THE famous Colonel Cody – alias ‘Buffalo Bill’ – brought his circus to Leigh on October 3, 1904.
People were trampled under foot in an attempt to see his spectacular show, presented on a field off St Helens Road.
Colonel Cody’s circus numbered between 400 and 500 performers and staff who arrived from St Helens by three special trains on a Sunday morning.
By Monday a marquee to accommodate 12,000 people had been erected.
There was a large crowd at the afternoon performance and special tramcars from Atherton, Tyldesley and surrounding districts were packed with people off to see the popular wild west show.
A tremendous crush at the evening performance led to disorderly scenes and women and children were trampled as the crowd clamoured round the ticket office, but no one was seriously hurt.
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