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Philadelphia: Morrell Brothers, no date (circa 1888, 1889, Adam Forepaugh died in January 1890). Pictorial wrappers, size is 6 ½ x 10, 32 pages including wrappers, with illustrations. Condition for this program is better than very good but not quite near fine with crease down middle of program, light creasing and minor darkening to the covers, tanning to the pages. --- Adam John Forepaugh (February 28, 1831 January 22, 1890) was an American horse trader and circus owner. From 1865 through 1890 his circus operated under various names including Forepaugh's Circus, Forepaugh's Gigantic Circus and Menagerie, The Forepaugh Show, 4-PAW Show, The Adam Forepaugh Circus, and Forepaugh & The Wild West. --- Forepaugh was the first to incorporate a Wild West Show in his circus, even before the much more famous Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Forepaugh died in early 1890 though, After Forepaugh's death, his circus operations merged with the Sells Brothers Circus to form the Forepaugh-Sells Brothers' Circus in 1900. [Wikipedia] --- More of a review of the Wild West Show than a program, this program contains in-depth text information on each of the staged attractions and of all the participants in the Wild West Show. There are also many illustrations of the scenes to be recreated, plus portraits of many of the participants of the show. --- The main attraction for the circus was a re-enactment of Custers Last Stand at the battle of Little Big Horn. According to the program, there is a paragraph stating that Sitting Bull and Rain-In-The-Face would be participating in Little Big Horn recreation, both important individuals in the battle. Forepaughs show was the first of the many then Wild West Shows to perform a recreation of the Battle of Little Big Horn. --- Also recreated is a "realistic" scene depicting the robbery of the Overland Mail Coach. A stagecoach was used that was identical to those that ran the route along with some of the participants. The driver of the coach, according to the program, is a veteran "Knight of the Whip", who drove a stagecoach over the Deadwood route. Another scene recreated was the atrocious Mountain Meadow Massacre. --- The attractions consisted of the giant horse Nebo, "The largest equine in the world, 20 Hands High, 4 Years old, weight 1800 pounds"; "'Carazo,' the Female Crack Shot of the World"; "Round-Up-Bob," champion trick rider and roper of Texas'; and much more. --- A scarce contemporary program and historical record of the Wild West.
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