Beyond Buffalo Bill: The Couple Who Brought the Wild West to Life

Few stories from the Old West capture both romance and resilience like that of May Lillie and Gordon “Pawnee Bill” Lillie. She was a Quaker girl from Philadelphia who became one of the world’s finest sharpshooters; he was a dreamer who transformed himself into a legendary showman. Together they built one of the era’s most famous Wild West shows and later turned their Oklahoma ranch into a hub of frontier culture and buffalo preservation. In her new book, The Sharpshooter & The Showman, author Chris Enss brings their extraordinary partnership to life.

Transcript

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

Cowboys & Indians: You’ve written more than 50 books about the Old West. What drew you to May and Gordon Lillie?
Chris Enss: Years ago I did a book called The Mini Loves of Buffalo Bill, and while I was writing that book, I happened onto some information about May Lillie, who was vehemently opposed to her husband, Bill Gordon, going into business with Cody because she thought he was a bad businessman and a womanizer. That piqued my interest about May. I thought, wow, this is somebody I’ve got to know more about. So, when I dug into her life and started working on a story about her, I found out what an incredible talent she was.

C&I: What made their relationship so compelling to you?
Enss: I think it’s just terribly romantic how they first met. She goes to see one of the Wild West shows that he’s in, and he finds her when he sees her. He thinks she is very pretty, and she thinks he is strange looking. I mean, she was from Philadelphia — she’d never seen a man with long hair wearing buckskin from head to toe. So right off, it wasn’t a pairing that you would automatically say goes together. But there was something about each other they liked. And it was a relationship that lasted 50 years. I was drawn to that because so many relationships in the entertainment industry, whether in the American frontier or today, don’t last very long. But theirs indeed did.

C&I: You open the book with a Shakespeare line: “I would not wish any companion in the world but you.” Why begin with that?
Enss: Because they were indeed two individuals who never tired of one another and were less of who they really were without the other person. Together, they enhanced each other’s personalities. They brought out the best in one another. They had a great deal in common. She credits him with so much, and he credits her with being able to be the individual he turned out to be.

C&I: May was a Quaker girl from Philadelphia who became a world-class sharpshooter. How did she reconcile her upbringing with Western life?
Enss: I think she had very progressive parents. Quaker parents were quick to say that young women needed to be as educated and as worldly as young men. May’s father was a physician, but he was an interesting kind of physician — what was known in layman’s terms as an electric physician. He would bring his patients in and then shock them into feeling better. So right off her family was involved in something not necessarily questionable, but certainly not mainstream medicine. That rebel streak was baked into her family.

When her relationship started with Gordon, it wasn’t something her mother welcomed. The letters Gordon wrote May, her mother often intercepted — she even burned some. She didn’t want that relationship to happen. It wasn’t necessarily about Gordon, but about where he would take May. The Lillies were a close-knit Philadelphia family who wanted everyone to stay nearby. The idea that May would marry someone who would take her away from that Sunday-afternoon family circle didn’t sit well.

C&I: Did you find any dreams or goals that explain why May was drawn to Gordon’s life?
Enss: I think she always yearned to do something different, inventive, not the norm. She was that kind of individual. And so was Gordon. His name was Gordon Lillie, but everybody called him Pawnee Bill. I think she recognized in him that element she wanted too. But she wasn’t completely aware of how out of her element she was going to be.

When they married and went to Kansas, his home, she was completely taken aback. When the train dropped them off, she wondered, “Okay, where’s the mode of transportation to get us to the next step?” And she was out in the wilderness. That was not something she was used to. She learned to love that part of it, but it was a real learning curve.

C&I: How did May become a champion rider and sharpshooter?
Enss: It was born of deep sadness. Shortly after they married in 1886, they had their first child in 1887 — a big boy, over 10 pounds. May was not quite five feet tall. The experience changed her physically. Then their son died at six weeks old. That devastated her. She was despondent, questioning what she would do with her life, how to get beyond the grief.

Only when she looked out and saw Gordon working with the horses did she decide, maybe this is something I could do. She realized she needed to get up, go out, and be with her husband. She learned everything she could from Gordon — about riding, shooting, buffalo, and the West itself. That pulled her out of her grief and shaped who she became.

C&I: Women like May weren’t common in the 1880s. How did she help redefine women’s roles in the West and in Wild West shows?
Enss: I have to go back to Cody for a moment. He was very progressive in hiring women, recognizing their importance in Wild West shows. Women were an attraction, an anomaly. People were fascinated that women could ride, rope, and shoot as well as they did.

Gordon, above all, was a phenomenal businessman. He recognized May’s talent and how her presence would boost the show. She became a huge part of the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show. People came from everywhere to see her.

And like Annie Oakley — who also performed in their show — May wasn’t quick to take center stage. She recognized Annie’s draw and wasn’t threatened. She knew she had her own audience too. I admired that — she wasn’t a glory hog. She learned her business sense from her husband.

C&I: Running a show like that must have been difficult. What was their schedule like?
Enss: Certainly. They generally housed their big show, which included numerous buffalo and horses, even camels. They had animals galore. During the off-season, generally in the spring, they stored everything — the livestock, feed, backdrops — either in Philadelphia or New Jersey. Then they would regroup, decide who would be in the show, and pull everything together.

They would load it all on a train, which was no small feat. It was a monumental effort and very expensive. I was amazed at the sheer vastness of the show and how you had to store it someplace. Before working on this book, I thought it was year-round — that they always had the animals and performers with them. But there was indeed an off-season when everything had to be put away.

C&I: What made someone a good showman — or businesswoman — at the time?
Enss: Their show was primarily based on the East Coast. There was no reason to go west of the Mississippi, because people there already knew the West. They knew cowboys, buffalo — everything.

So you were a good businessperson if you found the right eastern cities where people were excited to see you, and you kept returning. For example, they often opened in Philadelphia because May’s family was so large — relatives and friends made for a guaranteed audience. Gordon was accomplished himself, so people came for him too.

If you went somewhere like New Orleans and nobody cared, you didn’t go back. Instead, you built on audiences in places that worked — returning each year, expanding the acts, so the show grew and never felt stale.

C&I: How was their show distinct from Buffalo Bill’s?
Enss: The Lillie show was successful partly because Cody was in Europe for so long, leaving a vacuum in the States. That gave them room to rise.

Also, Gordon was close with the Pawnee and recruited some of the greatest Pawnee entertainers. They weren’t just sitting on horses; they truly performed. His cast was also incredibly diverse — featuring tumblers and gymnasts from the Far East, vaqueros, and more. It was one of the most diverse casts I’ve ever seen.

That made it both entertaining and educational. People on the East Coast could see performers from around the world they’d never have encountered otherwise.

C&I: Gordon’s ability to connect with people seems key. What about his background shaped him into Pawnee Bill?
Enss: He was born in Bloomington, Illinois, not far from the Kickapoo reservation. Growing up, he loved dime novels and reading about Buffalo Bill Cody — he was fascinated with Cody.

But Gordon was not particularly healthy; he had physical struggles and was painfully thin. His father ran a flour mill, and when the family moved to Wellington, Kansas, Gordon didn’t know anyone. He didn’t want to stay in the flour business or become a teacher, which he ultimately did for a time. He wanted to go west and live like Cody.

He befriended the Pawnee, learned their language, and they even helped him get healthier with a bizarre concoction of animal blood that he drank. It restored him. Once he regained his strength, he decided he didn’t have to stay home — he could follow Cody’s path.

Unlike Cody, Gordon had a softness, an ability to make anyone feel comfortable. That helped him as a businessman and showman. He also had a silly side when promoting the shows, which May often had to rein in. One story I write about is when they went to Belgium to perform. Gordon thought going up in a tethered hot air balloon would be great publicity. But the balloon came untethered, and he ended up floating away with a man who didn’t speak English. Gordon didn’t speak his language either, so they drew pictures back and forth until they came down. That’s the kind of character he was — adaptable, humorous, always connecting.

He was a teacher at heart, and I think that drive to educate was one of the main reasons the show was so diverse.

C&I: Managing such a diverse cast must have been complex. How did they do it?
Enss: At that time, when they had such a diverse cast, May had learned a lot from Gordon. Together, they were well versed in communicating with all their performers. Whatever concerns people had, they worked to address them. They were respected for that.

Many Pawnee children were born during the shows and named Gordon, Bill, or May — that shows how well revered they were. They respected customs too. For example, they didn’t force the Pawnee to live in trailers but let them set up teepees on the grounds. That respect built loyalty, and people wanted to return year after year.

C&I: They faced deep loss and business betrayals. How did that shape them and their marriage?
Enss: For May, it solidified a sincere toughness and resolve: I am going to make the most of my life and be a good wife, because he’s a good husband.

His love for preserving buffalo became her passion too. They shared so much in common. His passions fueled hers, and hers fueled his. Together, they always pushed forward.

C&I: Eventually Gordon partnered with Cody, despite May’s doubts. What happened there?
Enss: May never trusted Cody. He had cheated business partners in the past — selling off portions of his show behind their backs. He wasn’t faithful to his wife either. She was offended by his lack of integrity and didn’t want Gordon in business with him.

By 1908, their show was thriving, so she saw no need for a partnership. She told Gordon, “I won’t stop you, but I can’t be part of this.” That took guts. And she was right — it didn’t end well.

But Gordon idolized Cody since boyhood. He’d been part of Cody’s show at a young age. That loyalty drew him into the deal. If he had it to do over, I don’t think he would have chosen differently — his devotion to Cody was too strong.

C&I: So while Gordon pursued the Two Bills show, May turned to buffalo preservation?
Enss: Absolutely. And she never said, “I told you so.” She was content at the ranch, working to save the buffalo. She believed, if we don’t pay attention, they’ll be lost. She became passionate about it and earned the title “Queen of the Buffalo.”

C&I: Why did buffalo preservation become so important to her?
Enss: She became more knowledgeable when she and Gordon started the show. Gordon told her what he’d learned from the Pawnee — the buffalo’s importance and how hunters were wiping them out. Cody himself, someone Gordon admired, had been part of that wholesale slaughter.

The buffalo were nearly extinct, and she recognized that if no one stepped in, they’d be gone. She had a heart for that fight. She went from “Princess of the Sharpshooters” to “Queen of the Buffalo.”

C&I: Their ranch later became a cultural hub. What role did it play in their legacy?
Enss: They did so much for their community. May struggled with her own health, so while Gordon was away with the Two Bills show, she built a sanatorium — to restore her own health and help others in the community.

They hosted tours of the ranch, teaching visitors about buffalo and why they mattered. They were determined to spread that knowledge.

They also recognized how silent films would change things. Wild West shows were fading, much like radio gave way to television. The Lillies were among the first to make silent films — about the buffalo, the ranch, and the West. Their replica frontier town and their ranch kept people coming and kept their message alive.

C&I: How does May stand out among other women of the West you’ve written about?
Enss: Her perseverance. She lost her son, but refused to stay in despair. At a time when there were no doctors prescribing medication for grief, she pulled herself up and moved forward.

She was also admired by other women, never threatening. She supported women whether they wanted to be housewives or show performers. That balance made her respected and beloved.

C&I: Why should May and Gordon Lillie be remembered today?
Enss: Their business smarts, their ability to adapt. Except for Gordon’s misstep with Cody, they were ahead of their time. They embraced silent films early, built the first ranch with electricity in their area, and kept looking ahead.

They also remained relevant. Later in life, friends like Will Rogers, Gary Cooper, and John Wayne sought them out. They weren’t just relics of the Wild West — they were innovators who stayed at the center of things.

C&I: Where can readers find your book, and what’s next for you?
Enss: You can find my book wherever books are sold — Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or my website, chrisenss.com.

Next, I’m working on West Went the Word, about women evangelists of the American frontier, and The Last Ride: The Story of Outlaw Laura Bullion and the Wild Bunch.

To see all of Enss’ books, or to order The Sharpshooter & The Showman, visit farcountrypress.com or chrisenss.com