Arizona John Gets A Headstone

Maj. John “Arizona” Burke, a forerunner to modern event promotion and press relations, received a headstone for his unmarked grave at Washington, D.C.’s Mount Olivet Cemetery exactly 100 years to the day of his death, April 12. 

– John Burke

Burke was press agent for William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and promoted his “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” traveling show 1872 to 1917. Burke was world famous, meeting every U.S. president from James Buchanan to Theodore Roosevelt. 

– John Burke Headstone
L-R: Jeremy Johnston, Joe Dobrow, Michelle Delaney, and Steve Friesen

He created innovative marketing campaigns for the Wild West, including making a deal with the American Caramel Company to produce a set of trading cards featuring the legends of the Old West. The “Prince of Press Agents” died soon after Cody, some say because of a broken heart. 

The headstone was inspired by the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.