Illinois State University ISU ReD: Research and eData Faculty and Staff ubP lications – Milner Library Milner Library 2016 One of Our Own: Pawnee Bill's Life as Viewed by Bloomington Residents Eric Willey Illinois State University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/fpml Part of the American Popular Culture Commons, Library and Information Science Commons, Public History Commons, and the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Willey, Eric. "One of Our Own: Pawnee Bill's Life as Viewed by Bloomington Residents." Bandwagon, 60, no. 4 (2016): 72-90. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Milner Library at ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty and Staff ubP lications – Milner Library by an authorized administrator of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. One of Our Own: Pawnee Bill's Life as Viewed by Bloomington Residents Gordon William Lillie was born 14 February 1860 or 1861 in Bloomington, Illinois.1 The son of a laborer, Lillie achieved fame as one of the great Western heroes, and became known world- wide as Pawnee Bill. While Lillie left Bloomington early in his life and only later achieved his considerable fame, and eventually retired to a privately owned ranch near Pawnee, Oklahoma, his home town remained aware of his pedigree and followed his exploits through newspaper reports and other media. Although his early activities with fellow Western icon Buffalo Bull were largely ignored by the local press (and often fabricated by dime novel writers who considerably confused the historical record), later visits from Lillie's wild west exhibition were often described in local papers, and when (primarily in his later life) he reinforced community ties by returning to Bloomington to visit, the local press showed an enthusiasm for him as a Bloomington native who had achieved international fame but not forgotten his local roots.