What was William Frederick Cody better known as?

The story behind the answer

William Frederick Cody was better known as Buffalo Bill. He earned the nickname in the late 1860s after reportedly supplying the Kansas Pacific Railroad with thousands of buffalo hides, winning a contest against another hunter. Cody later became world-famous for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, a traveling show that dramatized frontier life with sharpshooting, buffalo hunts, and performances by figures like Sitting Bull, shaping global myths about the American West.

Don’t confuse him with the other “Bills”: Wild Bill Hickok was James Butler Hickok, a lawman and gambler; Pawnee Bill was showman Gordon Lillie, Cody’s occasional partner; and Billy the Kid was outlaw William H. Bonney. Memory tip: “Buffalo” equals big herds and big shows—think “Buffalo Bill” bringing the West to the world stage.