Oklahoma Journeys
Week of June 20, 2009
Mexican Joe and Effie
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Diversity isn’t something you would associate with the old west or certainly with the Wild West shows of the late 1800s, but diverse they were. We’ll hear the story of Mexican Joe in the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show and some other interesting facts about the men and women who starred in the show. That’s on Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma History Center.
From the Oklahoma History Center, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.
Diversity may not be a word you would normally associate with the old west. In fact, that word hadn’t been coined when Buffalo Bill and later Pawnee Bill ran their Wild West shows, but diversity was a key element in both show’s success. The most popular performer with the Pawnee Bill Show was "Mexican Joe." He once said "I don’t believe I need an introduction to the public for I am known to everyone as 'Mexican Joe', although my real name is Joe Berrera, and my work and roping will never be forgotten." The lifelong partnership and friendship began when Pawnee Bill hired Joe at the age of 15 to tour with his Wild West show. He was already one of the great ropers of all time and soon became the highlight of the show. In 1905 Joe married Effie Cole, and Effie became a popular performer specializing in her skills on horseback. Her act would include hurdle jumping, piloting four horses in a chariot race, and western ballet. After the show closed, the Berreras continued to live and work on the ranch with Joe serving as ranch foreman. He was associated with Pawnee Bill for 45 of his 81 years and once said "Pawnee Bill is the only father I have ever known and I dearly love him."
Buffalo Bill employed Annie Oakley, a superb showwoman and excellent trick shot. So accurate was Annie that Sitting Bull named her "Little Sure Shot." Pawnee Bill featured his wife May, who cultivated her skills at both shooting and trick riding.
The wild west shows were the most popular form of mass entertainment before the motion pictures came along; the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show featured a variety of entertainers, cowboys, cowgirls, American Indians, performers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Mexican Joe represented the Latino cowboys of the southwest. Effie Berrera, Annie Oakley, May Lillie, and Lucille Mulhall all helped pave the way for their gender in the rodeos we see today.
Though Pawnee Bill is gone, his ranch near Pawnee lives on as a wonderful museum dedicated to his memory maintained by the Oklahoma Historical Society. Every summer in June, Pawnee Bill Ranch staff and volunteers from the town of Pawnee stage a reenactment of the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show using actual scripts from 1907 and 1908 shows. This Saturday will be the final performance for this year. For times and admission information go to the Oklahoma Historical Society web site - okhistory.org - then click on the Pawnee Bill Wild West show link. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma Historical Society, dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing our state’s past. From the Oklahoma History Center, I’m Michael Dean.