Nathan “Nate” Salsbury (1846-1902) was producer and manager of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, a highly successful show business enterprise that toured the United States, Europe, and elsewhere from the 1880s well into the 20th century, and featured William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Salsbury “found” Cody, legend has it.
Born in Illinois in 1846, Nathan Salsbury entered the U.S. Army while still in his teens, first as a drummer boy and eventually as a soldier with the 89th Illinois Regiment of Infantry, fighting in Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas. After the war, he became an actor in various stock companies, appeared for a time with his own troupe, Salsbury’s Troubadours, then retired from performing in 1887.
He was elected to The Lambs 28 Feb 1888 as a professional member.
In 1883, Salsbury had been a key figure in the launch of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, an outdoor extravaganza that dramatized frontier life, built around the personality of onetime soldier, scout and hunter William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody (1846-1917). The show, which also starred sharpshooter Annie Oakley and, for one season, Chief Sitting Bull, was a worldwide success for many years.
Nate Salsbury died on Christmas Eve 1902, at the age of 56. He is interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx, in the Juniper Section.