Back to JournalWhen John Wayne rang the bell for America.
by Roland Schaefli
How did a custom Winchester presented to John Wayne during America’s Bicentennial in Cody, Wyoming, become part of today’s America 250 exhibition in Fort Worth, Texas? On July 4, 1976, John Wayne traveled to Cody, Wyoming, to celebrate America’s Bicentennial as Grand Marshal of the Cody Stampede Parade. During the celebration, he rang one of four commemorative Liberty Bells, dedicated the new Cody Firearms Museum and received the presentation rifle that is now featured in the America 250 exhibition at John Wayne: An American Experience.
When America celebrates a milestone birthday, John Wayne is never far away. As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, it is worth remembering how the Duke helped celebrate the nation’s Bicentennial fifty years earlier. His appearance in Buffalo Bill’s hometown reflected not only his enduring connection to the American West, but also one of the busiest periods of his career.
Grander and Grander Marshals
As the nation prepared to celebrate its Bicentennial in 1976, Cody selected one of the most recognizable men in America as Grand Marshal of its famed Stampede Parade: John Wayne. He accepted the invitation during one of the busiest periods of his life. Having just completed The Shootist, the film that would become his final screen appearance, he spent much of 1976 traveling from one high-profile engagement to another.
As Pat Stacy recalled in Duke: A Love Story:
“After back-breaking work on The Shootist, Duke didn’t take it easy during the next several months: we always seemed to be dashing somewhere: to Chicago for a Notre Dame Club award and a Boys Club fundraiser, to Philadelphia for a dinner in honor of Queen Elizabeth.”
During one stop on that whirlwind schedule, Wayne appeared on Phil Donahue’s television talk show. Asked why he had kept the mustache he had grown for The Shootist, Wayne replied:
“That’s why I left it on. That and the fact that I kinda like to be Buffalo Bill.”
Let Freedom Ring
After stepping out of the saddle, Wayne took part in one of the most symbolic moments of America’s Bicentennial. At noon, communities across the nation joined the “Let Freedom Ring” program, commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence 200 years earlier.
The bell Wayne rang in Cody carried its own remarkable history. As Mack Frost of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West explains:
“The hand bell, and three others just like it, were all cast from leftover material from the repairs to the original Liberty Bell. The four bells were all rung at the same time in the four different time zones of the U.S.”
In Cody, the honor of ringing the bell fell to John Wayne.
Standing beside Wayne was Marylou Whitney. Her husband, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, shared a long connection to the actor’s career: two decades earlier, C.V. Whitney Pictures had financed The Searchers.
A Winchester for the Duke
Wayne cut the ribbon at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, officially dedicating the new Cody Firearms Museum. Built around the renowned Winchester collection, the museum was one of the Bicentennial year’s major cultural projects in the American West.
The occasion also provided the setting for a special presentation. The star received a custom Winchester Model 1894 carbine, specially prepared to mark both the museum opening and the nation’s 200th birthday. The rifle later inspired the limited-edition John Wayne Commemorative Model 94, released in 1981.
What nobody could have known on July 4, 1976, was that the rifle’s story would not end in Cody. Today, fifty years after it was presented to Wayne on America’s 200th birthday, the Winchester forms part of the America 250 exhibition at the John Wayne: An American Experience Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.
In doing so, it links two milestone anniversaries in American history—the Bicentennial of 1976 and the Semiquincentennial of 2026.
After the celebration
For John Wayne, Cody was just one stop in an extraordinarily busy year. As Pat Stacy recalled:
“It was as if he was driven to pack in as much activity as he could, to make every week count.”
The months following the Bicentennial brought more public appearances, television projects and promotional engagements, but the custom Winchester presented in Cody remains a unique reminder of Wayne’s role in celebrating America’s 200th birthday. Fifty years later, it has found a new home in Fort Worth. As part of the America 250 exhibition, it serves as a tangible link between two milestone anniversaries in American history—and a reminder of the day John Wayne helped celebrate the nation’s Bicentennial.
Today, visitors to the America 250 exhibition at John Wayne: An American Experience can see the same Winchester presented to John Wayne during Cody’s Bicentennial celebration, connecting America’s 200th anniversary with its 250th.
