BUFFALO Bill came to Bolton 100 years ago next week.

Col William F. Cody (1846-1917) was a legendary showman whose Wild West show was inaugurated in Omaha in 1883 with real cowboys and Indians.

It played to large audiences in America and Europe for 30 years and was a feature attraction at Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.

In the first week of October, 1904, the travelling show stopped on the Easter Horse Showground, Manchester Road, Bolton. No doubt somebody will tell me where that was.

An Evening News reporter wrote at the time: "This is the first visit Buffalo Bill and his army of world's warriors have paid to Bolton and it is to be the last, for this is his farewell tour of Great Britain.

"When in Manchester some 12 years ago, and again last year, many Boltonians visited the show and these will no doubt renew their acquaintance with the celebrated Colonel and his mighty entourage."

The "Wild West Show and Congress of Rough Riders of the World" was clearly a considerable undertaking.

The Evening News reported: "Some conception of the vastness of the show can be gathered from the fact that it travels on its own trains with 600 men, 500 horses and the necessary paraphernalia.

"The cars extend three-quarters of a mile in length and weigh 1,184 tons."

The show featured expert horsemanship and various scenarios including an attack on the Deadwood mailcoach by Indians.

"Those who delight in the crack of the rifle and the smell of smoke will have their fill of excitement," the reporter said.

According to this piece, there were a great number of people present at the first afternoon show, and crowded attendances were expected thereafter.

A preview piece suggests that historical accuracy might not have been absolute.

Readers were told that another great feature of the show was "the wonderful leap through space from a bicycle by the cowboy cyclist, covering a gap of 40 feet."

Cowboy cyclists? I cannot see it, somehow.

A final item on the same page reveals that commercial endorsement by celebrities is nothing new.

One of Buffalo Bill's performers, Cowboy Canham, had been severely injured when his horse stumbled and fell on him in Newcastle.

He did not expect to recover, but is quoted as saying: "Look at me now. It just shows you what Dr Williams' Pink Pills can do for a man, even when his system has been shattered."