An Undiscovered Gem Emerges from DPL's Archives

In October 1884, during the halcyon days of America’s Gilded Age, a wealthy young Englishman named Evelyn Booth ventured to the States to sample all that the burgeoning country had to offer.

As the young sportsman traveled from New York to Chicago to Arkansas and finally to New Orleans, he tumbled into his greatest adventure—a shooting match with Buffalo Bill Cody before a crowd of 3,000 spectators. Although he failed to bag a shooting trophy, the chance encounter with the king of American showmen gave Booth an opportunity to partner in one of the most profitable and renowned Western enterprises ever, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.

While in the United States, Booth caroused in infamous brothels, frequented gambling houses, and even obtained front-row seats to a John L. Sullivan heavyweight boxing title fight. 

Booth would go on to record all of these experiences, and much more, in an exciting travel journal that eventually found its way into the possession of the Denver Public Library. Purchased in 1972, the journal had sat unnoticed on a shelf in the catacombs of the Western History/Genealogy (WH/G) Department’s manuscript archives for nearly forty years when Cutsforth, a DPL archives selection assistant, discovered it.

After unearthing the journal, Cutsforth began transcribing its contents. Enthralled by what he found, he spent copious amounts of time researching the journal’s contents and corroborating the stories told within its pages. After several years of research, Cutsforth has brought the journal to life in his new book Buffalo Bill, Boozers, Brothels, and Bare Knuckle Brawlers: An Englishman’s Journal of Adventure in America.