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Buffalo Gals: Women of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
The polite but enthusiastic applause from 40,000 Londoners brought a huge smile to fifteen-year-old Lillian Smith’s face. Her performance before England’s Queen Victoria was the highlight of her early time with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
It was the fiftieth anniversary of the queen’s rule, and the stands were filled with royalty from across Europe. Lillian had dazzled the onlookers with her marksmanship. Using a .22 rifle, the teenager hit a tin plate thirty times in fifteen seconds and broke ten glass balls hung from strings swinging around a pole. The queen had been so taken by the girl’s talents she asked Lillian be presented to her at the end of the program.
When it came time for Lillian to meet the queen, she led her horse to the royal box, removed her hat, and coaxed her ride into a curtsy. Queen Victoria nodded pleasantly and asked to see Lillian’s gun. Lillian gently turned the weapon over and politely described everything about the rifle that made it special to her. Cody was impressed with the noble women’s attentiveness and with his star’s genial response.
To learn more about Lillian Smith and the other women who performed with Cody read Buffalo Gals: Women of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
