November 10th, 2008

For several months now I’ve been working on a book about the life and loves of Buffalo Bill Cody. I received a final piece of information this past week that will make it possible to finish the last chapter. The book will include details about the many extramarital affairs Cody had and how these relationships naturally hurt his marriage. The research has been fascinating. Cody was not loyal and his wife, Louisa, was not kind. Prior to him becoming involved with other women, Louisa berated him in public over his overly generous nature and attachment to his sisters. The Codys had four children together. Louisa outlived all her children and Buffalo Bill. When their daughter, Arta, died in 1904, she left two children behind. Louisa offered to raise Arta’s son, but sent her daughter away to be raised by other family members. Louisa was never as close to her granddaughter, Arta Clara, as she was her grandson, Cody Boal. I suppose that’s understandable given the circumstances, but what I find distasteful is that when Louisa died, she left $5,000 to Cody and $1 to Arta. I don’t have any information that can shed light on why Louisa would do that. As I mentioned, she wasn’t a kind woman, but that seems vindictive and I’d like to know what the motive was. It’s not really relevant to the book, I’m just curious. Toward the end of his life Cody told a biographer that “no man was more blessed in his wedlock” than he was and that he had “only the fondest regard for Lulu.” I guess he wanted to leave this world in peace. The bulk of their married life had told people about how horrible Louisa was to him. He never retracted any of the harsh statements he made in court about her during their divorce case. Whenever he was asked about Louisa behavior he simply said that she was “much misunderstood.” The Codys were married more than 50 years to each other. They slept in separate houses, had separate dinner parties, took separate vacations and in the end Louisa said they were doing everything they could to keep their marriage together. The Life and Loves of Buffalo Bill Cody will be in bookstores this time next year.