Buffalo Bill Museum

[Abby Brown] Le Claire, Iowa, is known for its scenic views of the mighty Mississippi River. This waterway is an extremely important part of history, and it's celebrated at a one of a kind museum that has the name of a person who is also an important part of history.

(Map marking Scott County in east central Iowa.)

Have you ever heard of Buffalo Bill?

(A picture of a man with shoulder length curly hair, a goatee and a mustache wearing an embroidered shirt and cowboy hat.)

He was born here in Le Claire a long time ago, when Iowa was just becoming a state.

The Buffalo Bill Museum showcases some of the most famous parts of Buffalo Bill's life.

William Cody, Buffalo Bill's real name, left home at the age of 11 to herd cattle and work as a driver on a wagon train. At one point in his young life, he also hunted buffalo to help feed railroad workers. He was a fur trapper and a gold miner too.

All of his many jobs and experiences as a child and a young man led him to become a big time entertainer. William Cody created Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. It was staged outdoors.

Hundreds of performers — real cowboys, cowgirls and Native Americans — were part of the show. There were also buffalo, cattle and other animals. The show both entertained and educated audiences all over the country and the world about America's Wild West.

But this museum holds much more than artifacts about Buffalo Bill and other local history. There's something bigger. And it relates to the Mississippi River flowing just outside the museum's front doors.

This is the Lone Star, a real boat that worked on the Mississippi River for 100 years. The Lone Star is a wooden hulled boat. This particular style of boat doesn't exist anymore, but it's been restored so visitors can enjoy it. And it's even been designated a National Historic Landmark.

The best part about visiting the Lone Star is you can touch it and play in it and even ring the bell.

This is an old film showing the Lone Star at work. The boat's job was to dredge, or scoop up, sand from sand pits in the river, and haul it to cement plants. Now it lives here at the Buffalo Bill Museum, so it can give visitors a glimpse of what life on the Mississippi River was like back then.

Every county in Iowa has a boatload of wild stories to tell. Here in Scott County, the Buffalo Bill Museum brings those wild stories to life.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.