1001 People Who Made America - Alan Axelrod [24]
Cody, Buffalo Bill (1846–1917) William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was a buffalo hunter, an army scout, and an Indian fighter, but he earned international renown for his Wild West Show (officially called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World), which debuted in 1883. The show dramatized the American West and made an enduring contribution to the image of the West in American history and mythology.
Cohan, George M. (1878–1942) Cohan was born into a vaudeville family, with whom he performed from an early age. Before the end of the 19th century, he was writing vaudeville skits and debuted his first full-length play in 1901. A pioneer of the American musical theater, Cohan had an unbroken string of hits from 1901 (The Governor’s Son) to 1937 (I’d Rather Be Right). Of his many songs, the most famous include “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “Mary’s a Grand Old Name,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” and “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.” His “Over There,” occasioned by U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, earned Cohan a Congressional medal in 1940.
Cohn, Roy (1927–1986) A New York prosecutor, Cohn came to prominence in helping to prosecute the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1951) and as counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Senate committee investigating reputed Communist infiltration of the U.S. government. A ruthless opportunist, Cohn wielded significant power for a time, but was almost universally disdained.
Cole, Thomas (1801–1848) Cole was born in England and immigrated to Philadelphia, then settled in 1826 in Catskill, New York, on the Hudson River. This became his base for many painting trips along the Hudson River and its valley. His romantic sensibility created large canvases that evoke the mystery of the American forestland, and his example inspired a number of followers, who were the first great American landscape painters.
Colfax, Schuyler (1823–1885) Colfax was an Indiana newspaper publisher who became a Republican congressman and was in the forefront of Radical Reconstruction after the Civil War, favoring harsh treatment of the former Confederacy. He served as vice president during the first term (1869–1873) of Ulysses S. Grant, but in 1872 (while still sitting as vice president) was implicated in the massive Crédit Mobilier scandal, involving the financing of the transcontinental (Union Pacific-Central Pacific) railroad. Although never prosecuted, Colfax became a symbol of corruption during the era popularly known as “The Gilded Age.”
Colt, Samuel (1814–1862) Colt was serving as a sailor when, to pass the time, he whittled a wooden model of handgun he later perfected as a revolver. His first practical design was patented in England and France in 1835 and in the United States in 1836. The new design was slow to catch on, and Colt’s first factory failed in 1842, but after the U.S. government ordered 1,000 of the weapons for use in the U.S.-Mexican War, Colt reestablished his business and became the manufacturer of the most famous handgun in America—the “gun that tamed the West.”
Colter, John (circa 1775–1813) Colter was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803–1806) and joined Manuel Lisa’s fur trading enterprise in 1807, traveling into the region of present-day Yellowstone National Park in search of fur. He was the first white man to see and describe the area. Colter was celebrated for his hair’s-breadth escapes from Indian captivity and combat.
Coltrane, John (1926–1967) As a saxophonist, bandleader, and composer, Coltrane was highly influential on jazz, creating spiritually charged and musically adventurous improvisatory solos of unprecedented length and complexity. More than any musician before him, Coltrane introduced free improvisation into American jazz.
Columbus, Christopher (1451–1506) The Italian-born Columbus was already an experienced