William Frank Carver

William Frank "Doc" Carver (May 7, 1840* – August 31, 1927) was a late 19th-century sharpshooter and the creator of a popular diving horse attraction.

Early life William Frank Carver was born in Winslow, Illinois, to William Daniel Carver (1828–1888), a physician, and Deborah Tohapenes (Peters) Carver (1829–1907), who had migrated to Illinois from Pennsylvania in 1849. He had a younger brother, William Pitt, who became a farmer in Kansas, and a sister, May, who was born in May 1856 and died before the age of two.

There seems to be no creditable information about Carver's childhood, as the contradictions in stories he told classify them as entertainment rather than fact. *For most of his adult life Carver gave the year of his birth as 1840, but it is likely he did so in order to enlarge the time frame needed to create stories of frontier experience for his admiring audiences after he became a showman. Had he been born in 1840, his father and mother would have been twelve and eleven years old. The 1860 United States Census shows his age as 9 years old at the time, so he was likely born in 1850. Carver's biographer, Raymond Thorp, wrote that Carver left home at a young age to assert his family's right to land in Minnesota that the Sioux had supposedly granted his grandfather, Jonathan Carver, and that during this period of time he lived with the Santee Sioux. This contention, however, like other claims made by Carver about his early life and never investigated by his biographer, does not withstand the scrutiny of reputable historians.

Although Carver's time as a plainsman was short, he was on the western Nebraska frontier during an exciting era. Conflict between whites and Native Americans in the immediate area was decreasing but not eliminated. A remnant band of Lakota Sioux known as the Cut-off Sioux was encamped on Medicine Creek several miles to the east of Carver's cabin, and although his claim of having killed the Cut-offs' old war chief Whistler and two of his braves in late 1872 does not conform to the evidence, Carver was certainly in the area during a time of potential and sometimes real hostilities between whites and Native Americans. Late in 1874 Carver spent two weeks practicing dentistry at Fort Sidney, after which he moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he continued working as a dentist.

Carver also joined the ranks of western figures that embellished their frontier credentials by writing books. In 1878 he published a book, Life of Dr. Wm. F. Carver of California: Champion Rifle Shot of the World, which contains entirely fictional versions of his early life but also includes extracts from the press coverage of his first shooting tour across the country.

On August 20, 1878, while in New Haven, Connecticut, Carver married Josephine Dailey, whom he had met on a previous trip.

Carver won the match 83 to 82, giving Bogardus the nudge needed to issue a challenge for further matches. In Chicago, Illinois, they shot two matches, one at live birds and one at clay pigeons, Carver winning both matches. From there they traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, where they found a message waiting for them from the Ligowsky Clay Pigeon Company. If they used Ligowsky's clay pigeons, the company would award a $7500 purse for the series of 25 matches. The match using clay pigeons that they had already shot in Chicago was counted as one match, another match was shot while they were in St. Louis, and from there they traveled to 23 more cities. Carver won 19 of the 25 matches and secured his position as one of the world's best marksmen.

Wild West show About this same time, Carver went into partnership with Buffalo Bill Cody to put a Wild West show on the road. The grand opening of the "Wild West: Hon. W. F. Cody and Dr. W. F. Carver's Rocky Mountain and Prairie Exhibition" was in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 17, 1883. Their series of shooting matches completed, both Carver and Bogardus joined the show in Omaha. The show was an immediate success, but the relationship between the two showmen, Carver and Cody, was contentious from the beginning. At the end of the season they parted ways and divided the assets by the flip of a coin. Cody then formed a partnership with the promoter and showman Nate Salsbury, and the show continued as Buffalo Bill's Wild West. A trial, intended to end the suits and countersuits, was set for July 20, 1885. Cody failed to appear, however, so Carver agreed to dismiss his suit for $10,000 cash and Salsbury's offer to pay the court costs.

Diving horses

After the breakup of his show Carver put together a smaller show, which featured trained animals and shooting exhibitions. His biographer wrote that Carver added the diving horse act to the show in Kansas City, Missouri, in August 1894.

In June 1927, Carver attended an Old-Timers' Convention in Norfolk, Nebraska, where he enjoyed reuniting with other frontiersmen. Following the convention he traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, and while there received word that his favorite horse had drowned following a dive into the Pacific Ocean. Sonora later wrote that the loss of the horse coupled with failing health seemed to diminish Carver's desire to live. He died on August 31, 1927, in Sacramento, California, and was buried beside his mother and sister in Winslow, Illinois.

Al and Sonora Carver retired in 1942. The act finally closed as a result of pressure from animal rights groups in the 1970s. Sonora Carver, however, always contended that the horses were never forced to dive and, in fact, enjoyed the act. She died in September 2003, at the age of 99. Her early career inspired the 1991 Disney movie Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, starring Gabrielle Anwar and based on Carver's memoir, A Girl and Five Brave Horses.