Pawnee Bill among Western Heritage inductees

Hollywood stars Tom Selleck and the late Charlton Heston will be inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Selleck and Heston will be inducted April 17 during the museum’s annual Western Heritage Awards. The black-tie affair honors principal creators in 16 categories of Western music, literature, television and film. Also at the event, Oklahoma rancher and photographer Bob Moorhouse and legendary Wild West entertainer Pawnee Bill will be inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners. Guitarist, composer, recording artist and historian Don Edwards will receive the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award. Born Gordon William Lillie in Bloomington, Ill., in 1860, Pawnee Bill was a Wild West performer, buffalo hunter and American Indian interpreter. Considered one of the last legends of the Old West, Pawnee Bill was a friend to the Pawnee Indians and eventually went on to entertain and educate international crowds with his famous Wild West Shows. Pawnee Bill moved into Indian Territory in 1875 and quickly immersed himself in Pawnee culture. In 1888, Pawnee Bill organized his Wild West Show, in which his wife, May, became an impressive act for her marksmanship and riding. Two decades later, he merged his show with that of his childhood role model, Buffalo Bill. In 1930, he built the tourist attraction Pawnee Bill’s Old Town and Trading Post in Pawnee...read more