Geronimo

• Born among the Bedonkohe Apaches in 1829, Geronimo rose from a peaceful life when he was named Goyanthlay, which means "One who yawns." Until age 27, his life was unremarkable, but when Mexican troops murdered his family in 1858, he sought a warrior's path. He earned the name Geronimo in 1859 during a battle with Mexican troops, but the name has no meaning aside from "Jerome" in Spanish. He was captured several times before being sent to Fort Sill in Oklahoma. In 1905, at the request of President Teddy Roosevelt, he rode in Washington's annual parade. Afterward, he returned to Fort Sill, where he remained until his death in 1909.
  
  

William Frederic Cody

• William Cody, better known as "Buffalo Bill" Cody, is a legend of the West whose reputation has exceeded any ability to trace the reality of his life. So full of exploits were his early years as a miner, buffalo hunter, rancher, scout and even the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, that even experts in history have a difficult time sorting out what was fact and what was created to drum up publicity for what was his most famous endeavor, the "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show." Buffalo Bill Cody died of kidney failure in 1917, leaving behind a legend much larger than the man.
  
  

Sitting Bull

• Sitting Bull was born in 1831 a part of the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux tribe. Later in life he became a holy man and led his people as war chief in the resistance against the U.S. government. He is most famous for the campaign at Little Big Horn, when General George Armstrong Custer was killed after attacking Sitting Bull's camp. In later life, he toured for a time with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. He was killed at age 59 in South Dakota, in the year 1890, shot in the head by Indian police who were attempting to arrest him.
  
  

Wyatt Earp

• Wyatt Earp, most famous for his role in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, was known by his contemporaries as being one of the deadliest gunfighters of his time. He worked as a deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona, where the gunfight took place, but also had interests in a wide variety of other occupations, including miner, saloon-keeper and farmer. The accounts of shootouts that took place in both Dodge City and Tombstone were never proven by those bringing charges, but the accusations were enough to keep Wyatt Earp on the move until he settled finally in Los Angeles, where he died in 1929.