Nathan Salsbury papers

The Nathan Salsbury Papers contain correspondence, personal papers, photographs, a scrapbook, and memorabilia documenting the life and career of Nate Salsbury, nineteenth-century actor and co-owner of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. The papers span the dates 1860-1965, but the bulk of the material covers the years 1866-1903.

Series I, Correspondence , consist of eighteen folders of chronologically arranged correspondence. The two earliest letters were written by Nate Salsbury in 1860-61. In them he alludes to running away from his stepfather and to his interest in joining the circus. These are followed by nine letters from Harriet C. Fuller, Nate's teen-age half-sister, written between 1866-70. Also included in the correspondence are letters from Salsbury relatives and friends which mention his acting career. Some useful information concerning Nate's long association with William F. Cody and the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show can also be found. The collection contains nine letters from Buffalo Bill and additional letters from J. A. Bailey, John M. Burke, Jack Crawford, Jules Keen, and Steele MacKaye concerning the Show. In his reminiscences (Box 2, folder 63), Salsbury stated that when he wrote his famous book, its title was going to be "Sixteen Years in Hell with Buffalo Bill." Cody, was in his opinion, a dishonest drunkard whose only loyalty was to his incompetent cronies. Buffalo Bill's drinking problem is discussed several times throughout the papers. In Cody's first letter to Salsbury, probably written in 1884, he vowed "that after this you will never see me under the influence of liquor," although he added, "I may have to take two or three drinks to day to brace up." In a 1907 letter to Rachel Salsbury, Jack Crawford asserted that Buffalo Bill was "not a Square dealer" and that "Ned Buntline created the most selfish and brutal faker . . . ever perpetrated on the American People." The collection also includes invitations and requests for tickets, most dating from the time of the Wild West Show's tours of Great Britain in 1887 and 1892.

For the period between 1891 and Salsbury's death in December 1902, there is a small series of letters between Salsbury and his wife, Rachel, and sons, Nate, Jr. and Milton. Other correspondents include David J. Burrell, Kate Field, General Nelson A. Miles, Milton E. Milner, Frederic Remington, and Bram Stoker. Correspondence dating from after Salsbury's death discusses the sale of Salsbury's stock in the Buffalo Bill Show, other estate matters, the disposition of artifacts he collected, and reminiscences about Nate Salsbury and Buffalo Bill. In a 1924 letter, for example, Frank Butler, husband of Annie Oakley, refers to Salsbury "as one of the whitest men" he had ever known.

Series II, Personal Papers , are found in Boxes 1-2, folders 19-64. Included are biographical information, memorabilia on Buffalo Bill's Wild West, invitations and programs, printed works, papers on Salsbury's Troubadours, and writings of Nate Salsbury. The Buffalo Bill folders contain copies of the 1887 articles of incorporation, invitations, programs, and schedules. The printed works section offers some useful information on Salsbury's Troubadours and the Wild West Show. A great deal of additional Wild West Show material is found in the scrapbook (Box 5, folder 106). Writings include the original manuscript for an 1871 play, "On the Trail; or, Money and Misery" together with a number of poems, perhaps used in stage performances; an 1865 poem written by Salsbury; and a series of reminiscences written in 1901 or 1902. The reminiscences contain anecdotes and stories of his Civil War experiences, Salsbury's Troubadours, the founding of the Wild West Show, and pungent observations on Buffalo Bill. One Civil War anecdote featuring General William T. Sherman is particularly interesting. Other personal papers include Civil War discharge papers; poetic tributes to Salsbury and Buffalo Bill; recitations dating from Salsbury's acting days; a brochure for "The Reservation," cottages in Long Branch, New Jersey owned and rented by Salsbury; and a posthumous tribute by David J. Burrell.

Series III, Photographs , predominately family and friends are housed in Boxes 2-3, folders 65-89. Many of the pictures of Nate Salsbury and Rachel Samuels Salsbury date from the period when both were on the stage. In addition, the photographs contain thirty stereoscopic views of the Wild West Show (Box 4, folders 90-97) sold by Underwood & Underwood. A small Memorabilia series includes three jubilee coins of Great Britain, two medals, and a paperweight.

The collection concludes with one box of Oversize papers. The most significant item in the section is a large scrapbook which houses letters, invitations, menus, tickets, Wild West Show memorabilia, newspaper clippings, programs, broadsides, and other like papers. Much of the material found elsewhere in the Salsbury Papers was removed from the scrapbook. The letters include such items as a dinner invitation from Frederic Remington, a short August 1888 letter from Albert Bierstadt, a June 6, 1888 letter from Steele MacKaye congratulating Salsbury on the birth of a son, and an 1888 letter from Henry Watterson on the stationery of the "Headquarters National Democratic Committee." Other items of interest include a May 22, 1873 special order of Abraham Lincoln Post 11 GAR appointing Salsbury one of six company commanders; German, Spanish, and Italian programs for the Wild West Show; publicity for Salsbury's Troubadours; and a December 29, 1865 open letter from Brevet Brigadier General P. Sidney Post to the soldiers of the 59th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry congratulating them for their outstanding war service.