Buffalo Bill is presented as the West in heroic glory and legend, and William F. Cody is portrayed as a figure loved and admired throughout the world, the West's greatest showman and ambassador, and the first honoree elected by trustees to the Hall of Fame of Great Westerners. Astride his horse Brigham atop Persimmon Hill, he beckons toward the opening of the West, the Rocky Mountains, gold, open land, freedom, and opportunity. Persimmon Hill is identified as a Gateway to the West, where Indians historically camped, hunted, and lived in peace, buffalo herds grazed, longhorn trail herds passed, and caravans of white-topped covered wagons later followed. The statue was inspired by film star Joel McCrea because of his role in the motion picture “Buffalo Bill,” created by artist Leonard McMurry, with the fountain base and setting designed by Juan Menchaca, chief curator of the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Thirty-three feet high and weighing nineteen tons, it was cast by Bernhard Zuckerman in Pietra Santa, Italy, with sponsorship from Mrs. Dave D. (Aunt Nona) Payne of Pampa, Texas, and Jasper D. Ackerman of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and dedicated on June 19, 1977.
