SHERIDAN (AP) - It's a few minutes before he goes out to greet his audience, and Buffalo Bill is worried.

"I forgot all my notes," he tells The Sheridan Press photographer.

He doesn't need to worry. Buffalo Bill Cody - aka Sheridan resident Wayne Baumann - doesn't miss a beat after he's introduced to a gymnasium full of students at Woodland Park Elementary School.

In between asking the kids questions - "Does anyone know what my first job was?" "Does anyone know the name of my horse?" (referring to Big Hand, the Indian horse he rode when shooting buffalo for crews building the transcontinental railroad) - he regales them with tidbits of information they won't get from history books.

Miss Kate, the longtime housekeeper at the Historic Sheridan Inn, used to baby-sit for him and his wife, Louisa, when they were in Sheridan, Buffalo Bill says.

Then he talks about his Wild West Show, how he toured the East Coast and Europe … about firing Calamity Jane from his show after she "got rowdy" in a bar … about how Sitting Bull gave Annie Oakley her nickname, "Little Sure Shot."

The words seem to come easily to Baumann. He's been portraying William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody for clubs, schools and other organizations since February to promote the Buffalo Bill Days and Wild West Show coming to Sheridan in June.

He even portrayed Cody at his granddaughters' school in Colorado Monday when he was visiting family, he said.

Baumann's interest in Cody began with an ad he saw in Cowboy magazine around this time last year for Don Endsley's Great American Wild West Show, a touring Western variety show intended to evoke images of Cody's show of the late 1890s and early 1900s.

"I took the ad to Edre (Maier), and I said wouldn't it be neat to have this kind of show here in Sheridan," Baumann recalled.

Maier is manager of the Historic Sheridan Inn, Cody's stomping grounds whenever he came to Sheridan. Cody was part-owner of the Inn at one time and auditioned acts for his Wild West Show from the Inn's veranda.

Baumann said he and Maier contacted Endsley and found him interested in coming to Sheridan.

"He knew Buffalo Bill auditioned acts here," Baumann said.

The Sheridan Heritage Center, which owns and maintains the Historic Sheridan Inn, decided to sponsor the show here, then brought in other activities to create the June 20-22 Buffalo Bill Days celebrating the inn's 110th anniversary.

"After we got started in this," Baumann said, "I told Edre we need people to do some of these Old West characters."

Maier as Annie Oakley and Tammy Burr as Calamity Jane usually join Baumann in the promotional programs, but neither was able to be at Woodland Park this week.

Baumann himself began reading about Buffalo Bill and collecting Buffalo Bill paraphernalia, a collection that now includes original Wild West Show programs, show souvenirs, figurines, and books written by Cody.

"He wrote a lot of books," Baumann said.

Items from Baumann's Buffalo Bill collection are on display at the Historic Sheridan Inn, City Hall and Sheridan State Bank.

Buffalo Bill is the first historic character Baumann has portrayed, and his efforts to look the part included not only growing a mustache and goatee to match those of the great showman, but hand-stitching the deer-hide shirt, gauntlets and leggings he wears.

He also did the beadwork and fringes and hand-sewed the buttons on the garments, all for authenticity. Making the costume took about a month, he said.

He started growing the goatee and mustaches in November or December.

Each man had his own style for mustaches and beards in those days, Baumann said. The appearance of his whiskers was as much a part of his identity as the color of his hair.

"You wouldn't believe how long it takes to grow a goatee," Baumann added.

Baumann and SHC hope to make Buffalo Bill Days an annual event, and Baumann said he'll continue to be part of it.

"I don't know if I will continue as Buffalo Bill, but I will be involved," he said. "It's been fun. I've enjoyed it."