The show was set up in the old Piazza d'Armi, in the area where the Polytechnic stands today
Quotidiano Piemontese
By Gabriele Farina
April 3, 2026
In April 1906, Turin stopped being a sober industrial capital for a few days and turned into something decidedly more exotic: an American frontier, populated by cowboys, Sioux Indians, galloping horses and overseas myths. The merit? Of Buffalo Bill, born William Frederick Cody, who with his famous "Wild West Show" brought the Wild West to the heart of Piedmont.
The arrival of a global myth
When Buffalo Bill arrived in Turin, he was no longer a cowboy, and he was not simply an artist: he was a true international celebrity. A former bison hunter, scout and showman, he had already conquered Europe and the United States with his traveling show, a gigantic show that mixed theater, circus and historical re-enactment.
His arrival in the city, between 22 and 26 April 1906, was preceded by a real media campaign: posters, articles and word of mouth ignited the curiosity of all social classes, from nobles to commoners.
Turin, already undergoing great industrial and cultural transformations, was overwhelmed by the event.
A city invaded by the Wes
The show was set up in the old Piazza d'Armi, in the area where the Polytechnic stands today. In a few hours, an entire portion of the city was transformed into a western village.
The numbers were impressive:
Over 800 artists and extras
about 500 horsepower
a 12,000-seat grandstand
three trains loaded with equipment and sets
A gigantic organizational machine, which anticipated the great modern events by decades. To think that everything was assembled in a few hours literally left the Turinese speechless.
The show: between myth and reality
The "Wild West Show" was an immersive experience ante litteram. On stage there were:
Assaults on stagecoaches
Battles between cowboys and Native Americans
Demonstrations of skills on horseback and with weapons
Among the protagonists were real Native Americans, including famous bosses such as Sitting Bull, who played ... themselves.
And here comes one of the most surprising curiosities: during the performances, it seems that some of them shouted insults at the audience ... without anyone understanding a word. The Turinese, unaware, applauded enthusiastically.
A small cultural short circuit that today makes you smile.
Success: record numbers
In just five days, about 80,000 spectators attended the show.
An extraordinary result for the time, which shows how powerful the myth of the West was also in Europe. For many Turinese, it was the first opportunity to see live a world until then known only through stories and newspapers.
Turin that sings the West
The impact of the event was such that it immediately entered popular culture. The Piedmontese storyteller Eugenio "Veritas" dedicated a song in dialect to the show: "Buffalo Bill in Turin".
The song told a semi-legendary story: a certain Rosina who, with the excuse of the show, indulges in a romantic getaway with a member of the troupe.
Truth or invention? It's hard to say. But the fact that the story has become a song tells a lot about the social impact of the event.
A meeting of worlds
The arrival of Buffalo Bill represented something more than a simple show: it was the meeting between two imaginaries.
On the one hand, the America of the frontier, epic and
wild.
On the other, an elegant Turin but in full transformation, suspended between tradition and modernity.
For a few days, these two realities merged. And under the
Mole Antonelliana, among dust, horses and Indian drums, the people of Turin
were able to live – perhaps for the first and only time – the dream of the Far
West.
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