1. 1946 reprint of a front cover by drawer Tancredi Scarpelli for a folk story in instalments by publishing firm Nerbini of Florence. 2. A picture of the famous markswoman Annie Oakley, who the great Indian chief Sitting Bull would call Watanya Cicilia meaning “Little Sure Shot”, printed in Cincinnati (Ohio) in 1910. 3. Work by Henry Atwell printed in Baltimore (Maryland) in 1893. The printing of this Art Nouveau-styled poster was supervised directly by Buffalo Bill, who sold it as a souvenir. He was being an actor in winter and a scout in summer, when he organised this scenic show, in which in order to reproduce the stagecoach attacks, a train holdup in the prairie and the battle of Little Big Horn, such celebrities as Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickcock, and the old Sioux chief Sitting Bull were engaged. The point of greatest interest was when Buffalo Bill and the cow boys would save the pale faces tied to the torture pole by screaming Indians. Yet, in the year when Cody came to Venice the Wild West Show was already going stale, and in 1913 the debts run up led to bankruptcy. Cody, tired and almost an alcoholic, passed away in Denver (Colorado) in 1917, exactly 90 years ago. The papers back then reported that, after getting off the gondola, the small group of people went to a trattoria to eat fish-fry and polenta. This delicacy would be remembered forever by Buffalo Bill and the redskins, who were used to chewy buffalo steaks. interpretò se stesso a teatro. Faceva l’attore d’inverno e l’esploratore d’estate quando organizzò il pittoresco show scritturando per ricreare gli attacchi alla diligenza, l’assalto al treno nella prateria e la battaglia di Little Big Horn, personalità come Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickcock, l’anziano capo sioux Toro Seduto. Il clou arrivava quando Buffalo Bill e i cow boys salvavano i visi pallidi legati al palo della tortura dagli urlanti indiani. Ma nell’anno che Cody venne a Venezia, il Wild West Show dava già segni di stanchezza, tanto che nel 1913, visti i debiti accumulati, andò in fallimento. Lui, stanco e quasi alcolizzato, si spense a Denver (Colorado) nel 1917, giusto 90 anni fa. Riferiscono le cronache del tempo che, nel corso della visita a Venezia, sceso dalla gondola, il gruppetto andò in una trattoria a mangiare una frittura di pesce con polenta. Per Buffalo Bill e i pellirossa, abituati alle coriacee bistecche di bisonte, una ghiottoneria che rimarrà loro impressa per sempre. FOCUS ON 6 William Cody’s fame kept growing, and he joined the world of cinema as early as in the age of mute films (Paul Newman turned him into a money-maker in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, directed by Robert Altman, 1976) and that of comics. In Italy, the serial Bufalo Bill (one F only, as in the song of Italian singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori), with drawings by Carlo Cossio and lines by Luigi Grecchi, was released in the weekly <strong>magazine</strong> L’Intrepido from 1951 to 1964. We wish to thank Danilo Reato and Ilenio Trevisan for the iconographical research. La fama di William Cody si accrebbe di continuo, arrivando al cinema fin dall’epoca del muto (Paul Newman ne fece un affarista in Buffalo Bill e gli indiani, regia di Robert Altman, 1976) e pure nei fumetti. In Italia, il serial Bufalo Bill (una sola effe come la canzone di Francesco De Gregori), disegnato da Carlo Cossio su testi di Luigi Grecchi venne pubblicato dal settimanale L’Intrepido tra il 1951 e il 1964. Un grazie per le ricerche iconografiche a Danilo Reato e Ilenio Trevisan. FOCUS ON 7