The Great Western Band was founded in 1867 by Charles Baetz, one of the early (1888) general managers of the Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company. The Band played for both daily concerts and dances. The second man from the left in the center row is E. B. Ackley (1871-1957), a talented cornetist brought to the Great Western Band by Fred Bauman (the Band's manager), who is seated third from the left. When the Great Western Band dissolved, Ackley started his own band in Sandusky, Ohio.