The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Larry McMurtry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2005

From the early 1800s to the end of his life in 1917, Buffalo Bill Cody was as famous as anyone could be. Annie Oakley was his most celebrated protegee, the 'slip of a girl' from Ohio who could (and did) outshoot anybody to become the most celebrated star of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In this sweeping dual biography, Larry McMurtry explores the lives, the legends and above all the truth about two larger-than-life American figures. With his Wild West show, Buffalo Bill helped invent the image of the West that still exists today - cowboys and Indians, rodeo, rough rides, sheriffs and outlaws, trick shooting, Stetsons, and buckskin. The short, slight Annie Oakley - born Phoebe Ann Moses - spent sixteen years with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, where she entertained Queen Victoria, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and Kaiser Wilhelm II, among others. Beloved by all who knew her, including Hunkpapa leader, Sitting Bull, Oakley became a legend in her own right and after her death, achieved a new lease of fame in Irving Berlin's musical Annie, Get Your Gun. To each other, they were always 'Missie' and 'Colonel'. To the rest of the world, they were cultural icons, setting the path for all that followed. Larry McMurtry - a writer who understands the West better than any other - recreates their astonishing careers and curious friendship in a fascinating history that reads like the very best of his fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As is McMurtry's wont in works of nonfiction (e.g., Crazy Horse), this dual bio reads more like an extended elegy than biography. Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley, the demigods of western mythology, hold particular personal appeal for McMurtry. In a diner in his hometown of Archer City, Tex., McMurtry writes, "[T]here is a Cody poster that I sometimes study if I happen to land in the right booth," and as a child he heard his uncles recollect having seen Cody perform. This personal attachment doesn't obscure the quality of McMurtry's observations, and the book's aim, to separate fact from folklore, is beautifully accomplished. The Wild West show—and all of its mytho-historical components, such as riding the Pony Express, hunting bison, killing Tall Bull, scalping Yellow Hair—both distorted and magnified western heritage to a level of fantasy that captivates readers, including McMurtry, to this day. He smartly analyzes Cody's genius for PR, evidenced in such tactics as continually announcing that his next tour would be his last and seeing that cowboys' informal roping competitions could be turned into money-making rodeo shows.It's jarring when McMurtry tries to explicate Cody and Oakley's unprecedented fame by comparing them to today's pop stars, as in analogizing Annie Oakley's prima donna stage behavior to that of Martha Stewart and Courtney Love. Regardless, this book's a delight. 16 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Having attained celebrity himself by popularizing the Old West in countless works of fiction, from Lonesome Dove (1986) to The Berrybender Narratives (2002-2004), Pulitzer-Prize winning McMurtry should offer more insight into the West’s enduring appeal than he ever attempts to do. Although he does support the subtitle’s premise that superstardom began with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, his comparisons to today’s pop stars (Martha Stewart, Courtney Love) are sometimes forced. The Colonel and the Little Missie doesn’t always sidestep myth and contributes little to history, but McMurtry writes an entertaining, full-volume essay on these two legendary icons, and the book should be approached with that understanding.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (May 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743271718
• ISBN-13: 978-0743271714
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,434,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Larry McMurtry is the author of twenty-nine novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove. His other works include two collections of essays, three memoirs, and more than thirty screenplays, including the coauthorship of Brokeback Mountain, for which he received an Academy Award. His most recent novel, When the Light Goes, is available from Simon & Schuster. He lives in Archer City, Texas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating look at the entertainment industry, circa 1880s, June 24, 2005

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America (Hardcover)

Taken as individuals, Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley were legends of "The West." Put them together and you have a form of entertainment that seems almost unfathomable to today's sensibilities.

In his day "[his celebrity] was not exceeded by anyone in the world.... Cody was one of the first performers to truly acquire superstardom," writes Larry McMurtry, author of LONESOME DOVE, one of the best examples of cowboy fiction (not to mention Pulitzer-winning), as he goes the nonfiction route in THE COLONEL AND LITTLE MISSIE.

Although not as riveting as DOVE, McMurtry does an admirable job in explaining how Cody parlayed his reputation as a scout non-pareil and Indian fighter into a lucrative form of theater, bringing that daring lifestyle to areas of the country --- and the world --- to which his exploits seemed, well, like fiction.

Over several decades Cody and his troupe put together dramatic renditions of "fights with the noble savages," as well as other exhibitions of western skills. When sharpshooter Annie Oakley joined his company, their success was all but guaranteed.

McMurtry describes Cody and Oakley mostly in glowing terms, although he does not try to make them saints; such would never do in the modern world. Instead he depicts them realistically, minor warts and all, along with the major characters in the development of Cody's wild west show. The amount of work that went into such an undertaking is truly mind-boggling, especially when the reader takes into consideration the lack of modern technology: imagine trying to organize and promote such an enterprise without the benefit of phones, faxes, or computer communications. It makes the accomplishments of Cody and his staff all the more impressive.

McMurtry seems to get a little frustrated at times, unable to find the definitive description of Cody. The author quotes John Ford, the illustrious director, who "is said to have decreed that if you have to choose between the truth and the legend, print the legend." Many writers have followed that course when writing about the wild west and its colorful characters.

Oakley gets short shrift; the first 140 pages of the book are devoted almost exclusively to Cody and his "back story," with the heroine of the story getting barely a dozen before McMurtry shifts his focus to the troupe's European tour, beginning with Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887. Indeed, many of the chapters are teasing, needing further elucidation. Unfortunately, it is seldom forthcoming; like Oakley's shotgun, McMurtry's style is a bit scattershot. He jumps from discussions about Cody's shortcomings as a businessman ("Cody was trapped by his own ambition. He couldn't afford either to quit or not to quit") to interactions between various principles like Cody, Oakley, Frank Butler (Oakley's husband), Cody's numerous partners, his wife, his mistress, et. al.; it can get a bit confusing trying to follow a timeline. Too often he employs phrases such as "it will never be known why" or cites conflicting reports, which the modern reader, accustomed to instant analyses and "final answers," might also find frustrating.

Even with all these minor annoyances, THE COLONEL AND LITTLE MISSIE offers a fascinating look at the entertainment industry in the pre-electronic age, as well as a peek into the lives of two enduring American legends of the old west.

--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan ([e-mail])

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BILL AND ANNIE - WHAT A PAIR!, June 4, 2005

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America (Hardcover)

According to Larry McMurtry, Pulitzer Prize winner and Western authority, Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley were the first superstars in America. And, he's probably right. Queen Victoria came out of mourning to see Cody's Wild West show; he was the central figure in more than 1700 dime novels, and his face was recognizable the world over. It was a handsome face which he used to his advantage in promotion and indulging his penchant for drink and women.

Personality wise Annie Oakley, a crack shot, was probably his polar opposite, a small, sometimes self effacing young woman from Ohio who was happily and faithfully wed to sharpshooter and businessman Frank Butler. She was brought to more recent prominence with the hit Broadway show "Annie Get Your Gun." Nonetheless, their pairing of Cody and Oakley was huge box office in the 1880s and 1890s as railroad cars carried the Wild West show into 130 cities a year.

Obviously, McMurtry has a fondness for these two iconic figures as he remembers his uncles reminiscing about seeing Buffalo Bill in person. Nonetheless, the author candidly describes both subjects of this dual biography - warts and all.

The pair toured in their show for 16 seasons; she called him Colonel and he dubbed her Missie. Evidently, the two were compatible despite the difference in personalities. He was a bit like a bull in a China shop, and frequently drunk. Annie, while ebullient on stage, was frugal and reserved in private, so modest that she even requested a female embalmer.

Necessary for their success were the services of a competent manager and press agent as the Show employed over 500 people and carried hundreds of animals with them. At one time their manager was James Bailey of Barnum and Bailey fame.

Complete with 16 pages of black and white photos "The Colonel and Little Missie" is a fascinating chronicle of American history and an unlikely partnership that brought fame and fortune to both.

- Gail Cooke

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, November 9, 2006

By 

W. Josephson (Auburn AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America (includes 16 pages of B&W photographs) (Paperback)

Echoing some of the other reviews - it's 'thin', disorganized and has a large Bill:Annie ratio. McMurtry's point is that, per the title, BB & AO were among the 1st superstars in America & he repeats it every other chapter or so. It reads like something that was whipped up over a weekend. The style & depth of the book are intentional on McMurtry's part but readers should be forewarned that this isn't a traditional biography.