# Martha Maloney — The Life of Buffalo Bill character guide

> Martha Maloney in The Life of Buffalo Bill by William F. Cody.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Martha, Pat Maloney, Pat

**First appearance:** 0014-xii-a-wedding

## Snapshot

A woman of the frontier settlements whose marriage to Cody's friend Pat Maloney knots the scout's wandering life to the domestic world he keeps leaving behind.

## Who they are

Martha Maloney moves through the small social circle of settlers and teamsters that surrounds the young Cody, and her marriage to his friend Pat ties her to the people he rides with and drinks with. She stands for the settled life Cody glimpses but rarely keeps, a reminder that the plainsman's freedom is purchased with absences and partings. Her presence in the early narrative gives a human, domestic counterweight to the campaigns and buffalo hunts.

## In the story

### [Hard Times](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_life_of_buffalo_bill_se/chapters/vi-hard-times)

Cody's sister; married John Crane during Cody's absence and living in Leavenworth.

### [XII: A Wedding](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_life_of_buffalo_bill_se/chapters/xii-a-wedding)

Not directly mentioned; no match in excerpts.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_life_of_buffalo_bill_se/characters/martha_maloney
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_life_of_buffalo_bill_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_life_of_buffalo_bill_se/characters