When May Manning Met Pawnee Bill

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The Sharpshooter and the Showman

In July 1885, May and her other sister, Elmira Bronde and her newborn baby, were spending the day together, no doubt discussing the future, when they decided to attend Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show in Philadelphia. More than nine thousand people had the same idea and flowed to the Gentleman’s Driving Park to watch the performance. The experience proved to be an enlightening one for May. She went to Cody’s program for a glimpse at the people and animals that could only routinely be seen west of the Mississippi, and it was then she found her life’s calling.

May and her sister sat in the stands along with a hundred Indian children from the Lincoln Institute Orphanage in the heart of Philadelphia. Before the show began the boys and girls sat quietly, eating ginger cakes and other treats. When the program opened, and Indian braves galloped by whooping and brandishing their arms, the children’s eyes were wide with amazement. May and Elmira were equally enthralled. The trick riding and roping acts, the sharpshooters, dancers, and musicians told a story of how dreams could flourish when you marry passion with talent.

Among the entertainers working in the arena with the other acts was twenty-five-year-old horseback rider and trick shooter Pawnee Bill. He’d caught a glimpse of May prior to the start of the show. He was waiting in front of the main tent with the other cast members when he noticed the diminutive teenager with pigtails and a charming smile. Gordon looked unlike any man she’d ever seen. He had long hair, was dressed in buckskin britches and a fringed jacket, and wore a sombrero. He tipped his hat to her when their eyes met. She stifled a giggle as she hurried along after her sister to find their seats. Gordon later noted in his biography that he thought May was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen. May’s first thought when she saw him was, “What a funny man.”

Gordon was smitten with May the moment she caught his eye. He sent her a note letting her know that he’d like to meet her after the show. “It was love at first sight,” he later wrote in his memoirs, “and I knew that she was the girl for me.”

To learn more about May and Gordon read

The Sharpshooter and the Showman: May Lillie, Pawnee Bill, and their Wild West Show