The show itself consisted of a series of "historical" scenes interspersed with feats of showmanship, sharp shooting, racing, or rodeo style events. Native Americans figured prominently in many of the scenes, often shown attacking whites in historical situations with Buffalo Bill or one of his colleagues riding in and saving the day. 
The exact scenes changed over time, but were either portrayed as a "typical event" such as early settlers defending a homestead, a wagon train crossing the plains, or a more specific event such as the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Of course, to recreate the battles and scenes exactly would be impossible, but Buffalo Bill used his poetic license often to glorify himself . He was, however, very concerned with recreating the West that he loved as accurately as his life experiences saw it, and tried to maintain at least accurate detail in his Wild West shows..
Historically, this Exhibition became popular as Native Americans ceased to be a threat. The Ghost Dances and the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 showed not only that Native Americans had very little fight left, but Buffalo Bill used his small role in these engagements to further his own glory. He was able to bring the danger of the West, in the form of the Native Americans, the rough riders, and the display of skills used for survival back to the east in a carnivalesque setting, thus mythologizing the dangers and the freedoms that symbolized the frontier of civilization.
This was palatable to eastern audiences and the royalty of Europe because he was able to disguise the carnivalesque under the rhetoric of historical and scientific accuracy. Similarly, the figure of Buffalo Bill as someone who could walk the worlds of frontiersman and gentleman because he was able to control the frontier, miniaturize it, and reduce it to an event to be viewed, sentimentalizing the grotesqueness of the West.
atlantic's plastic bill
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