Bluffs man brings Buffalo Bill to life

COUNCIL BLUFFS — Darrel Palser of Council Bluffs will portray Col. William F. Cody — aka "Buffalo Bill" — in presentations Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, 200 Pearl St.,

Cody supplied bison meat to the Union Pacific Railroad's Eastern Division track crew when the men were laying track west of Kansas City, Kan., said Patricia LaBounty, outreach coordinator for the Union Pacific and RailsWest railroad museums and Historic General Dodge House.

Palser said he portrays Buffalo Bill in his early life "so people can get an idea of what formed his character. I focus primarily on his life before his Wild West Show. That covers his time with the Civil War, his time with buffalo hunting and his time as a scout for the cavalry."

Palser has been a volunteer at the railroad museum for five years and has been sharing the history of Buffalo Bill with the Council Bluffs community for about four years, he said.

"I got involved through the Union Pacific Museum and the Council Bluffs Public Library," he said. "They asked me to do a program for some preschool kids, so I did that — and I decided I needed to learn more about the person I was trying to portray. So I did some research and, the more time went by, the more involved I got."

Palser does his act for students, service clubs and other groups. He appears in costume and often takes along cooking utensils that would have been used on the trail.

The museum also furnishes some props.

"We have in our collection photographs from the U.P. collection of Buffalo Bill," LaBounty said. "Then we have a full-size bison hide as well, for kids to touch and feel."

Guided tours of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum are offered every second Saturday and cover a wide range of topics. Always free, these talks expand on topics and themes presented in the museum.

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

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