Our History
1957: The LeClaire Women's Club (now defunct) established the Buffalo Bill Museum. It was originally located in a store front on Cody Road in LeClaire, IA. The donated exhibits featured Mississippi river pilot artifacts, Buffalo Bill memorabilia, local Indian history, and items common to homes in the early 1800’s.
1968: The Lone Star, the last surviving wooden-hulled vessel of its kind, was dry-docked on the LeClaire levee and added to the museum’s collection. The Lone Star is designated a “National Historic Landmark” (National Register # 89002461).
1971: the first small museum building was constructed on the LeClaire Levee next to the Lone Star.
2001: a 45 x 45 foot building addition was completed.
2008: The Museum raised $990,000 to build the River Pilots Annex to house the Lone Star Stern Wheeler.
2018: The Robert Schiffke One-Room School building was added to the Museum.
Today, the Museum welcomes nearly 20,000 visitors a year from all over the United States and 20+ foreign countries. It is open 7 days a week, primarily through the efforts of volunteers. The Buffalo Bill Museum is a popular tourist destination along the I-80 corridor and enjoys many five-star Google Reviews.
About William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody
William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was born in LeClaire, Iowa, in 1846. His family moved to Leavenworth, Kansas. When William was 11 years old, his father died and he became the main support of his family. He left home to work as a “teamster” – driving a wagon train across the Great Plains. He went on to fur trapping and gold mining, then rode for the Pony Express. He became an Army scout and after the Civil War, Cody gained the nickname “Buffalo Bill” as a hunter providing meat for the railroad workers.
But Buffalo Bill didn’t become famous until he met Ned Buntline, a dime novelist, who transformed his life into a series of larger-than-life stories. The legend that grew around William Cody led to a series of popular “shows” where he depicted life in the “Wild West”.
Buffalo Bill toured the world with his outdoor extravaganza eventually known simply as “The Wild West Show”. His show is credited with depicting and defining America’s West for the rest of the world. He presented his show in over 1400 communities all across America and Europe. During his lifetime, Buffalo Bill became the most recognizable person on the planet. It is estimated that from 1875 to 1917, at least 10 million people attended Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.