<sod>"Buffalo Bill" received his nickname after the American Civil War, when he had a contract to supply [[Kansas Pacific Railroad]] workers with [[American bison|buffalo]] meat.<ref>See Crossen, Forest. "Western Yesterdays, Volume VI: Thomas Fitzpatrick, Railroadman." (1968, Paddock Publishing). Fitzpatrick, a lifelong friend of Cody, met him when he was hired to shoot buffalo to feed the work crew building the Kansas Pacific Railroad.</ref> Cody is purported to have killed 4,282 [[American bison]] (commonly known as buffalo) in eighteen months, (1867–1868).<ref name="Cody">Cody, Col. William F: ''The Adventures of Buffalo Bill Cody'', 1st ed. page viii. New York and London: Harper & Brother, 1904</ref> Cody and hunter William Comstock competed in an eight-hour<ref name=PBS>{{cite web|last=PBS|title=William F. Cody|url=http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/buffalobill.htm|work=New Perspectives on the West|accessdate=23 January 2014|year=2001}}</ref> buffalo-shooting match over the exclusive right to use the name, in which Cody won by killing 68 bison to Comstock's 48.<ref name="FamousFirearms">{{cite book | last = Herring| first = Hal| title =Famous Firearms of the Old West: From Wild Bill Hickok's Colt Revolvers to Geronimo's Winchester, Twelve Guns That Shaped Our History | publisher=TwoDot| year = 2008|page =224 | isbn = 0-7627-4508-8 |url =https://books.google.com/?id=BVMmjWgZB2AC&pg=PA29}}</ref>  Comstock, part [[Cheyenne people|Cheyenne]] and a noted hunter, scout, and interpreter, used a fast-shooting [[Henry rifle|Henry repeating rifle]], while Cody competed with a larger-caliber [[Springfield Model 1863]], which he called [[Lucretia Borgia]] after legendary beautiful, ruthless Italian noblewoman, the subject of a popular contemporary [[Victor Hugo]] [[Lucrezia Borgia (opera)|play of the same name]].  Cody explained that while his formidable opponent, Comstock, chased after his buffalo, engaging from the rear of the [[herd]] and leaving a trail of killed buffalo "scattered over a distance of three miles", Cody - likening his strategy to a [[billiards]] player "nursing" his [[billiard ball]]s during "a big run" - first rode his horse to the front of the herd to target the leaders, forcing the followers to one side, eventually causing them to circle and create an easy target, dropping them close together.<ref>{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Don|title=The lives and legends of Buffalo Bill|year=1982|publisher=Univ. of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman|isbn=9780806115375|page=94|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1qvU4Lq8NAcC&|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref><eod>
<sod>"Buffalo Bill" received his nickname after the American Civil War,(but did not fight in it) when he had a contract to supply [[Kansas Pacific Railroad]] workers with [[American bison|buffalo]] meat.<ref>See Crossen, Forest. "Western Yesterdays, Volume VI: Thomas Fitzpatrick, Railroadman." (1968, Paddock Publishing). Fitzpatrick, a lifelong friend of Cody, met him when he was hired to shoot buffalo to feed the work crew building the Kansas Pacific Railroad.</ref> Cody is purported to have killed 4,282 [[American bison]] (commonly known as buffalo) in eighteen months, (1867–1868).<ref name="Cody">Cody, Col. William F: ''The Adventures of Buffalo Bill Cody'', 1st ed. page viii. New York and London: Harper & Brother, 1904</ref> Cody and hunter William Comstock competed in an eight-hour<ref name=PBS>{{cite web|last=PBS|title=William F. Cody|url=http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/buffalobill.htm|work=New Perspectives on the West|accessdate=23 January 2014|year=2001}}</ref> buffalo-shooting match over the exclusive right to use the name, in which Cody won by killing 68 bison to Comstock's 48.<ref name="FamousFirearms">{{cite book | last = Herring| first = Hal| title =Famous Firearms of the Old West: From Wild Bill Hickok's Colt Revolvers to Geronimo's Winchester, Twelve Guns That Shaped Our History | publisher=TwoDot| year = 2008|page =224 | isbn = 0-7627-4508-8 |url =https://books.google.com/?id=BVMmjWgZB2AC&pg=PA29}}</ref>  Comstock, part [[Cheyenne people|Cheyenne]] and a noted hunter, scout, and interpreter, used a fast-shooting [[Henry rifle|Henry repeating rifle]], while Cody competed with a larger-caliber [[Springfield Model 1863]], which he called [[Lucretia Borgia]] after legendary beautiful, ruthless Italian noblewoman, the subject of a popular contemporary [[Victor Hugo]] [[Lucrezia Borgia (opera)|play of the same name]].  Cody explained that while his formidable opponent, Comstock, chased after his buffalo, engaging from the rear of the [[herd]] and leaving a trail of killed buffalo "scattered over a distance of three miles", Cody - likening his strategy to a [[billiards]] player "nursing" his [[billiard ball]]s during "a big run" - first rode his horse to the front of the herd to target the leaders, forcing the followers to one side, eventually causing them to circle and create an easy target, dropping them close together.<ref>{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Don|title=The lives and legends of Buffalo Bill|year=1982|publisher=Univ. of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman|isbn=9780806115375|page=94|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1qvU4Lq8NAcC&|accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref><eod>