The Old World versus the New: Buffalo Bill, Italian Butteri, and the Infamous La Sfida Bucking Contest in Rome, 1890.

This article examines Buffalo Bill Cody’s 1890 Wild West show tour in Italy, focusing on the infamous La Sfida (“the challenge”) bucking contest held in Rome between Cody’s Native American riders and Italian butteri (traditional Italian cowboys). The contest became a symbolic confrontation between the New World’s modern, rugged America and the Old World’s historic, tradition-bound Italy, reflecting broader Italian anxieties about modernity, class, migration, and colonial ambitions. Italian media coverage revealed a dual perception of Cody and the American West: popular admiration contrasted with elite suspicion and critique, especially in relation to Italy’s colonial efforts in Africa. La Sfida’s legacy persisted in Italian cultural memory for over a century, serving alternately as a nationalist emblem of rural virtue and a vehicle for critiquing American culture and policies.