What year did Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show winter in New Orleans? Did the fact that the show hired black cowboys and Indians provide the impetus for the first organized Mardi Gras Indian group to be named the Creole Wild West?

Gloria

Dear Gloria,

Buffalo Bill brought his Wild West Show to New Orleans for the winter of 1884-1885. And some of the Indians in his show paraded on Mardi Gras in 1885.

The tradition of our Mardi Gras Indians dates back at least to the late 19th century. However, the date of their first appearance on Mardi Gras was not recorded nor was the time when others began to imitate this tribe. Most experts agree that Chief Becate Batiste was the leader of the first tribe -- the Creole Wild West -- that appeared in the 1880s. According to tradition, the chief decided to masquerade as an Indian because of his mixed heritage of African, Choctaw and French. And if Chief Becate saw the show or the Indians in it parading on Mardi Gras, it is very likely that he thought it was a dandy idea. Of course, the good idea was later imitated by other black men and women of New Orleans who had no Indian blood at all.

The first recorded account of parading Mardi Gras Indians was in 1899. A story in the paper reported that about 40 or 50 men wearing wigs and painted as Indians paraded behind their chief, "jabbering and waving their tomahawks." The Indians must have appeared frightening to the reporter who wrote, "Their costumes and make-ups were above the ordinary, and in addition to mock weapons, a few of them carried old swords that would have proved terrible weapons in a fracas."

Hey Blake,

Before Carnival became formalized with balls and parades, how did the public mark the season?

Katy

Dear Katy,

No record exists of the first Carnival celebrations in New Orleans. The founders of the town were likely preoccupied with clearing the land, building houses, dealing with the heat and the humidity, and slapping mosquitoes.

But Carnival balls were held a hundred years before the advent of the first organized Mardi Gras parade in 1857. In fact, a popular girl in 1850 could have attended more than 200 bals masques -- masked balls -- that one year alone. And since that time, the number of balls that are staged is 10 times more than the number of parades.

The first of these delightful occasions took place only 25 years after the founding of New Orleans in 1718. Governor Marquis de Vaudreuil presented an elegant Carnival ball in 1743 and introduced glamour, refinement and lavish entertainment to the growing city. The first public ballroom opened in 1792 -- La Salle Conde. Before long, there were more than 80 establishments devoted to dancing.

But Carnival celebrations did not always involve dancing. Mardi Gras celebrations in the streets became very common in the 1830s. And 50 years before the appearance of Comus and his Mistick Krewe, it was popular to rent a carriage and a driver. In 1808, a typical ad placed in the paper would read: "A neat coach with a pair of good horses and a careful driver Š may be had by application to the subscriber, every evening during Carnival -- it is suggested that four families might find their interest in taking it together Š ."