The Active Historian

Gordon William Lillie was born on February 14, 1860 in Bloomington, Illinois to Newton and Susan Conant Lillie. The family of six eventually moved to Wellington, Kansas.

Gordon started doing some work in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). After working as a cowboy and trapper he began teaching at the Pawnee Agency. He was appointed as interpreter for Maj. Edward Bowman – the U.S. Indian Agent. Gordon soon became known as “Pawnee Bill.”

In 1883, he was traveling with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show as the interpreter for the Pawnee troupe.

He married May Manning on August 31, 1886.

In 1888, the couple began Pawnee Bill’s Historic Wild West show which later became Pawnee Bill’s Historical Wild West Indian Museum and Encampment Show. May Lillie was a sharpshooter and expert “lady rider” who rode sidesaddle. She also wore a full-length skirt while riding.

He was also a noted leader of the Boomer Movement during the opening of the Unassigned Lands in 1889.

In 1908, Pawnee Bill’s show joined forces with Buffalo Bill’s show to form, “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pawnee Bill’s Great Far East.” This lasted for a few years and the partnership dissolved in 1913.

Pawnee Bill was a true entrepreneur and his other business pursuits included oil, real estate, banking, and motion pictures. He also authored a couple of books.

He and his wife, May managed the Blue Hawk Peak Ranch near Pawnee, Oklahoma where they oversaw a large buffalo herd. Pawnee Bill wanted to preserve the animal which best represented Oklahoma and the American West. You can still visit the historic home and ranch today. There is still a buffalo herd and pasture which you can drive through.

Pawnee Bill was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1934.

Pawnee Bill passed away on February 3, 1942 and was laid to rest in Pawnee, Oklahoma.

The State of Oklahoma purchased the Pawnee Bill Ranch in 1961 and the Oklahoma Historical Society maintains the property today. The Pawnee Bill Ranch was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Sources

Secondary Sources

Websites

Erin Glanville Brown. “Pawnee Bill (Gordon William Lillie).” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society.

“Pawnee Bill Ranch and Museum.” Oklahoma Historical Society.

“Gordon W. Lillie.” Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gaylord-Pickens Museum.

“Blue Hawk Peak Ranch.” Oklahoma’a National Register of Historic Places.

Primary Sources

Newspapers

Ernest Lynn. “The Blazing Horizon.” The Eugene Guard (Eugene, Oregon), January 26, 1929.

“Valentine Child.” The Pantograph (Bloomington, Illinois), February 13, 1937.

“Pawnee Bill and Buffalo Bill.” The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma), June 27, 1937.

“Pioneer Pawnee Bill.” The Guthrie Daily Leader (Guthrie, Oklahoma), June 27, 1937.

“Pawnee Bill At 80 Spends Time On His Ranch And Traveling.” The Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida), February 11, 1940.

“Death Closes Career of “Pawnee Bill.” Holdenville Daily News (Holdenville, Oklahoma), February 4, 1942.

“Cowboys Escort ‘Pawnee Bill’ on His Last Ride.” The Ponca City News (Ponca City, Oklahoma), February 9, 1942.

All newspaper clippings in this blog post were pulled from newspapers.com. I am not affiliated with this website. I just wanted to let you know where I found my digitized sources.