A Ballad of the West
Encyclopedia
Inspired by John G. Neihardt's A Cycle of the West, Bobby Bridger
's A Ballad of the West is a three-part story told in Homeric verse
and song about the Mountain Men, William F. "Buffalo Bill
" Cody, and the Lakota Sioux people.
Part One: Seekers of the Fleece:
This ballad presents the life story of mountain man
Jim Bridger
and the Fur Trade
Era. Jim Bridger is Bobby Bridger's great granduncle. Beginning with Jim Bridger's historic ascension of the Missouri River with the Ashely-Henry Expedition in 1822, Seekers of the Fleece tells of the initial interactions between Euro-Americans and Native Americans, as well as the beginning of the American Emigration Era and the Indian Wars
. This ballad was inspired by Alfred Jacob Miller
's Western watercolors.
Part Two: Pahaska:
Pahaska is the Lakota
word for "long hair," what the Sioux
fondly called William F. "Buffalo Bill
" Cody, and subsequently the name of the second ballad in the trilogy. Beginning with Buffalo Bill
's birth in 1846, Pahaska chronicles Buffalo Bill's adventurous boyhood on the Great Plains
, his career as a Pony Express
rider, buffalo hunter, army scout
, and his rise to global celebrity with the creation of the Wild West Show. Bobby Bridger also wrote a biography on Buffalo Bill recently published by the University of Texas Press, titled Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull: Inventing the Wild West.
Part Three: Lakota:
Lakota begins with the meeting of Nebraska epic poet, John Neihardt
, and the Lakota Holy Man, Black Elk
, in South Dakota in 1931, of which would bring the famous book Black Elk Speaks
. A 'telling of a telling of a telling,' Lakota presents Black Elk's recollections to Neihardt of the Indian Wars
Era (1860–1890), Red Cloud
and the Fetterman Massacre, the Battle of Little Big Horn, the deaths of Crazy Horse
and Sitting Bull
, travels with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and the Massacre at Wounded Knee
.
A Ballad of the West was partially recorded in a tipi
in the Colorado Rockies and completed in a 24 track studio in Denver in 1975 with Slim Pickens and The Lost Gonzo Band
: John and Jim Inmon, Bob Livingston
, Gary P. Nunn and Donnie Dolan. Slim's love of the mountain men brought him to volunteer his talents to narrate Seekers of the Fleece. Bridger has been performing A Ballad of the West around the globe for nearly four decades as a one-man show.
Bobby Bridger
Bobby Bridger is a singer/songwriter/poet/actor/playwright/author and painter who for three decades has traveled the globe performing a trilogy of one man shows for audiences in America, Canada, Europe, Australia and Russia. He has recorded numerous albums for labels including Monument Records,...
's A Ballad of the West is a three-part story told in Homeric verse
Verse (poetry)
A verse is formally a single line in a metrical composition, e.g. poetry. However, the word has come to represent any division or grouping of words in such a composition, which traditionally had been referred to as a stanza....
and song about the Mountain Men, William F. "Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
" Cody, and the Lakota Sioux people.
Part One: Seekers of the Fleece:
This ballad presents the life story of mountain man
Mountain man
Mountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through the 1880s where they were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains...
Jim Bridger
Jim Bridger
James Felix "Jim" Bridger was among the foremost mountain men, trappers, scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western United States during the decades of 1820-1850, as well as mediating between native tribes and encroaching whites...
and the Fur Trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
Era. Jim Bridger is Bobby Bridger's great granduncle. Beginning with Jim Bridger's historic ascension of the Missouri River with the Ashely-Henry Expedition in 1822, Seekers of the Fleece tells of the initial interactions between Euro-Americans and Native Americans, as well as the beginning of the American Emigration Era and the Indian Wars
Indian Wars
American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...
. This ballad was inspired by Alfred Jacob Miller
Alfred Jacob Miller
Alfred Jacob Miller was an American painter and sketcher best known for his paintings concerning the northwestern United States.-Life:...
's Western watercolors.
Part Two: Pahaska:
Pahaska is the Lakota
Lakota language
Lakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
word for "long hair," what the Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
fondly called William F. "Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
" Cody, and subsequently the name of the second ballad in the trilogy. Beginning with Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
's birth in 1846, Pahaska chronicles Buffalo Bill's adventurous boyhood on the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
, his career as a Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
rider, buffalo hunter, army scout
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
, and his rise to global celebrity with the creation of the Wild West Show. Bobby Bridger also wrote a biography on Buffalo Bill recently published by the University of Texas Press, titled Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull: Inventing the Wild West.
Part Three: Lakota:
Lakota begins with the meeting of Nebraska epic poet, John Neihardt
John Neihardt
Johnathan Gneisenau Neihardt was an American author of poetry and prose, an amateur historian and ethnographer, and a philosopher of the Great Plains...
, and the Lakota Holy Man, Black Elk
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
, in South Dakota in 1931, of which would bring the famous book Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk Speaks is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story and spirituality of Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux medicine man or shaman. It was based on conversations by Black Elk with the author and translated from Lakota into English by Black Elk's son, Ben...
. A 'telling of a telling of a telling,' Lakota presents Black Elk's recollections to Neihardt of the Indian Wars
Indian Wars
American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...
Era (1860–1890), Red Cloud
Red Cloud
Red Cloud , was a war leader and the head Chief of the Oglala Lakota . His reign was from 1868 to 1909...
and the Fetterman Massacre, the Battle of Little Big Horn, the deaths of Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
and Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
, travels with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and the Massacre at Wounded Knee
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...
.
A Ballad of the West was partially recorded in a tipi
Tipi
A tipi is a Lakota name for a conical tent traditionally made of animal skins and wooden poles used by the nomadic tribes and sedentary tribal dwellers of the Great Plains...
in the Colorado Rockies and completed in a 24 track studio in Denver in 1975 with Slim Pickens and The Lost Gonzo Band
Lost Gonzo Band
The Lost Gonzo Band was founded in 1973 and toured and recorded with many of Texas' most colorful musicians including Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphey, and Ray Wylie Hubbard. The original members of the band were, Bob Livingston, Gary P. Nunn, John Inmon, Kelly Dunn, Tomas Ramirez and...
: John and Jim Inmon, Bob Livingston
Bob Livingston
Robert Linlithgow "Bob" Livingston Jr. is a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist and a former Republican U.S. Representative from Louisiana...
, Gary P. Nunn and Donnie Dolan. Slim's love of the mountain men brought him to volunteer his talents to narrate Seekers of the Fleece. Bridger has been performing A Ballad of the West around the globe for nearly four decades as a one-man show.