91Èȱ¬

In the late 19th Century, the former army Scout and expert buffalo tracker William Frederick Cody – better known as Buffalo Bill - created his Wild West Show, one of the greatest spectacles of all time.

He toured Europe with a huge entourage of real cowboys and Indians, trick shooters, rough riders, stagecoaches, wagon trains and even a herd of buffalo!

In November 1887, they first came to Salford setting up camp on the banks of the Irwell and performing to sell out crowds in a huge arena where Sioux warriors and their cowboy counterparts would recreate classic gunslinging scenes from the Wild West or daring acts of horsemanship.

Charging Thunder (centre) and Josephine

From the Wild West to Gorton

Buffalo Bill returned to Salford in style in 1903 but when the show eventually rolled out of town, a 26-year-old Lakota chief called Charging Thunder stayed behind.

He never returned to his prairie homelands and instead married Josephine, one of the American horse trainers in the show. After first settling in Darwen, they moved to West Gorton in Manchester where they raised a family.

Charging Thunder's name was changed to George Edward Williams after registering with the British immigration authorities and he slowly assimilated into the Gorton community, working for many years at Belle Vue Circus, looking after the elephants.

His favourite elephant was called Nelly and according to his family, when Charging Thunder got drunk, he would head for the circus, climb in with the elephants and sleep off his hangover with Nelly standing guard over him!

Granddaughter: Rita Parr

'My grandad was a Red Indian!'

RitaÌýParr, who lives in Gorton, is one of Charging Thunder’s two surviving grandchildren. For Rita, growing up as a child and having a Sioux Chief in the family, was an incredible experience and for her friends too.

"They used to ask: did he go hunting, did he kill bears, and buffalo, things like that. And I used to say, well I do know he went after buffalo and rode horseback. Because as a kid you always used to play cowboys and Indians and I was always Charging Thunder. And I'd say: well my granddad was a Red Indian and he wore a big headdress!" she says.

"I'm very proud of him and I'd say a very strong willed man to give up his life like he did and settle here in Manchester, raise a family and give me the life and heritage that I have."

Grandson: Gary Williams

Gary Williams is Rita’s cousin and Charging Thunder’s grandson and now lives in Holmes Chapel. He recalls how amazed he was as a child to discover who his grandfather was:

"I couldn’t believe it! I thought it was a joke at first then I felt cheated becauseÌý I wanted toÌý look like him – I wanted a wider nose and I tried to grow my hair long and wore bead but I could never lookÌýlike him."

"IÌýwas proud of himÌýreally and it was great knowing who he was. Many people neverÌý know much about their past but IÌýdo and I’ve got him to thank for that."

Grave of Charging Thunder

Long lost relatives

Charging Thunder died from pneumonia in 1929 at the age of 52. His body is buried in Gorton Cemetery.

Rita and Gary never met their remarkable grandfather – they were born after he died. But they have heard that Charging Thunder’s remaining family has been traced in America, descendants of the Lakota Indians in South Dakota.

They’re now looking forward to meeting their long lost relatives.

The story of Charging Thunder was shown on Inside Out,Ìý 91Èȱ¬ One on Monday 23 January 2006