With reference to the letter asking if Buffalo Bill has been to Weymouth (You Say, Saturday, July23) On February 10 1890 in the Old Jubilee Hall, St Thomas Street, Weymouth, there was a concert given by Sequah and his band to thank Weymouth people for their support. Sequah was a quack doctor, selling American Indian medicines.
On the internet his description is as follows: He would arrive in a horse-drawn carriage, a tall, sallow, long-haired man who talked with an American accent, dressed like an American cowboy and accompanied by a troop of other cowboys and American ‘red Indians’ in feathered headgear. His medicine was called Prairie Flower and supposed to cure all ailments. He went all over the country, and made a fortune, but in the end the government declared the practice of selling patent medicines illegal.
The company went into liquidation in 1895 and was liquidated on March 26 1909.
No one is quite sure who Sequah was, a William Hartley started the business in Portsmouth, then was joined by Peter Alexander.
There is a painting Sequah on Clapham Common in the Wellcome Institute library, there is lots of information on the internet about him. So did Buffalo Bill or Sequah come to town? We may never know for sure.
Sue Dodge, Winslow Road, Preston Weymouth
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