting more enlightened…. God did not intend joining two persons together for both to go through life miserable. When such a mistake was made—a law was created to undo the mistake. As it is I have no future to look forward to—no happiness or even contentment. Lulu will be better contented. She will be her absolute master—I will give her every bit of the North Platte property. And an annual income. If she will give me a quiet legal seporation [sic]—if she won’t do this then it’s war and publicity. I hope for all concerned it may be done quickly. Wish you could have a talk with Arta.7

  Thirty-seven-year-old Arta held a grudge against her father for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was his disloyalty to her mother and how his unfaithfulness made Louisa feel. William had not attended Arta’s first wedding, and the long periods of time he spent away from the family had created a distance between father and daughter. She was aware that he was contemplating divorce, and she strongly objected to the idea. In December 1902 William embarked on a four-year tour of Europe, and the two could not discuss the matter face-to-face. Arta was close to her aunt Julia, and together they ran the daily business at the Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming. William prevailed upon Julia to speak to Arta for him and explain his position. Julia agreed.

  Rather than trying to be understanding, Arta became more angry that her father would even consider leaving her mother. In her estimation the situation wasn’t that serious. She sided with Louisa in thinking that he only wanted a divorce so that he could marry another woman.8 Arta wrote a letter to her father listing Louisa’s good points and asking him to reconsider getting a divorce. He respected Arta for championing her mother, but remained firm in his decision to end the marriage. “Well, it’s war now,” he wrote his sister in July 1903. “I got the first cross letter today that Arta ever wrote me. But I am going through with it [the divorce]. I think I’m entitled to be at peace in my old age. And I surely can’t have it with Lulu.”9

  In hope of reconciling with Arta, William returned to the United States around Christmas in 1903. Arta was to be married to Dr. Charles Thorp on New Year’s Day 1904. Her first husband had died five years prior, and she was excited about a second chance at love. The small affair was held in Denver. Tensions ran high between Louisa and William, but they survived the day without a squabble. Not long after the ceremony, William returned to London, where the Wild West show was scheduled to perform.10

  Less than a month after Arta had remarried and
moved to Spokane, Washington, with her new husband, she passed away. Complications that arose from an operation to correct “organic trouble” claimed her life. Louisa claimed she died of a broken heart caused by her father’s behavior. Given the sad circumstance, William suggested that he and Louisa set aside their differences and focus on their daughter’s burial.11 Grief-stricken and bitter, she lashed out at William for ever discussing their personal relationship with Arta. According to his sister May, Louisa wanted to charge him with murder. She attributed Arta’s “organic trouble” to her being upset over William’s talk of divorce. May managed to change Louisa’s mind about publicly making such an outrageous claim. Instead, Louisa chose to send William a telegram accusing him of breaking their child’s heart.12

  The Codys accompanied Arta’s body to Rochester, New York, where she was to be laid to rest beside her brother and sister. For the bulk of the journey, William and Louisa did not speak to each other. William tried to engage Louisa in conversation and invited her to ride in the coach with him to their child’s gravesite, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Her anger over the death of their daughter and what seemed to be the end of her marriage eventually got the better of her, and when they were changing trains in Chicago, she made a scene. “It’s your fault,” she screamed venomously at William. “I will bring you Codys down so low the dogs won’t bark at you,” she tearfully vowed.13

  By June 13, 1904, William had had enough, and he legally filed for divorce. The suit, filed at the Big Horn County District Court, claimed that Louisa was a “nag” and that she and William were “incompatible.” It also noted that she had threatened his life numerous times. Louisa countersued, citing William’s infidelity as the reason for their marital difficulties.14

  The divorce trial was delayed a number of times not only because Louisa contested the action but also to give her a chance to care for her ailing father. Once John Frederici’s condition stabilized, the hearing was set to begin at 10:00 a.m. on February 16, 1905.

  Newspapers everywhere predicted that a “tidal wave of shocking accusations and deeply personal information would flood the courtroom during the trial and leave the spectators in attendance, drowning in a sea of disillusionment.” William was upset that the case would be front-page news. “I was afraid and feared that it would, as I am a public man,” he told the judge presiding over the hearing. “But I took every step and every means in my power to keep this family trouble out of the public press.”15

  The transcription of the Codys’ bitter divorce case was uncovered at a college library in Casper, Wyoming, in November 1979 and was then made public by the State Archives Department in Cheyenne. (The county clerk at the time speculated that the “information may have been secreted by design to prohibit access to out of court testimonies.”)16

  The aged records showed that the wife of the foreman of the Codys’ ranch property was the first witness to be heard at the trial. Mrs. John Boyer testified about Louisa’s behavior at home. She informed the court that “Mrs. Cody had an argumentative disposition and that her rampages made life at home very difficult for Buffalo Bill, their children, and any guests who visited.” Mrs. Boyer also confirmed William’s claim that Louisa had tried to poison him, citing that on three separate occasions she saw Louisa put drops of dragon’s blood into her husband’s coffee and tea. When Mrs. Boyer was asked if Louisa had told her why she had given him the drug, she replied, “Mrs. Cody believed the dragon’s blood would make her husband love her.” William’s penchant for drinking was made known to the court by the same witness. Louisa was able to slip the drug easily to him once he was inebriated.17

  William’s attorneys called Mrs. H. S. Parker to the stand next. Mrs. Parker testified that Louisa had told her she had poisoned the prized staghounds given to William by the tsar of Russia and that she had done it “just for spite.” William tried to save the animals with a remedy of hot grease and mustard but was unsuccessful. He initially accused the ranch foreman of giving them lethal doses of strychnine. The foreman denied any involvement and informed William that Louisa was the one who had killed the dogs. Stunned by the news, Cody confronted his wife. “I told her how inhumane it was for her to poison my beautiful dogs,” he said to the court. “At this she became very angry and walked away.”18

  Louisa’s cruelty to Irma was also brought up in the trial. In addition, Mrs. Parker testified that Mrs. Cody had consulted fortune-tellers. “She said she paid a fortune teller in Battle Creek, Michigan $35.00 for her services,” Mrs. Parker told the court. “The Battle Creek prophet told her that the Colonel had lived five years too long.”19

  A third witness close to the Codys swore that Louisa had told her about William’s infidelities. Louisa described her husband to Mrs. C. P. Davis as a drunkard who “had dallied with other women throughout their entire marriage.”

  Louisa’s attorneys put a number of people on the stand who confirmed her claim. Some told the court that “Louisa was a lonely woman with a legitimate right to be upset with William.” Family friend Joseph Iddings stated that Buffalo Bill never took Louisa with him on any of his trips after they settled in North Platte. William denied the statement and accused Joseph of lying. “No one knows it better than himself,” William insisted in court, “for he personally knows that Mrs. Cody has traveled with me at many times when I have been traveling throughout the United States giving exhibitions. I will further state that Mrs. Cody has visited with me in nearly every large city in the United States and I doubt if there is a lady in the land outside of the profession of an actress or a showman, that have visited so many cities as Mrs. Cody has.”20

  In defending himself against the assertion that he was a drunkard, William stated that Louisa never complained to him much about his drinking. “She said that I was always better natured and more liberal and pleasanter around the house when I was drinking than when I was not.”21

  When attorneys questioned William about his extramarital affairs, he was contrite and a bit embarrassed. Among the names of the various women he was accused of being involved with were actress Katherine Clemmons and press agent Bessie Isbell, who was named as co-respondent in the Codys’ divorce case. Louis Clark, one of the foremen at William’s TE Ranch on the South Fork of the Shoshone, who witnessed William and Bessie together in Wyoming, testified that there was “undue intimacy” between the two. Other witnesses who took the stand during the trial claimed that William was involved with “four or five nice Indian girls … and other women on different occasions and at different times in his life.”22

  According to the February 28, 1905, edition of the Denver Post, Louisa was quiet and somewhat dazed by the proceedings. When it was her turn to testify, she “walked with a firm step to the stand and took the oath. She did not appear to be nervous or hesitant.”

  “Mrs. Cody did not look much different from other women of advanced years who are beginning to show the effects of age and many cares,” the article continued. “Her hair is tinged with gray, and her fair features show some of the wrinkles of time, but her eyes were bright and her thin lips were pressed close together. Clasping her hands in her lap, Mrs. Cody prepared for the trying ordeal through which she passed and has dreaded, but the result of which she did not appear to fear.”23

  Louisa spoke calmly about her thirty-four years of marriage to William. She fondly described their courtship, engagement, and wedding. Of their time at Fort McPherson, she recalled that they were financially strapped. William’s pay as a scout barely made ends meet, and Louisa supplemented their income with sewing projects. Things improved monetarily when William’s Wild West show was launched. William was disgusted by Louisa’s claim that he couldn’t afford to take care of his young family. He denied the statement over and over again.

  Buffalo Bill’s lawyers asked Louisa a series of questions about her life with the famous showman. They grilled her about witnesses’ statements claiming that she was rude to the people who visited William at their home and had cursed guest
s who wouldn’t leave them alone. She denied ever behaving in such a manner. The attorneys took extra time to go over the accusation that she had poisoned William. “I don’t know what dragon’s blood is,” she told the judge. “I never saw any and never heard of such a thing. I did doctor my husband and give him medicine for his troubles when he drank.”24

  With reference to poisoning his dogs, she insisted that she didn’t do it intentionally. The strychnine was set out to kill rats that had been seen in the barns. Louisa professed to feel as heartbroken about the dogs’ deaths as William did.

  Lawyers concluded their examination of Louisa with a question that stunned the courtroom. “Do you still love Mr.Cody?” the attorney inquired. “Yes,” she replied. “He’s the father of my children and I love him still.” A follow-up question was asked about whether she wanted a reconciliation. “Yes, I do,” she quickly responded. “I would gladly welcome him home.”25

  For many major newspapers, William’s time on the stand during the hearing was front-page material. Everything from his manner of dress to the number of female Buffalo Bill Cody fans who attended the trial was reported on. William’s friends advised him against taking the stand in his own defense. They feared that an attack from Louisa’s attorney would cause irreparable harm to his reputation. William believed that his testimony would strengthen his case, and by showing he wasn’t afraid to face the enemy, he could win favor for his cause.

  Louisa’s lawyers were tough on William. In addition to having the showman restate specific instances that prompted family, friends, and business associates to leave the Codys’ Nebraska homes when they visited, they also pressed him to give the names of all those people. “Louisa’s unbearable conduct at all times was the culprit,” William told the court. “There were so many of them (family, friends, etc.) that I could not recall the names.”