And the In September of 1878, 78 Buffalo Bill Cody was gearing up for his biggest show to date.

He had recently been allowed to employ Native Americans as actors for the first time, and

now he was doing it again.

This time he hired pawnee men rather than the Sioux performers

he had employed on the last tour, and the show nearly fell apart twice. A year earlier,

a new secretary of the interior had changed the rules regarding the use of Native American actors on stage.

Previously, the practice had been banned.

So theater companies had to use white men who were dressed

as Native Americans. But then the new secretary changed the rules and audiences

had loved seeing real Sioux warriors on stage. Now when Bill used Pawnee actors, the Secretary of the Interior balked.

He told Bill that the Pawnee were off the reservation without permission and demanded they return immediately.

Bill argued that the loss of the pawnee would cripple the production.

He had already advertised their participation and it was clear that audiences wanted to see real Native American performers rather than white men dressed in bad costumes.

Eventually, Cody convinced the government that he would lose money without the pawnee.

And in light of Bill's long and valuable service as an Army Scout, the government allowed

the pawnee to stay with the show.

Crisis number one was avoided.

Crisis number two was more serious.

The show was touring through the southern part of the United States, but the theaters were nearly empty.

An epidemic of yellow fever was sweeping through the region, and the actors refused to continue the tour until Bill agreed to skip the southern cities

and head north to Delaware.

Bill readily agreed to the demand and they finished the tour despite the extreme change in schedule.

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