In 1889 when a small lad of six stood along a street in Newcastle, England, his hand held by his father as he gazed up in wonderment at the unbelievable sights passing the street in front of him.
    Wonderful, noisy, exciting sights such as he had never seen for this was the grand parade of the already legendary showman from America and purveyor of the Wild West, W.F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and his scores of rough riders, sharp shooters and horsemen gathered from every corner of the globe, then touring the British Isles.
    Approaching gunshots signalled the arrival of the central figure of this unusual group when the unforgettable sight of Buffalo Bill with his snow white flowing hair goatee drew near.
    He was mounted on a magnificent dappled grey horse of 15 1/2 hands and wore a pair of tight, fine leather riding boots up to his thighs & guantlet gloves.  In front of him about 30 feet walked a man who would toss a glass ball in the air every few yards each one shattered with a bullet and a roar from Buffalo BillÕs gun.  The crowd reacted with wild enthusiasm at the ease and remarkable showmanship of this statuesque figure.  It is not hard to understand how such a startling event could leave a lasting impression on a youngster's mind, to remain there for a lifetime, and this was Tom W. Bishop's first contact with the "Wild West".  Although he saw Buffalo Bill Cody again just after the turn of the century when he presented his lavish show in Niagara Falls,New York, he was to say in later years that he could never forget that first childhood impression of him.  This, probably more than anything else, prompted the young Bishop brothers, Tom and Bob to heed the beckoning CNR posters and head west to "the land of golden opportunity" just after they had arrived in Canada from Scotland in 1908.
    However, when they got there they found the going tough, some settlers were selling out, leaving, others going broke and they too eventually sought to return "home".  Getting east was more of a problem than it had been getting west.  And after a long journey "riding the rods" in and under empty box cars back to Ontario, both brothers eventually settled and established themselves.  However the western spirit was hard to suppress and in 1912 Tom Bishop Sr. was to receive an invitation to put on a "trained horse exhibition and wild west display" to raise money for the troops of the first world war.
    That first show was a great sucess and after that there followed many wild west shows, nearly all of them hi-lighted with a performance of his High-schooled horse "Saladin" who invariably brought the horse down by "shooting the Kaiser".
    Younger brother Bob because of his agility and aptitiude for stunt work always took the part of a horse thief or similar indesirable and usually met his fate by being shot, dragged and hung or simply being burned at the stake by Indians.
    Eventually marrying, Tom Bishop with his wife Eva and children Lorna and Tom Jr. formed the 4-B corral...the 4-Bishop's Corral, the home address of the now famous 4-B Ranch Rodeos and Wild West Shows.  The third generation soon made it's appearance with Sally, Sarah and Tom Jr. carrying on the wild west show traditions into it's nineth decade.