At the start of the twentieth century Colonel the Honourable William Frederick Cody, was one of the most famous men in the world.

Better known as ‘Buffalo Bill’ he was an Indian fighter, army scout, buffalo hunter, Pony Express rider and hero of countless dime novels. He was, therefore, an unlikely figure to be found on the streets of several Essex towns throughout 1903 and 1904.

The reason lay in his other great talent.

He was, above all, a brilliant showman and had been the star of his own travelling Wild West show for nearly 20 years.

His show was no circus. The men and women who took part had often been involved in the incidents they portrayed. The cowboys had actually ridden the range, the cavalry-men were real veterans and the Indians were real Indians. It was, in effect, the world’s first reality show.

Now a new book, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West – The First Reality Show in Essex, reveals for the first time what happened when this amazing show visited the county.

The book has been written by former BBC journalist, David Dunford, who lives in Chelmsford.

David describes how Buffalo Bill’s Wild West (the word ‘show’ was never used in publicity) was astounding. It featured hundreds of performers, horses and other animals.

“When the Wild West first came to Britain from America in 1887, for Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, one newspaper heralded it as ‘an exact reproduction of daily scenes of frontier life’,” said David.

“Over the years the show grew and grew. By the time it came to Essex for the first time, in 1903, there were 800 staff and performers and it had added horsemen from around the world as well as many circus sideshows.

“But at its heart it remained true to Buffalo Bill’s desire to bring the excitement of the old West to a mass audience.”

David explains in his book how in 1903 the performance consisted of around 20 scenes and lasted some two hours. Among the highlights a prairie immigrant wagon train was attacked by Indians who were driven off at the last minute by a group of cowboys led by Buffalo Bill himself.

“Bill also thrilled the audience by shooting glass balls from horseback as they were thrown up by an accompanying rider. Groups of Indians, Mexicans, Arabs and Cossacks gave separate displays of extraordinary horsemanship. And veterans from the Spanish-American war re-enacted a battle in which they had actually taken part five years earlier,” he said.

“This was the show that arrived in Leyton (then still part of Essex) on Wednesday September 2 1903. Cast and equipment were ferried from Temple Mills rail yard at Stratford where the three special trains that were needed for transport had stopped. The showground was on the Barclay Estate bounded by Lea Bridge Road, Leyton Green Road and James Lane and convenient, as one newspaper noted, for people travelling from both Leyton and Walthamstow.

“The show’s arrival prompted huge excitement. The audience for the afternoon performance was good but probably reduced by rain. In the evening, though, every one of the 14,000 seats was occupied. The Leyton and District Times reporter was ecstatic: … ‘such horsemanship …has never been seen in Leyton before and will in all probability never be seen again.’”

He went on to describe the ‘painted, feather-decked, whooping Indians’, the picturesque Mexicans and Gauchos and the marvellous equestrian feats of the Cossacks as well as the ‘wonderful dexterity of the cowboys in the use of the lasso.’

“The accuracy of Buffalo Bill’s rifle fire was, he said, extraordinary.

After the main show there was a concert featuring a number of singers, dancers and comedians. The arena had virtually been dismantled before everyone had left and the trains carrying performers and equipment set of for Southend at 2am.

The book charts how the show also caused a huge stir in Southend with cowboys and Indians wandering the streets ahead of the afternoon performance.

The showground at Marine Park opened at 11am and visitors were able to look at Indian tepees and view their inhabitants.

The Southend Standard reported that the ticket office was besieged. Admission prices ranged from one shilling, around £5 today, to 7s 6d – more than £35 today. Before the main arena opened the sideshows did good business. Especially popular were the ‘living curiosities’ Among them an Egyptian giant, who claimed to be 8’2’’ tall, seated next to Princess Hawa, ‘the world’s smallest midget’, said to be just two-feet tall.

David, who last year published his first book – this time about the history of horse racing in Chelmsford, said: “The afternoon performance began at 2 o’clock and the evening at eight. Both shows went without a hitch and soon after the second performance everything was quickly on its way back to station for the overnight journey to Colchester.

Large crowds watched the proceedings late into the night and a group of Indians gathered at the entrance to the station caused great excitement. “

The Wild West rolled into Colchester North station early the next morning, Friday September 4, and began unloading about 5 am. The showground was about a mile away at Reed Hall and a procession of Indians going up North Hill caused great excitement. One reporter was amused to note that among them was Chief Lone Bear but ‘the crowds that flocked around him afforded very little solitude’.

David said: “The afternoon performance was attended by the commander of Colchester barracks, Sir William Gatacre, along with his wife and several officers. His appearance prompted a salute delivered with military precision by Buffalo Bill and his horsemen.

“The evening performance began promptly at 8 o’clock and went well until an hour or so later a violent storm erupted.

“Although the spectators were sheltered, the torrential rain caused huge problems for the performers as the arena was open and the grass extremely wet and slippery. However, the show ended without mishap although one reporter noted: It was pitiable to see the horsemen who had afforded such pleasure… leaving for the railway station drenched to the skin.’ Their spirit, though, was undimmed and many were singing as they rode.

From Colchester the show moved to Ipswich and then on through East Anglia before the season ended in the midlands in October.”

Buffalo Bill returned to England to resume his tour the following year. The show was substantially the same as in 1903 although the battle from the Spanish-American War was replaced by a recreation of the Battle of the Little Bighorn or ‘Custer’s Last Stand’. Also new was Carter the Cowboy Cyclist who performed a thrilling stunt – cycling at high speed down a ramp from a forty-foot high platform and then leaping across a forty-foot gap to land on a ramp the other side.

The Wild West arrived in Chelmsford at 5am on June 19, 1904 and set up camp on Goldlay Meadows off Baddow Road.

David explained: “As this was a Sunday there was no performance, but nonetheless the extraordinary sight of Indians, Japanese, Cossacks, Mexicans and Arabs walking the streets of Chelmsford proved a big draw. “The two shows the next day went without a hitch. Between eight and nine thousand people attended the afternoon performance and all the cheaper seats were sold out. The evening show saw an even bigger crowd – put at 11,000. One local newspaper reporter was lost for words: ‘One can hardly enumerate all the features (of the show) in a newspaper report’, he said. The marksmanship of Buffalo Bill himself ‘must be seen to be believed.’”

The Wild West was soon on its way again and by the morning of Tuesday June 21 1904 had arrived in Ilford, also then still in Essex, and was established on the Kingsfield Estate of Ilford Lane.

David added: “From time to time local dignitaries were invited to ride in a stagecoach as it came under attack from a band of Indians. For the afternoon show a group of girls currently performing in a Broadway musical in London arrived to board the stage. After careering around the arena, pursued by a band of Indians, they were duly rescued by Bufallo Bill and his cowboys. As they stepped down from the coach the girls each kissed Bill causing him to blush furiously.

The Indians howled with delight and the cowboys cheered.”

Buffalo Bill’s relentless tour continued and as soon as the Ilford show was finished he headed out of Essex, never to return.

Despite his fame, a series of disastrous business deals meant Bill was often short of money and in 1915 he was forced to sell the show. He continued to tour America with other companies but was often so ill he needed help to mount his horse. He died in his wife’s arms in 1917 aged 70.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West -- The First Reality Show in Essex is published by Essex Hundred Publications, ISBN 9780993108389. It is available now, priced at £7.99 and available from bookshops or online.