Buffalo Bill, the Indians and Pope Leo XIII. When the Far West arrived in Rome

Liguria Day

By Laura Spadella

October 19, 2026

Among the infinite stories that Rome has to tell, there is one that is truly unique. It is not a legend or a myth, but an episode that really happened that, at the end of the nineteenth century, brought the charm of the American Far West to the capital.

From the prairies of the Wild West to the Prati di Castello

The protagonist was William Frederick Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, who arrived in Rome with his traveling show, together with cowboys, knights and warriors of the Great Plains, until he was even received by Pope Leo XIII.

After being a soldier of the Seventh Cavalry during the American Civil War, a guide for the army and for the Pacific Railway, as well as a famous bison hunter from which the nickname that had made him famous all over the world, he had decided to travel and became the impresario of a show that was conquering Europe and America: the Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

[Buffalo Bill in Rome – source Wikimedia]

 A caravan in Piazzale Clodio

The caravan arrived in Rome in February 1890 with four special trains consisting of 51 wagons. Hundreds of people were traveling on board, horses, bison and tons of equipment for the show that wanted to evoke the myth of the American Frontier. The area chosen for the camp was that of the Prati di Castello, at the time a vast green expanse used for military exercises, near the current Piazzale Clodio.

A huge success

The first show was staged on February 20 at 2.30 pm in front of an enthusiastic crowd. The arena, in the shape of a horseshoe, could accommodate up to 5,000 spectators and the ticket cost five lire, a considerable amount for the time. Yet thousands of Romans flocked to witness an unprecedented event: wild rides, lasso exhibitions, assaults on stagecoaches, attacks on pioneer convoys and reconstructions of battles between soldiers and Native Americans. The curiosity aroused by the arrival of Buffalo Bill was enormous. Posters, flyers and newspaper advertisements covered the city, in what is considered one of the first major show business operations in Italy.

Al Caffè Greco with Sitting Bull and Black Elk

What made the Wild West Show even more extraordinary were some of the characters who were part of it. Not just extras, but real protagonists of the history of the West, transformed by Buffalo Bill into real attractions of the show. Among them were Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux chief who in 1876 had led, together with his warriors, the victory against General Custer in the battle of the Little Bighorn, and Black Elk, who as a boy had participated in the same historical episode and who in 1887 had already left with Buffalo Bill for a tour in Europe.

And it is precisely in Rome that there is an extraordinary testimony of that presence. On February 24, 1890, at the Caffè Greco in Via dei Condotti, Buffalo Bill was photographed together with Sitting Bull, Black Elk and the writer and journalist Diego Angeli. An image that returns, more than any story, how surreal it was for Rome at the end of the nineteenth century to find itself in front of some of the most famous protagonists of the mythical American West in the heart of the city.

Ancient Greek Coffee – Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull and Black Elk with Diego Angeli in 1890 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

"Er Cappellaccio" and the challenge with the cowboys

In Rome, Buffalo Bill, nicknamed “er Cappellaccio” by the Romans, found someone willing to challenge his cowboys. On March 8, at the Prati di Castello, the men of the Wild West Show faced off against the cowboys of the Agro Pontino, led by Augusto Imperiali from Cisterna, in the test of taming a particularly unruly American horse.

After saddled him, Imperiali managed to mount him and ride him at a gallop around the arena, winning the applause of the audience. The test consigned the cowboys to the news and transformed Imperiali into a popular hero, fueling the myth of the challenge between the American cowboys and the knights of the Lazio countryside.

With Pope Leo XIII

On the occasion of the anniversary of the pontiff's coronation, a delegation from the Wild West Show was allowed to watch the Pope's passage through the Doge's Hall. Thus, on March 3, 1890, in the heart of the Vatican, among cardinals, nobles and members of the Roman aristocracy, a group of Indians appeared with painted faces, feather headdresses and traditional clothes, who greeted the pope with their typical war cries. Leo XIII, surprised by that unusual and spontaneous welcome, hesitated for a moment, then smiled and gave his blessing to those guests who had come from so far away.

[Buffalo Bill and the Indians in St. Peter's -source Facebook]

The mud of Rome

In later recounting his Roman experience, Buffalo Bill recalled that he had wanted to leave on the saddles and harnesses of his horses the mud accumulated during the rainy days spent in the capital. He also wanted to bring a small fragment of Rome back to America, as a souvenir of that memorable trip.

Buffalo Bill – source Wikimedia

Four years later, on January 10, 1917, he died in Denver at the age of 70. The previous day he had received baptism. A conversion that came at the end of his life, perhaps matured from the meeting with Leo XIII. Who knows if, among the memories that accompanied him until the end, there was also that of a morning in March 1890, when the most famous cowboy in America and a group of warriors from the Great Plains found themselves face to face with the pope in the Eternal City.