Ned Buntline
Encyclopedia : N : NE : NED : Ned Buntline
Ned Buntline (March 20, 1823 - 1886), was the pseudonym of Edward Zane Carroll Judson (E. Z. C. Judson), an American publisher, journalist writer and publicist best known for his dime novels and the Colt Buntline Special he commissioned from Colt's Manufacturing Company.
He lived a life as fantastic as any of his books. As a boy, he ran away to sea. Buntline is a nautical term for a rope at the bottom of a square sail. After four years and at the rank of navy midshipman he resigned. As a midshipman, he was involved in the Seminole wars, though he saw little action. Buntline spent several years in the east starting up newspapers and story papers, only to have most of them fail. An opinionated man, he took a strong advocacy position in nativism and temperance. Through his writing and his association with New York City's notorious gangs of the early 1800s, he was one of the instigators of the Astor Place riot which left 23 people dead. He also had an involvement in a nativist riot in St. Louis - an involvement that would later come back to haunt him. Although a heavy drinker, he traveled around the country giving temperance lectures. It was on one of these lecture tours that he encountered William Cody.
While traveling through Nebraska, Buntline heard that Wild Bill Hickock was in Fort McPherson. Having read a popular article about the Wild West figure, Buntline hoped to interview Hickock with the desire to write a dime novel about him. Finding Hickock in a saloon, he rushed up to him saying "There's my man! I want you!" By this time in his life, Hickock had an aversion to surprises. Leveling a gun at Buntline, he ordered Ned out of town in twenty-four hours. Buntline took him at his word and left the saloon. Still looking to get information on his subject, Ned took to finding Hickock's friends. It is likely that this is how he first met Cody. Traveling with Cody as an Indian scout, Buntline became enamored with the gregarious man. Tossing aside his desire to write a novel on Hickock, he decided to write one on Cody instead.
Cody at first was a reluctant hero. Buntline's dime novel series: Buffalo Bill Cody - King of the Border Men was a fantastic success. Buntline immediately began plying Cody to come east and take part in a stage play. Cody at first resisted, but after an eastern trip financed by wealthy newspapermen, decided he liked the spotlight after all. Buntline wrote a play named "Scouts of the Prairie," which opened in Chicago in December of 1872. Although panned by critics, the play was a great success. It played to packed theaters across the country.
While successful, Cody found he couldn't keep the money he made, nor stand the eccentricities of Buntline. At the height of its popularity, the show closed in June 1873, and Cody and Buntline went their separate ways.
Buntline continued to write dime novels, though none were as successful as his earlier work. He settled into his home in Stamford, New York, where he died of congestive heart failure in 1886. Although he was once the wealthiest author in America, his wife had to sell his beloved home "The Eagle's Nest" to pay the bills.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.