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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:37 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:37 -0700 |
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diff --git a/12740-0.txt b/12740-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c2c83d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/12740-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8872 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12740 *** + +[Illustration: BUFFALO BILL--COL. WILLIAM F. CODY] + + +AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BUFFALO BILL +(COLONEL W.F. CODY) + +ILLUSTRATED BY +N.C. WYETH + + +1920 + + + +by Cosmopolitan Book Corporation + +Farrar & Rinehart Incorporated +On Murray Hill, New York + +Printed in the U.S.A. by +Quinn & Boden Company, Inc. +Rahway, N.J. + + + +Dedicated to My Nephew and Niece, +George Cody Goodman, Anna Bond Goodman, +and family. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Buffalo Bill--Col. William F. Cody. _Frontispiece_ + +He Shoved a Pistol in the Man's Face and Said: "I'm Calling the Hand +That's in Your Hat" + +Chief Satanta Passed the Peace-Pipe to General Sherman and Said: "My +Great White Brothers" + +Winning My Name--"Buffalo Bill" + +It Was No Time for Argument. I Fired and Killed Him + +Pursued by Fifteen Bloodthirsty Indians, I Had a Running Fight of +Eleven Miles + +A Shower of Arrows Rained on Our Dead Mules from the Closing Circle of +Red-Men + +Stage-Coach Driving Was Full of Hair-Raising Adventures + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +I am about to take the back-trail through the Old West--the West that I +knew and loved. All my life it has been a pleasure to show its +beauties, its marvels and its possibilities to those who, under my +guidance, saw it for the first time. + +Now, going back over the ground, looking at it through the eyes of +memory, it will be a still greater pleasure to take with me the many +readers of this book. And if, in following me through some of the +exciting scenes of the old days, meeting some of the brave men who made +its stirring history, and listening to my camp-fire tales of the +buffalo, the Indian, the stage-coach and the pony-express, their +interest in this vast land of my youth, should be awakened, I should +feel richly repaid. + +The Indian, tamed, educated and inspired with a taste for white collars +and moving-pictures, is as numerous as ever, but not so picturesque. On +the little tracts of his great inheritance allotted him by civilization +he is working out his own manifest destiny. + +The buffalo has gone. Gone also is the stagecoach whose progress his +pilgrimages often used to interrupt. Gone is the pony express, whose +marvelous efficiency could compete with the wind, but not with the +harnessed lightning flashed over the telegraph wires. Gone are the very +bone-gatherers who laboriously collected the bleaching relics of the +great herds that once dotted the prairies. + +But the West of the old times, with its strong characters, its stern +battles and its tremendous stretches of loneliness, can never be +blotted from my mind. Nor can it, I hope, be blotted from the memory of +the American people, to whom it has now become a priceless possession. + +It has been my privilege to spend my working years on the frontier. I +have known and served with commanders like Sherman, Sheridan, Miles, +Custer and A.A. Carr--men who would be leaders in any army in any age. +I have known and helped to fight with many of the most notable of the +Indian warriors. + +Frontiersmen good and bad, gunmen as well as inspired prophets of the +future, have been my camp companions. Thus, I know the country of which +I am about to write as few men now living have known it. + +Recently, in the hope of giving permanent form to the history of the +Plains, I staged many of the Indian battles for the films. Through the +courtesy of the War and Interior Departments I had the help of the +soldiers and the Indians. + +Now that this work has been done I am again in the saddle and at your +service for what I trust will be a pleasant and perhaps instructive +journey over the old trails. We shall omit the hazards and the +hardships, but often we shall leave the iron roads over which the +Pullman rolls and, back in the hills, see the painted Indians winding +up the draws, or watch the more savage Mormon Danites swoop down on the +wagon-train. In my later years I have brought the West to the +East--under a tent. Now I hope to bring the people of the East and of +the New West to the Old West, and possibly here and there to supply new +material for history. + +I shall try to vary the journey, for frequent changes of scenes are +grateful to travelers. I shall show you some of the humors as well as +the excitements of the frontier. And our last halting-place will be at +sunrise--the sunrise of the New West, with its waving grain-fields, +fenced flocks and splendid cities, drawing upon the mountains for the +water to make it fertile, and upon the whole world for men to make it +rich. + +I was born on a farm near Leclair, Scott County, Iowa, February 26, +1846. My father, Isaac Cody, had emigrated to what was then a frontier +State. He and his people, as well as my mother, had all dwelt in Ohio. +I remember that there were Indians all about us, looking savage enough +as they slouched about the village streets or loped along the roads on +their ponies. But they bore no hostility toward anything save work and +soap and water. + +We were comfortable and fairly prosperous on the little farm. My +mother, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Leacock, took an active part in +the life of the neighborhood. An education was scarce in those days. +Even school teachers did not always possess it. Mother's education was +far beyond the average, and the local school board used to require all +applicants for teachers' position to be examined by her before they +were entrusted with the tender intellects of the pioneer children. + +But the love of adventure was in father's blood. The railroad--the only +one I had ever seen--extended as far as Port Byron, Illinois, just +across the Mississippi. When the discovery of gold in California in +1849 set the whole country wild, this railroad began to bring the +Argonauts, bound for the long overland wagon journey across the Plains. +Naturally father caught the excitement. In 1850 he made a start, but it +was abandoned--why I never knew. But after that he was not content with +Iowa. In 1853 our farm and most of our goods and chattels were +converted into money. And in 1854 we all set out for Kansas, which was +soon to be opened for settlers as a Territory. + +Two wagons carried our household goods. A carriage was provided for my +mother and sisters. Father had a trading-wagon built, and stocked it +with red blankets, beads, and other goods with which to tempt the +Indians. My only brother had been killed by a fall from a horse, so I +was second in command, and proud I was of the job. + +My uncle Elijah kept a general store at Weston, Missouri, just across +the Kansas line. He was a large exporter of hemp as well as a trader. +Also he was a slave-owner. + +Weston was our first objective. Father had determined to take up a +claim in Kansas and to begin a new life in this stirring country. Had +he foreseen the dreadful consequences to himself and to his family of +this decision we might have remained in Iowa, in which case perhaps I +might have grown up an Iowa farmer, though that now seems impossible. + +Thirty days of a journey that was a constant delight to me brought us +to Weston, where we left the freight-wagons and mother and my sisters +in the care of my uncle. + +To my great joy father took me with him on his first trip into +Kansas--where he was to pick out his claim and incidentally to trade +with the Indians from our wagon. I shall never forget the thrill that +ran through me when father, pointing to the block-house at Fort +Leavenworth, said: + +"Son, you now see a real military fort for the first time in your +life." And a real fort it was. Cavalry--or dragoons as they called them +then--were engaged in saber drill, their swords flashing in the +sunlight. Artillery was rumbling over the parade ground. Infantry was +marching and wheeling. About the Post were men dressed all in buckskin +with coonskin caps or broad-brimmed slouch hats--real Westerners of +whom I had dreamed. Indians of all sorts were loafing about--all +friendly, but a new and different kind of Indians from any I had +seen--Kickapoos, Possawatomies, Delawares, Choctaws, and other tribes, +of which I had often heard. Everything I saw fascinated me. + +These drills at the Fort were no fancy dress-parades. They meant +business. A thousand miles to the west the Mormons were running things +in Utah with a high hand. No one at Fort Leavenworth doubted that these +very troops would soon be on their way to determine whether Brigham +Young or the United States Government should be supreme there. + +To the north and west the hostile Indians, constantly irritated by the +encroachments of the white man, had become a growing menace. The +block-houses I beheld were evidences of preparedness against this +danger. And in that day the rumblings of the coming struggle over +slavery could already be heard. Kansas--very soon afterward "Bleeding +Kansas"--was destined to be an early battleground. And we were soon to +know something of its tragedies. + +Free-soil men and pro-slavery men were then ready to rush across the +border the minute it was opened for settlement. Father was a Free-soil +man. His brother Elijah who, as I have said, was a slave-owner, was a +believer in the extension of slavery into the new territory. + +Knowing that the soldiers I saw today might next week be on their way +to battle made my eyes big with excitement. I could have stayed there +forever. But father had other plans, and we were soon on our way. With +our trading-wagon we climbed a hill--later named Sheridan's Ridge for +General Philip Sheridan. From its summit we had a view of Salt Creek +Valley, the most beautiful valley I have ever seen. In this valley lay +our future home. + +The hill was very steep, and I remember we had to "lock" or chain the +wagon-wheels as we descended. We made camp in the valley. The next day +father began trading with the Indians, who were so pleased with the +bargains he had to offer that they sent their friends back to us when +they departed. One of the first trades he made was for a little pony +for me--a four-year-old--which I was told I should have to break +myself. I named him Prince. I had a couple of hard falls, but I made up +my mind I was going to ride that pony or bust, and--I did not bust. + +The next evening, looking over toward the west, I saw a truly frontier +sight--a line of trappers winding down the hillside with their pack +animals. My mother had often told me of the trappers searching the +distant mountains for fur-bearing animals and living a life of +fascinating adventure. Here they were in reality. + +While some of the men prepared the skins, others built a fire and began +to get a meal. I watched them cook the dried venison, and was filled +with wonder at their method of making bread, which was to wrap the +dough about a stick and hold it over the coals till it was ready to +eat. You can imagine my rapture when one of them--a pleasant-faced +youth--looked up, and catching sight of me, invited me to share the +meal. + +Boys are always hungry, but I was especially hungry for such a meal as +that. After it was over I hurried to camp and told my father all that +had passed. At his request I brought the young trapper who had been so +kind to me over to our camp, and there he had a long talk with father, +telling him of his adventures by land and sea in all parts of the +world. + +He said that he looked forward with great interest to his arrival in +Weston, as he expected to meet an uncle, Elijah Cody. He had seen none +of his people for many years. + +"If Elijah Cody is your uncle, I am too," said my father. "You must be +the long-lost Horace Billings." + +Father had guessed right. Horace had wandered long ago from the Ohio +home and none of his family knew of his whereabouts. He had been to +South America and to California, joining a band of trappers on the +Columbia River and coming with them back across the Plains. + +When I showed him my pony he offered to help break him for me. With +very little trouble he rode the peppery little creature this way and +that, and at last when he circled back to camp I found the animal had +been mastered. + +In the days that followed Horace gave me many useful lessons as a +horseman. He was the prettiest rider I had ever seen. There had been a +stampede of horses from the Fort, and a reward of ten dollars a head +had been offered for all animals brought in. That was easy money for +Horace. I would gallop along at his side as he chased the fugitive +horses. He had a long, plaited lariat which settled surely over the +neck of the brute he was after. Then, putting a "della walt" on the +pommel of his saddle, he would check his own mount and bring his +captive to a sudden standstill. He caught and brought in five horses +the first day, and must have captured twenty-five within the next few +days, earning a sum of money which was almost a small fortune in that +time. + +Meanwhile the Territory had been opened for settlement. Our claim, over +which the Great Salt Lake trail for California passed, had been taken +up, and as soon as father and I, assisted by men he hired, could get +our log cabin up, the family came on from Weston. The cabin was a +primitive affair. There was no floor at first. But gradually we built a +floor and partitions, and made it habitable. I spent all my spare time +picking up the Kickapoo tongue from the Indian children in the +neighborhood, and listening with both ears to the tales of the wide +plains beyond. + +The great freighting firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell was then sending +its twenty-five wagon trains out from the Plains to carry supplies to +the soldiers at the frontier forts. Leavenworth was the firm's +headquarters. Russell stayed on the books, and Majors was the operating +man on the Plains. The trains were wonderful to me, each wagon with its +six yoke of oxen, wagon-masters, extra hands, assistants, bull-whackers +and cavayard driver following with herds of extra oxen. I began at +once making the acquaintance of the men, and by the end of 1854 I knew +them all. + +Up to this time, while bad blood existed between the Free-soilers and +the pro-slavery men, it had not become a killing game. The pro-slavery +Missourians were in the great majority. They harassed the Free-soilers +considerably and committed many petty persecutions, but no blood was +shed. Father's brother, Elijah, who kept the store at Weston, was known +to be a pro-slavery man, and for a time it was taken for granted that +father held the same views. But he was never at any pains to hide his +own opinions, being a man who was afraid of nothing. John Brown of +Ossawatomie, later hanged, for the Harper's Ferry raid, at Charlestown, +Va., was his friend. So were Colonel Jim Lane and many other +Abolitionists. He went to their houses openly, and they came to his. He +worked hard with the men he had hired, cutting the wild hay and +cordwood to sell to the Fort, and planting sod corn under the newly +turned sod of the farm. He also made a garden, plowing and harrowing +the soil and breaking up the sods by hitching horses to branching trees +and drawing them over the ground. He minded his own business and +avoided all the factional disputes with which the neighborhood +abounded. + +In June, 1856, when I was ten years old, father went to the Fort to +collect his pay for hay and wood he had sold there. I accompanied him +on my pony. On our return we saw a crowd of drunken horsemen in front +of Riveley's trading-post--as stores were called on the frontier. There +were many men in the crowd and they were all drunk, yelling and +shooting their pistols in the air. They caught sight of us immediately +and a few of them advanced toward us as we rode up. Father expected +trouble, but he was not a man to turn back. We rode quietly up to them, +and were about to continue on past when one of them yelled: + +"There's that abolition cuss now. Git him up here and make him declar' +hisself!" + +"Git off that hoss, Cody!" shouted another. + +By this time more than a dozen men were crowding about father, cursing +and abusing him. Soon they tore him from his horse. One of them rolled +a drygoods box from the store. + +"Now," he said, "git up on that thar box, and tell us whar' ye stand." + +Standing on the box, father looked at the ringleaders with no sign of +fear. + +"I am not ashamed of my views," he said, quietly. "I am not an +Abolitionist, and never have been. I think it is better to let slavery +alone in the States where it is now. But I am not at all afraid to tell +you that I am opposed to its extension, and that I believe that it +should be kept out of Kansas." + +His speech was followed by a wild yell of derision. Men began crowding +around him, cursing and shaking their fists. One of them, whom I +recognized as Charlie Dunn, an employee of my Uncle Elijah, worked his +way through the crowd, and jumped up on the box directly behind father. +I saw the gleam of a knife. The next instant, without a groan, father +fell forward stabbed in the back. Somehow I got off my pony and ran to +his assistance, catching him as he fell. His weight overbore me but I +eased him as he came to the ground. + +Dunn was still standing, knife in hand, seeking a chance for another +thrust. + +"Look out, ye'll stab the kid!" somebody yelled. Another man, with a +vestige of decency, restrained the murderer. Riveley came out of the +store. There was a little breaking up of the crowd. Dunn was got away. +What happened to him later I shall tell you in another chapter. + +With the help of a friend I got father into a wagon, when the crowd had +gone. I held his head in my lap during the ride home. I believed he was +mortally wounded. He had been stabbed down through the kidneys, leaving +an ugly wound. But he did not die of it--then. Mother nursed him +carefully and had he been spared further persecution, he might have +survived. But this was only the beginning. + +The pro-slavers waited a few days, and finding there was no move to +molest them, grew bold. They announced that they were coming to our +house to finish their work. + +One night we heard that a party was organized to carry out this +purpose. As quietly as possible mother helped take father out into the +sod corn, which then grew tall and thick close about the cabin. She put +a shawl round him and a sun-bonnet on his head to disguise him as he +was taken out. + +There in the sod corn we made him a bed of hay and blankets and there +we kept him for days, carrying food to him by night. These were anxious +days for my mother and her little family. My first real work as a scout +began then, for I had to keep constantly on the watch for raids by the +ruffians, who had now sworn that father must die. + +As soon as he was able to walk we decided that he must be got away. +Twenty-five miles distant, at Grasshopper Falls, were a party of his +friends. There he hoped one day to plant a colony. With the help of a +few friends we moved him thither one night, but word of his whereabouts +soon reached his enemies. + +I kept constantly on the alert, and, hearing that a party had set out +to murder him at the Falls, I got into the saddle and sped out to warn +him. + +At a ford on the way I ran into the gang, who had stopped to water +their horses. + +As I galloped past, one of them yelled: "There's Cody's kid now on his +way to warn his father. Stop, you, and tell us where your old man is." + +A pistol shot, to terrify me into obedience, accompanied the command. I +may have been terrified, but it was not into obedience. I got out of +there like a shot, and though they rode hard on my trail my pony was +too fast for them. My warning was in time. + +We got father as quickly as we could to Lawrence, which was an +abolition stronghold, and where he was safe for the time being. He +gradually got back a part of his strength, enough of it at any rate to +enable him to take part in the repulse of a raid of Missourians who +came over to burn Lawrence and lynch the Abolitionists. They were +driven back across the Missouri River by the Lawrence men, who trapped +them into an ambush and so frightened them that for the present they +rode on their raids no more. + +When father returned to Salt Creek Valley the persecutions began again. +The gangsters drove off all our stock and killed all our pigs and even +the chickens. One night Judge Sharpe, a disreputable old alcoholic who +had been elected a justice of the peace, came to the house and demanded +a meal. Mother, trembling for the safety of her husband, who lay sick +upstairs, hastened to get it for him. As the old scoundrel sat waiting +he caught sight of me. + +"Look yere, kid," he shouted, "ye see this knife?" + +He drew a long, wicked bowie. "Well, I'm going to sharpen that to +finish up the job that Charlie Dunn began the other day." And scowling +horribly at me he began whetting the knife on a stone he picked up from +the table. + +Now, I knew something about a gun, and there was a gun handy. It was +upstairs, and I lost no time in getting it. Sitting on the stairs I +cocked it and held it across my knees. I am sure that I should have +shot him had he attempted to come up those stairs. + +He didn't test my shooting ability, however. He got even with me by +taking my beloved pony, Prince, when he left. Mother pleaded with him +to leave it, for it was the only animal we had, but she might as well +have pleaded with a wildcat. + +We had now been reduced to utter destitution. Our only food was what +rabbits and birds I could trap and catch with the help of our faithful +old dog Turk, and the sod corn which we grated into flour. Father could +be of no service to us. His presence, in fact, was merely a menace. So, +with the help of Brown, Jim Lane and other Free-soilers, he made his +way back to Ohio and began recruiting for his Grasshopper Falls colony. + +He returned to us in the spring of '57 mortally ill. The wound +inflicted by Dunn had at last fulfilled the murderer's purpose. Father +died in the little log-house, the first man to shed his blood in the +fight against the extension of slavery into the Northern Territories. + +I was eleven years old, and the only man of the family. I made up my +mind to be a breadwinner. + +At that time the Fort was full of warlike preparations. A great number +of troops were being assembled to send against the Mormons. Trouble had +been long expected. United States Judges and Federal officers sent to +the Territory of Utah had been flouted. Some of them never dared take +their seats. Those who did asked assistance. Congress at last decided +to give it to them. General Harney was to command the expedition. Col. +Albert Sidney Johnston, afterward killed at Shiloh, where he fought on +the Confederate side, was in charge of the expedition to which the +earliest trains were to be sent. + +Many of the soldiers had already pushed on ahead. Russell, Majors & +Waddell were awarded the contract for taking them supplies and beef +cattle. The supplies were forwarded in the long trains of twenty-five +wagons, of which I have told you. The cattle were driven after the +soldiers, the herds often falling many miles behind them. + +I watched these great preparations eagerly, and it occurred to me that +I ought to have a share in them. I went to Mr. Majors, whom I always +called Uncle Aleck, and asked him for a job. I told him of our +situation, and that I needed it very badly for the support of my mother +and family. + +"But you're only a boy, Billy," he objected. "What can you do?" + +"I can ride as well as a man," I said. "I could drive cavayard, +couldn't I?" Driving cavayard is herding the extra cattle that follow +the wagon train. + +Mr. Majors agreed that I could do this, and consented to employ me. I +was to receive a man's wages, forty dollars a month and food, and the +wages were to be paid to my mother while I was gone. With forty dollars +a month she would be able to support her daughters and my baby brother +in comfort. Before I was allowed to go to work Uncle Aleck handed me +the oath which every one of his employees must sign. I did my best to +live up to its provisions, but I am afraid that the profanity clause at +least was occasionally violated by some of the bull-whackers. Here is +the oath: + + "We, the undersigned wagon-masters, assistants, teamsters and all + other employees of the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, do hereby + sign that we will not swear, drink whisky, play cards or be cruel + to dumb beasts in any way, shape or form. + + his + (Signed) "WILLIAM FREDERICK X CODY." + mark + +I signed it with my mark, for I could not write then. After +administering this ironclad oath Mr. Majors gave each man a Testament. + +My first job was that of accompanying a herd of cattle destined for +beef for the troops that had gone on ahead. Bill McCarthy, boss of the +outfit, was a typical Westerner, rough but courageous, and with plenty +of experience on the frontier. + +We progressed peacefully enough till we made Plum Creek, thirty-six +miles west of Fort Kearney, on the South Platte. The trip had been full +of excitement for me. The camp life was rough, the bacon often rusty +and the flour moldy, but the hard work gave us big appetites. Plainsmen +learn not to be particular. + +I remember that on some of our trips we obtained such "luxuries" as +dried apples and beans as part of our supplies. We could only have +these once every two or three days, and their presence in the mess was +always a glad occasion. + +We were nooning at Plum Creek, the cattle spread out over the prairie +to graze in charge of two herders. Suddenly there was a sharp Bang! +Bang! Bang! and a thunder of hoofs. + +"Indians! They've shot the herders and stampeded the cattle!" cried +McCarthy. "Get under the banks of the river, boys--use 'em for a +breastwork!" + +We obeyed orders quickly. The Platte, a wide, shallow, muddy stream, +flows under banks which vary from five to thirty feet in height. Behind +them we were in much the position of European soldiers in a trench. We +had our guns, and if the Indians showed over the bank could have made +it hot for them. + +McCarthy told us to keep together and to make our way down the river to +Fort Kearney, the nearest refuge. It was a long and wearying journey, +but our lives depended on keeping along the river bed. Often we would +have to wade the stream which, while knee-deep to the men, was +well-nigh waist-deep to me. Gradually I fell behind, and when night +came I was dragging one weary step after another--dog-tired but still +clinging to my old Mississippi Yaeger rifle, a short muzzle-loader +which carried a ball and two buckshot. + +Darkness came, and I still toiled along. The men ahead were almost out +of hearing. Presently the moon rose, dead ahead of me. And painted +boldly across its face was the black figure of an Indian. There could +be no mistaking him for a white man. He wore the war-bonnet of the +Sioux, and at his shoulder was a rifle, pointed at someone in the +bottom below him. I knew well enough that in another second he would +drop one of my friends. So I raised my Yaeger and fired. I saw the +figure collapse, and heard it come tumbling thirty feet down the bank, +landing with a splash in the water. + +McCarthy and the rest of the party, hearing the shot, came back in a +hurry. + +"What is it?" asked McCarthy, when he came up to me. + +"I don't know," I said. "Whatever it is, it is down there in the +water." + +McCarthy ran over to the brave. "Hi!" he cried. "Little Billy's killed +an Indian all by himself!" + +Not caring to meet any of this gentleman's friends we pushed on still +faster toward Fort Kearney, which we reached about daylight. We were +given food and sent to bed, while the soldiers set out to look for our +slain comrades and to try to recover our cattle. + +Soldiers from Fort Leavenworth found the herders, killed and mutilated +in the Indian fashion. But the cattle had been stampeded among the +buffalo and it was impossible to recover a single head. + +We were taken back to Leavenworth on one of the returning freight +wagon-trains. The news of my exploit was noised about and made me the +envy of all the boys of the neighborhood. The Leavenworth _Times_, +published by D.B. Anthony, sent a reporter to get the story of the +adventure, and in it my name was printed for the first time as the +youngest Indian slayer of the Plains. + +I was persuaded now that I was destined to lead a life on the Plains. +The two months that our ill-fated expedition had consumed had not +discouraged me. Once more I applied to Mr. Majors for a job. + +"You seem to have a reputation as a frontiersman, Billy," he said; "I +guess I'll have to give yon another chance." He turned me over to Lew +Simpson, who was boss of a twenty-five wagon-train just starting with +supplies for General Albert Sidney Johnston's army, which was then on +its way to Great Salt Lake to fight the Mormons, whose Destroying +Angels, or Danites, were engaged in many outrages on Gentile +immigrants. + +Simpson appeared to be glad to have me. "We need Indian fighters, +Billy," he told me, and giving me a mule to ride assigned me to a job +as cavayard driver. + +Our long train, twenty-five wagons in a line, each with its six yoke of +oxen, rolled slowly out of Leavenworth over the western trail. +Wagon-master assistants, bull-whackers--thirty men in all not to +mention the cavayard driver--it was an imposing sight. This was to be a +long journey, clear to the Utah country, and I eagerly looked forward +to new adventures. + +The first of these came suddenly. We were strung out over the trail +near the Platte, about twenty miles from the scene of the Indian attack +on McCarthy's outfit, watching the buffalo scattered to right and left +of us, when we heard two or three shots, fired in rapid succession. + +Before we could find out who fired them, down upon us came a herd of +buffalo, charging in a furious stampede. There was no time to do +anything but jump behind our wagons. The light mess-wagon was drawn by +six yoke of Texas steers which instantly became part of the stampede, +tearing away over the prairie with the buffalo, our wagon following +along behind. The other wagons were too heavy for the steers to gallop +away with; otherwise the whole outfit would have gone. + +I remember that one big bull came galloping down between two yoke of +oxen, tearing away the gooseneck and the heavy chain with each lowered +horn. I can still see him as he rushed away with these remarkable +decorations dangling from either side. Whether or not his new ornaments +excited the admiration of his fellows when the herd came to a stand +later in the day, I can only guess. + +The descent of the buffalo upon us lasted only a few minutes, but so +much damage was done that three days were required to repair it before +we could move on. We managed to secure our mess-wagon, again, which was +lucky, for it contained all our provender. + +We learned afterward that the stampede had been caused by a returning +party of California gold-seekers, whose shots into the herd had been +our first warning of what was coming. Twice before we neared the Mormon +country we were attacked by Indians. The army was so far ahead that +they had become bold. We beat off the attacks, but lost two men. + +It was white men, however, not Indians, who were to prove our most +dangerous enemies. Arriving near Green River we were nooning on a ridge +about a mile and a half from a little creek, Halm's Fork, where the +stock were driven to water. This was a hundred and fifteen miles east +of Salt Lake City, and well within the limits of the Mormon country. + +Most of the outfit had driven the cattle to the creek, a mile and a +half distant, and were returning slowly, while the animals grazed along +the way back to camp. I was with them. We were out of sight of the +wagons. + +As we rose the hill a big bearded man, mounted and surrounded by a +party of armed followers, rode up to our wagon-master. + +"Throw up your hands, Simpson!" said the leader, who knew Simpson's +name and his position. + +Simpson was a brave man, but the strangers had the drop and up went his +hands. At the same time we saw that the wagons were surrounded by +several hundred men, all mounted and armed, and the teamsters all +rounded up in a bunch. We knew that we had fallen into the hands of the +Mormon Danites, or Destroying Angels, the ruffians who perpetrated the +dreadful Mountain Meadows Massacre of the same year. The leader was Lot +Smith, one of the bravest and most determined of the whole crowd. + +"Now, Simpson," he said, "we are going to be kind to you. You can have +one wagon with the cattle to draw it. Get into it all the provisions +and blankets you can carry, and turn right round and go back to the +Missouri River. You're headed in the wrong direction." + +"Can we have our guns?" asked Simpson. + +"Not a gun." + +"Six-shooters?" + +"Not a six-shooter. Nothing but food and blankets." + +"How are we going to protect ourselves on the way?" + +"That's your business. We're doing you a favor to spare your lives." + +All Simpson's protests were in vain. There were thirty of us against +several hundred of them. Mormons stood over us while we loaded a wagon +till it sagged with provisions, clothing and blankets. They had taken +away every rifle and every pistol we possessed. Ordering us to hike for +the East, and informing us that we would be shot down if we attempted +to turn back, they watched us depart. + +When we had moved a little way off we saw a blaze against the sky +behind us, and knew that our wagon-train had been fired. The greasy +bacon made thick black smoke and a bright-red flame, and for a long +time the fire burned, till nothing was left but the iron bolts and +axles and tires. + +Smith's party, which had been sent out to keep all supplies from +reaching Johnston's army, had burned two other wagon-trains that same +day, as we afterward learned. The wagons were all completely consumed, +and for the next few years the Mormons would ride out to the scenes to +get the iron that was left in the ashes. + +Turned adrift on the desert with not a weapon to defend ourselves was +hardly a pleasant prospect. It meant a walk of a thousand miles home to +Leavenworth. The wagon was loaded to its full capacity. There was +nothing to do but walk. I was not yet twelve years old, but I had to +walk with the rest the full thousand miles, and we made nearly thirty +miles a day. + +Fortunately we were not molested by Indians. From passing wagon-trains +we got a few rifles, all they could spare, and with these we were able +to kill game for fresh meat. I wore out three pairs of moccasins on +that journey, and learned then that the thicker are the soles of your +shoes, the easier are your feet on a long walk over rough ground. + +After a month of hard travel we reached Leavenworth. I set out at once +for the log-cabin home, whistling as I walked, and the first to welcome +me was my old dog Turk, who came tearing toward me and almost knocked +me down in his eagerness. I am sure my mother and sisters were mighty +glad to see me. They had feared that I might never return. + +My next journey over the Plains was begun under what, to me, were very +exciting circumstances. I spent the winter of '57-'58 at school. My +mother was anxious about my education. But the master of the frontier +school wore out several armfuls of hazel switches in a vain effort to +interest me in the "three R's." + +I kept thinking of my short but adventurous past. And as soon as +another opportunity offered to return to it I seized it eagerly. + +That spring my former boss, Lew Simpson, was busily organizing a +"lightning bull team" for his employers, Russell, Majors & Waddell. +Albert Sidney Johnston's soldiers, then moving West, needed supplies, +and needed them in a hurry. Thus far the mule was the reindeer of draft +animals, and mule trains were forming to hurry the needful supplies to +the soldiers. + +But Simpson had great faith in the bull. A picked bull train, he +allowed, could beat a mule train all hollow on a long haul. All he +wanted was a chance to prove it. + +His employers gave him the chance. For several weeks he had been +picking his animals for the outfit. And now he was to begin what is +perhaps the most remarkable race ever made across the Plains. + +A mule train was to start a week after Simpson's lightning bulls began +their westward course. Whichever outfit got to Fort Laramie first would +be the winner. No more excitement could have been occasioned had the +contestants been a reindeer and a jack-rabbit. To my infinite delight +Simpson let me join his party. + +My thousand-mile tramp over the Plains had cured me of the walking +habit and I was glad to find that this time I was to have a horse to +ride--part of the way, anyhow. I was to be an extra hand--which meant +that by turns I was to be a bull-whacker, driver and general-utility +man. + +I remember that our start was a big event. Men, women and children +watched our chosen animals amble out of Salt Creek. The "mule +skinners," busy with preparations for their own departure, stopped work +to jeer us. + +"We'll ketch you in a couple of days or so!" yelled Tom Stewart, boss +of the mule outfit. + +But Simpson only grinned. Jeers couldn't shake his confidence either in +himself or his long-horned motive power. + +We made the first hundred and fifty miles easily. I was glad to be a +plainsman once more, and took a lively interest in everything that went +forward. We were really making speed, too, which added to the +excitement. The ordinary bull team could do about fifteen miles a day. +Under Simpson's command his specially selected bulls were doing +twenty-five, and doing it right along. + +But one day, while we were nooning about one hundred and fifty miles on +the way, one of the boys shouted: "Here come the mules!" + +Presently Stewart's train came shambling up, and a joyful lot the "mule +skinners" were at what they believed their victory. + +But it was a short-lived victory. At the end of the next three hundred +miles we found them, trying to cross the Platte, and making heavy work +of it. The grass fodder had told on the mules. Supplies from other +sources were now exhausted. There were no farms, no traders, no grain +to be had. The race had become a race of endurance, and the strongest +stomachs were destined to be the winners. + +Stewart made a bad job of the crossing. The river was high, and his +mules quickly mired down in the quicksand. The more they pawed the +deeper they went. + +Simpson picked a place for crossing below the ford Stewart had chosen. +He put enough bulls on a wagon to insure its easy progress, and the +bulls wallowed through the sand on their round bellies, using their +legs as paddles. + +Steward pulled ahead again after he had crossed the river, but soon his +mules grew too feeble to make anything like their normal speed. We +passed them for good and all a few days farther on, and were far ahead +when we reached the North Platte. + +Thus ended a race that I shall never forget. Since that time the +stage-coach has outdistanced the bull team, the pony express has swept +past the stage-coach, the locomotive has done in an hour what the +prairie schooner did in three or four days. Soon the aeroplane will be +racing with the automobile for the cross-country record. + +But the bull team and the mule team were the continental carriers of +that day, and I am very glad that I took part--on the winning side--in +a race between them. + +We soon began meeting parties of soldiers, and lightening our loads by +issuing supplies to them. When at last we reacted Fort Laramie, the +outfit was ordered to Fort Walback, located in Cheyenne Pass, +twenty-five miles from where Cheyenne stands today, and ninety miles +from Fort Laramie. + +This was in the very heart of the Indian country. Our animals were to +haul in plows, tools and whatever was necessary in the constructing of +the new fort then building. The wagon-beds were taken from the wagons +to enable the hauling of greater loads. The beds were piled up at Fort +Laramie, and I was assigned to watch them. It was here that I had +abundant time and opportunity to study the West at first hand. +Heretofore I had been on the march. Now I was on fixed post with plenty +of time for observation. + +Fort Laramie was an old frontier post, such as has not existed for many +years. Nearby, three or four thousand Sioux, Northern Cheyennes and +Northern Arapahoes were encamped, most of them spending much of the +time at the post. Laramie had been established by a fur-trading company +in 1834. In 1840 or thereabouts the Government bought it and made it a +military post. It had become the most famous meeting-place of the +Plains. Here the greatest Indian councils were held, and here also came +the most celebrated of the Indian fighters, men whose names had long +been known to me, but whom I never dared hope to see. + +Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Baker, Richards and other of the celebrated +hunters, trappers and Indian fighters were as familiar about the post +as are bankers in Wall Street. All these men fascinated me, especially +Carson, a small, dapper, quiet man whom everybody held in profound +respect. + +I used to sit for hours and watch him and the others talk to the +Indians in the sign language. Without a sound they would carry on long +and interesting conversations, tell stories, inquire about game and +trails, and discuss pretty much everything that men find worth +discussing. + +I was naturally desirous of mastering this mysterious medium of speech, +and began my education in it with far more interest than I had given to +the "three R's" back at Salt Creek. My wagon-beds became splendid +playhouses for the Indian children from the villages, who are very much +like other children, despite their red skins. + +I joined them in their games, and from them picked up a fair working +knowledge of the Sioux language. The acquaintance I formed here was to +save my scalp and life later, but I little suspected it then. + +I spent the summer of '58 in and about Laramie. I was getting to be a +big, husky boy now, and felt that I had entered on what was to be my +career--as indeed I had. + +In January, '59, Simpson was ordered back to Missouri as brigade +train-master of three wagon-trains, traveling a day apart. Because of +much travel the grass along the regular trail was eaten so close that +the feed for the bulls was scanty. + +Instead of following the trail down the South Platte, therefore, +Simpson picked a new route along the North Platte. There was no road, +but the grass was still long, and forage for the cattle was necessary. + +We had accomplished about half our journey with no sign of hostile +Indians. Then one day, as Simpson, George Woods and I were riding ahead +to overtake the lead train, a party of Sioux bore down on us, plainly +intent on mischief. There was little time to act. No cover of any kind +was to be had. For us three, even with our rifles, to have stood up +against the Sioux in the open would have been suicide. Simpson had been +trained to think quickly. Swinging the three mules so that they formed +a triangle, he drew his six-shooter and dropped them where they stood. + +"Now there's a little cover, boys," he said, and we all made ready for +the attack. + +Our plan of defense was now made for us. First rifles, then, at closer +quarters, revolvers. If it came to a hand-to-hand conflict we had our +knives as a last resort. + +The Sioux drew up when they saw how quickly Simpson's wit had built a +barricade for us. Then the arrows began to fly and among them spattered +a few bullets. We were as sparing as possible with our shots. Most of +them told. I had already learned how to use a rifle, and was glad +indeed that I had. If ever a boy stood in need of that kind of +preparedness I did. + +Down came the Indians, with the blood-curdling yell which is always a +feature of their military strategy. We waited till they got well within +range. Then at Simpson's order we fired. Three ponies galloped +riderless over the prairie, and our besiegers hesitated, then wheeled, +and rode out of range. But our rest was short. Back they came. Again we +fired, and had the good fortune to stop three more of them. + +Simpson patted me encouragingly on the shoulder. "You're all right, +Billy!" he said, and his praise was music to my ears. + +By this time our poor dead mules, who had given their lives for ours, +were stuck full of arrows. Woods had been winged in the shoulder. +Simpson, carefully examining the wound, expressed his belief that the +arrow which inflicted it had not been poisoned. + +[Illustration: A SHOWER OF ARROWS RAINED ON OUR DEAD MULES FROM THE +CLOSING CIRCLE OF RED-MEN] + +But we had little time to worry about that or anything else. Our +enemies were still circling, just out of range. Here and there when +they grew incautious we dropped a man or a pony. But we were still +heavily outnumbered. They knew it and we knew it. Unless help came it +was only a question of time till it was all over. + +Daylight came and they still held off. Eagerly we looked to the +westward, but no wagon-train appeared. We began to fear that something +had happened to our friends, when, suddenly one of the Indians jumped +up, and with every evidence of excitement signaled to the others. In an +instant they were all mounted. + +"They hear the crack of the bull-whip," said Woods. + +He was right. Without another glance in our direction the Sioux +galloped away toward the foot-hills, and as they disappeared we heard +the welcome snap of the long bull-whip, and saw the first of our wagons +coming up the trail. In that day, however, the plainsman was delivered +out of one peril only to be plunged into another. His days seldom +dragged for want of excitement. + +When we got to Leavenworth, Simpson sent three of us ahead with the +train-book record of the men's time, so that their money would be ready +for them when they arrived at Leavenworth. + +Our boss's admonition to ride only at night and to lie under cover in +daytime was hardly needed. We cared for no more Indian adventures just +then. + +We made fairly good progress till we got to the Little Blue, in +Colorado. It was an uncomfortable journey, finding our way by the stars +at night and lying all day in such shelters as were to be found. But +the inconvenience of it was far preferable to being made targets for +Indian arrows. + +We were sheltered one night from one of the fearful prairie blizzards +that make fall and winter terrible. We had found a gulley washed out by +an autumn storm, and it afforded a little protection against the wind. +Looking down the ravine I saw ponies moving. I knew there were Indians +near, and we looked about for a hiding-place. + +At the head of the ravine I had noticed a cave-like hollow. I signaled +to the two men to follow me, and soon we were snug in a safe +hiding-place. As we were settling down to rest one of the men lit his +pipe. As the cave was illuminated by the glow of the match there was a +wild yell. I thought all the Indians in the world had jumped us. But +the yell had come from my companions. + +We were in the exact center of the most grew-some collection of human +skulls and bones I have ever seen. Bones were strewn on the floor of +the cave like driftwood. Skulls were grinning at us from every corner +of the darkness. We had stumbled into a big grave where some of the +Indians had hidden their dead away from the wolves after a battle. It +may be that none of us were superstitious, but we got out of there in a +hurry, and braved the peril of the storm and the Indians as best we +could. + +I was a rich boy when I got to Leavenworth. I had nearly a thousand +dollars to turn over to my mother as soon as I should draw my pay. +After a joyful reunion with the family I hitched up a pair of ponies, +and drove her over so that she could witness this pleasing ceremony. As +we were driving home, I heard her sobbing, and was deeply concerned, +for this seemed to me no occasion for tears. I was quick to ask the +reason, and her answer made me serious. + +"You couldn't even write your name, Willie," she said. "You couldn't +sign the payroll. To think my boy cannot so much as write his name!" + +I thought that over all the way home, and determined it should never +happen again. + +In Uncle Aleck Majors' book, "Seventy Years on the Frontier," he +relates how on every wagon-sheet and wagon-bed, on every tree and barn +door, he used to find the name "William F. Cody" in a large, uncertain +scrawl. Those were my writing lessons, and I took them daily until I +had my signature plastered pretty well over the whole of Salt Creek +Valley. + +I went to school for a time after that, and at last began really to +take an interest in education. But the Pike's Peak gold rush took me +with it. I could never resist the call of the trail. With another boy +who knew as little of gold-mining as I did we hired out with a +bull-train for Denver, then called Aurora. + +We each had fifty dollars when we got to the gold country, and with it +we bought an elaborate outfit. But there was no mining to be done save +by expensive machinery, and we had our labor for our pains. At last, +both of us strapped, we got work as timber cutters, which lasted only +until we found it would take us a week to fell a tree. At last we hired +out once more as bull-whackers. That job we understood, and at it we +earned enough money to take us home. + +We hired a carpenter to build us a boat, loaded it with grub and +supplies, and started gayly down the Platte for home. But the bad luck +of that trip held steadily. The boat was overturned in swift and +shallow water, and we were stranded, wet and helpless, on the bank, +many miles from home or anywhere else. + +Then a miracle happened. Along the trail we heard the familiar crack of +a bull-whip, and when the train came up we found it was the same with +which we had enlisted for the outward journey, returning to Denver with +mining machinery. Among this machinery was a big steam-boiler, the +first to be taken into Colorado. On the way out the outfit had been +jumped by Indians. The wagon boss, knowing the red man's fear of +cannon, had swung the great boiler around so that it had appeared to +point at them. Never was so big a cannon. Even the 42-centimeter +howitzers of today could not compare with it. The Indians took one look +at it, then departed that part of the country as fast as their ponies +could travel. + +We stuck with the train into Denver and back home again, and glad we +were to retire from gold-mining. + +Soon after my return to Salt Creek Valley I decided on another and, I +thought, a better way to make a fortune for myself and my family. + +During my stay in and about Fort Laramie I had seen much of the Indian +traders, and accompanied them on a number of expeditions. Their +business was to sell to the Indians various things they needed, chiefly +guns and ammunition, and to take in return the current Indian coin, +which consisted of furs. + +With the supplies bought by the money I had earned on the trip with +Simpson, mother and my sisters were fairly comfortable. I felt that I +should be able to embark in the fur business on my own account--not as +a trader but as a trapper. + +With my friend Dave Harrington as a companion I set out. Harrington was +older than I, and had trapped before in the Rockies. I was sure that +with my knowledge of the Plains and his of the ways of the fur-bearing +animals, we should form an excellent partnership, as in truth we did. + +We bought a yoke of oxen, a wagon-sheet, wagon, traps of all sorts, and +strychnine with which to poison wolves. Also we laid in a supply of +grub--no luxuries, but coffee, flour, bacon and everything that we +actually needed to sustain life. + +We headed west, and about two hundred miles from home we struck Prairie +Creek, where we found abundant signs of beaver, mink, otter and other +fur-bearing animals. No Indians had troubled us, and we felt safe in +establishing headquarters here and beginning work. The first task was +to build a dugout in a hillside, which we roofed with brush, long +grass, and finally dirt, making everything snug and cozy. A little +fireplace in the wall served as both furnace and kitchen. Outside we +built a corral for the oxen, which completed our camp. + +Our trapping was successful from the start, and we were sure that +prosperity was at last in sight. + +We set our steel traps along the "runs" used by the animals, taking +great care to hide our tracks, and give the game no indication of the +presence of an enemy. The pelts began to pile up in our shack. Most of +the day we were busy at the traps, or skinning and salting the hides, +and at night we would sit by our little fire and swap experiences till +we fell asleep. Always there was the wail of the coyotes and the cries +of other animals without, but as long as we saw no Indians we were not +worried. + +One night, just as we were dozing off, we heard a tremendous commotion +in the corral. Harrington grabbed his gun and hurried out. He was just +in time to see a big bear throw one of our oxen and proceed with the +work of butchering him. + +He fired, and the bear, slightly wounded, left the ox and turned his +attention to his assailant. He was leaping at my partner, growling +savagely when I, gun in hand, rounded the corner of the shack. I took +the best aim I could get in the dark, and the bear, which was within a +few feet of my friend, rolled over dead. + +Making sure that he was past harming us we turned our attention to the +poor bull, but he was too far gone to recover, and another bullet put +him out of his misery. + +We were now left without a team, and two hundred miles from home. But +wealth in the shape of pelts was accumulating about us, and we +determined to stick it out till spring. Then one of us could go to the +nearest settlement for a teammate for our remaining steer, while the +other stayed in charge of the camp. + +This plan had to be carried out far sooner than we expected. A few days +later we espied a herd of elk, which meant plentiful and excellent +meat. We at once started in pursuit. Creeping stealthily along toward +them, keeping out of sight, and awaiting an opportunity to get a good +shot, I slipped on a stone in the creek bed. + +"Snap!" went something and looking down I saw my foot hanging useless. +I had broken my leg just above the ankle and my present career as a +fur-trapper had ended. + +I was very miserable when Harrington came up. I urged him to shoot me +as he had the ox, but he laughingly replied that that would hardly do. + +"I'll bring you out all right!" he said. "I owe you a life anyway for +saving me from that bear. I learned a little something about surgery +when I was in Illinois, and I guess I can fix you up." + +He got me back to camp after a long and painful hour and with a +wagon-bow, which he made into a splint, set the fracture. But our +enterprise was at an end. Help would have to be found now, and before +spring. One man and a cripple could never get through the winter. + +It was determined that Harrington must go for this needful assistance +just as soon as possible. He placed me on our little bunk, with plenty +of blankets to cover me. All our provisions he put within my reach. A +cup was lashed to a long sapling, and Harrington made a hole in the +side of the dugout so that I could reach this cup out to a snow-bank +for my water supply. + +Lastly he cut a great pile of wood and heaped it near the fire. Without +leaving the bunk I could thus do a little cooking, keep the fire up, +and eat and sleep. It was not a situation that I would have chosen, but +there was nothing else to do. + +The nearest settlement was a hundred and twenty-five miles distant. +Harrington figured that he could make the round trip in twenty days. My +supplies were ample to last that long. I urged him to start as soon as +possible, that he might the sooner return with a new yoke of oxen. Then +I could be hauled out to where medical attendance was to be had. + +I watched him start off afoot, and my heart was heavy. But soon I +stopped thinking of my pain and began to find ways and means to cure my +loneliness. We had brought with us a number of books, and these I read +through most of my waking hours. But the days grew longer and longer +for all that. Every morning when I woke I cut a notch in a long stick +to mark its coming. I had cut twelve of these notches when one morning +I was awakened from a sound sleep by the touch of a hand on my +shoulder. + +Instantly concluding that Harrington had returned, I was about to cry +out in delight when I caught a glimpse of a war-bonnet, surmounting the +ugly, painted face of a Sioux brave. + +The brilliant colors that had been smeared on his visage told me more +forcibly than words could have done that his tribe was on the warpath. +It was a decidedly unpleasant discovery for me. + +While he was asking me in the Sioux language what I was doing there, +and how many more were in the party, other braves began crowding +through the door till the little dugout was packed as full of Sioux +warriors as it could hold. + +Outside I could hear the stamping of horses and the voices of more +warriors. I made up my mind it was all over but the scalping. + +And then a stately old brave worked his way through the crowd and came +toward my bunk. It was plain from the deference accorded him by the +others that he was a chief. And as soon as I set eyes on him I +recognized him as old Rain-in-the-Face, whom I had often seen and +talked with at Fort Laramie, and whose children taught me the Sioux +language as we played about the wagon-beds together. Among these +children was the son who succeeded to the name of Rain-in-the-Face, and +who years later, it is asserted, killed General George A. Custer in the +massacre of the Little Big Horn. + +I showed the chief my broken leg, and asked him if he did not remember +me. He replied that he did. I asked him if he intended to kill the boy +who had been his children's playmate. He consulted with his warriors, +who had begun busily to loot the cabin. After a long parley the old man +told me that my life would be spared, but my gun and pistol and all my +provisions would be regarded as the spoils of the war. + +Vainly I pointed out that he might as well kill me as leave me without +food or the means to defend myself against wolves. He said that his +young men had granted a great deal in consenting to spare my life. As +for food, he pointed to the carcass of a deer that hung from the wall. + +The next morning they mounted their ponies and galloped away. I was +glad enough to see them go. I knew that my life had hung by a thread +while I had been their involuntary host. Only my friendship with the +children of old Rain-in-the-Face had saved me. + +But, even with the Indians gone, I was in a desperate situation. As +they had taken all my matches I had to keep the fire going +continuously. This meant that I could not sleep long at a time, the +lack of rest soon began to tell on me. I would cut slices from the deer +carcass with my knife, and holding it over the fire with a long stick, +cook it, eating it without salt. Coffee I must do without altogether. + +The second day after the departure of the Indians a great snow fell. +The drifts blocked the doorway and covered the windows. It lay to a +depth of several feet on the roof over my head. My woodpile was covered +by the snow that drifted in and it was with great difficulty that I +could get enough wood to keep my little fire going. And on that fire +depended my life. Worse than all these troubles was the knowledge that +the heavy snow would be sure to delay Harrington. + +I would lie there, day after day, a prey to all sorts of dark +imaginings. I fancied him killed by Indians on the trail, or snowbound +and starving on the Plains. Each morning my notches on my calendar +stick were made. Gradually their number grew till at last the twentieth +was duly cut. But no Harrington came. + +The wolves, smelling meat within, had now begun to gather round in +increasing numbers. They made the night hideous with their howlings, +and pawed and scratched and dug at the snow by the doorway, determined +to come in and make a meal of everything the dugout contained, myself +included. + +How I endured it I do not know. But the Plains teach men and boys +fortitude. Many and many a time as I lay there I resolved that if I +should ever be spared to go back to my home and friends, the frontier +should know me no more. + +It was on the twenty-ninth day, as marked on stick, when I had about +given up hope, that I heard a cheerful voice shouting "Whoa!" and +recognized it as the voice of Harrington. A criminal on the scafford +with the noose about his neck and the trap sagging underneath his feet +could not have welcomed a pardon more eagerly than I welcomed my +deliverance out of this torture-chamber. + +I could make no effort to open the door for him. But I found voice to +answer him when he cried "Hello, Billy!" and in response to his +question assured him that I was all right. He soon cleared a passageway +through the snow, and stood beside me. + +"I never expected to see you alive again," he said; "I had a terrible +trip. I didn't think I should ever get through--caught in the snowstorm +and laid up for three days. The cattle wandered away and I came within +an ace of losing them altogether. When I got started again the snow was +so deep I couldn't make much headway." + +"Well, you're here," I said, giving him a hug. + +Harrington had made a trip few men could have made. He had risked his +life to save mine. All alone he had brought a yoke of oxen over a +country where the trails were all obscured and the blinding snow made +every added mile more perilous. + +I was still unable to walk, and he had to do all the work of packing up +for the trip home. In a few days he had loaded the pelts on board the +wagon, covered it with the wagon-sheet we had used in the dugout, and +made me a comfortable bed inside. We had three hundred beaver and one +hundred otter skins to show for our work. That meant a lot of money +when we should get them to the settlements. + +On the eighth day of the journey home we reached a ranch on the +Republican River, where we rested for a couple of days. Then we went on +to the ranch where Harrington had obtained his cattle and paid for the +yoke with twenty-five beaver skins, the equivalent of a hundred dollars +in money. + +At the end of twenty days' travel we reached Salt Creek Valley, where I +was welcomed by my mother and sisters as one returned from the dead. + +So grateful was my mother to Harrington for what he had done for me +that she insisted on his making his home with us. This he decided to +do, and took charge of our farm. The next spring, this man, who had +safely weathered the most perilous of journeys over the Plains, caught +cold while setting out some trees and fell ill. We brought a doctor +from Lawrence, and did everything in our power to save him, but in a +week he died. The loss of a member of our own family could not have +affected us more. + +I was now in my fifteenth year and possessed of a growing appetite for +adventure. A very few months had so dulled the memory of my sufferings +in the dugout that I had forgotten all about my resolve to forsake the +frontier forever. I looked about me for something new and still more +exciting. + +I was not long in finding it. In April, 1860, the firm of Russell, +Majors & Waddell organized the wonderful "Pony Express," the most +picturesque messenger-service that this country has ever seen. The +route was from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, a +distance of two thousand miles, across the Plains, over a dreary +stretch of sagebrush and alkali desert, and through two great mountain +ranges. + +The system was really a relay race against time. Stations were built at +intervals averaging fifteen miles apart. A rider's route covered three +stations, with an exchange of horses at each, so that he was expected +at the beginning to cover close to forty-five miles--a good ride when +one must average fifteen miles an hour. + +The firm undertaking the enterprise had been busy for some time picking +the best ponies to be had for money, and the lightest, most wiry and +most experienced riders. This was a life that appealed to me, and I +struck for a job. I was pretty young in years, but I had already earned +a reputation for coming safe out of perilous adventures, and I was +hired. + +Naturally our equipment was the very lightest. The messages which we +carried were written on the thinnest paper to be found. These we +carried in a waterproof pouch, slung under our arms. We wore only such +clothing as was absolutely necessary. + +The first trip of the Pony Express was made in ten days--an average of +two hundred miles a day. But we soon began stretching our riders and +making better time. Soon we shortened the time to eight days. President +Buchanan's last Presidential message in December, 1860, was carried in +eight days. President Lincoln's inaugural, the following March, took +only seven days and seventeen hours for the journey between St. Joseph +and Sacramento. + +We soon got used to the work. When it became apparent to the men in +charge that the boys could do better than forty-five miles a day the +stretches were lengthened. The pay of the rider was from $100 to $125 a +month. It was announced that the further a man rode the better would be +his pay. That put speed and endurance into all of us. + +Stern necessity often compelled us to lengthen our day's work even +beyond our desires. In the hostile Indian country, riders were +frequently shot. In such an event the man whose relief had been killed +had to ride on to the next station, doing two men's ride. Road-agents +were another menace, and often they proved as deadly as the Indians. + +In stretching my own route I found myself getting further and further +west. Finally I was riding well into the foothills of the Rockies. +Still further west my route was pushed. Soon I rode from Red Buttes to +Sweetwater, a distance of seventy-six miles. Road-agents and Indians +infested this country. I never was quite sure when I started out when I +should reach my destination, or whether I should never reach it at all. + +One day I galloped into the station at Three Crossings to find that my +relief had been killed in a drunken row the night before. There was no +one to take his place. His route was eighty-five miles across country +to the west. I had no time to think it over. Selecting a good pony out +of the stables I was soon on my way. + +I arrived at Rocky Ridge, the end of the new route, on schedule time, +and turning back came on to Red Buttes, my starting-place. The round +trip was 320 miles, and I made it in twenty-one hours and forty +minutes. + +Excitement was plentiful during my two years' service as a Pony Express +rider. One day as I was leaving Horse Creek, a party of fifteen Indians +jammed me in a sand ravine eight miles west of the station. They fired +at me repeatedly, but my luck held, and I went unscathed. My mount was +a California roan pony, the fastest in the stables. I dug the spurs +into his sides, and, lying flat on his back, I kept straight on for +Sweetwater Bridge eleven miles distant. A turn back to Horse Creek +might have brought me more speedily to shelter, but I did not dare risk +it. + +The Indians came on behind, riding with all the speed they could put +into their horses, but my pony drew rapidly ahead. I had a lead of two +miles when I reached the station. There I found I could get no new +pony. The stock-tender had been killed by the Indians during the night. +All his ponies had been stolen and driven off. I kept on, therefore, to +Plonts Station, twelve miles further along, riding the same pony--a +ride of twenty-four miles on one mount. At Plonts I told the people +what had happened at Sweetwater Bridge. Then, with a fresh horse, I +finished my route without further adventure. + +[Illustration: PURSUED BY FIFTEEN BLOODTHIRSTY INDIANS, I HAD A RUNNING +FIGHT OF ELEVEN MILES] + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +About the middle of September the Indians became very troublesome on +the line of the stage along the Sweetwater, between Split Rock and +Three Crossings. A stage had been robbed and two passengers killed +outright. Lem Flowers, the driver, was badly wounded. The thievish +redskins also drove stock repeatedly from the stations. They were +continually lying in wait for passing stages and Pony Express riders. +It was useless to keep the Express going until these depredations could +be stopped. A lay-off of six weeks was ordered, and our time was our +own. + +While we were thus idle a party was organized to carry the war into the +Indians' own country, and teach them that the white man's property must +be let alone. This party I joined. + +Stage-drivers, express-riders, stock-tenders and ranchmen, forty in +number, composed this party. All were well armed; all were good shots, +and brave, determined men. "Wild Bill" Hickock, another of the Western +gunmen of whom I shall have something to tell later, was captain of the +expedition. He had come recently to our division as a stage-driver and +had the experience and courage necessary to that kind of leadership. + +Twenty miles out from Sweetwater Bridge, at the head of Horse Creek, we +found an Indian trail running north toward Powder River. We could see +that the horses had been recently shod, conclusive proof that they were +our stolen stock. We pushed on as fast as we could along the trail to +the Powder, thence down this stream to within forty miles of where old +Fort Reno now stands. Farther on, at Crazy Woman's Fork, we saw +evidence that another party had joined our quarry. The trail was newly +made. The Indians could be hardly more than twenty-four hours ahead of +us. And plainly there was a lot of them. + +When we reached Clear Creek, another tributary of the Powder, we saw +horses grazing on the opposite bank. Horses meant Indians. Never before +had the redskins been followed so far into their own country. Not +dreaming that they would be pursued they had failed to put out scouts. + +We quickly got the "lay" of their camp, and held a council to decide on +how to attack them. We knew that they outnumbered us three to +one--perhaps more. Without strategy, all we would get for our long +chase would be the loss of our scalps. + +"Wild Bill," who did not know the meaning of fear, made our plan for +us. We were to wait till nightfall, and then, after creeping up as +close as possible on the camp, make a grand ride right through it, open +a general fire upon them, and stampede their horses. + +It was a plan that called for nerve, but we were full of spirit, and +the more danger there was in an enterprise the more we relished it. At +our captain's signal we rushed pell-mell through their camp. Had we +dropped from the clouds the Indians could not have been more +astonished. At the sound of our shots they scattered in every +direction, yelling warnings to each other as they fled. + +Once clear of the camp we circled to the south and came back to make +sure that we had done a thorough job. A few parting shots stampeded the +stragglers. Then, with one hundred captured ponies--most, if not all of +them, stolen from the Express and State stations--we rode back to +Sweetwater Bridge. + +The recovered horses were placed on the road again, and the Express was +resumed. Slade, who was greatly pleased with our exploit, now assigned +me as special or supernumerary rider. Thereafter while I was with him I +had a comparatively easy time of it, riding only now and then, and +having plenty of opportunity for seeking after the new adventures in +which I delighted. + +Alf Slade, stage-line superintendent, frontiersman, and dare-devil +fighting man, was one of the far-famed gunmen of the Plains. These were +a race of men bred by the perils and hard conditions of Western life. +They became man-killers first from stern necessity. In that day the man +who was not quick on the trigger had little chance with the outlaws +among whom he had to live. Slade and "Wild Bill," with both of whom I +became closely associated, were men of nerve and courage. But both, +having earned the reputation of gun-fighters, became too eager to live +up to it. Eventually both became outlaws. + +Slade, though always a dangerous man, and extremely rough in his +manner, never failed to treat me with kindness. Sober, he was cool and +self-possessed, but never a man to be trifled with. Drunk, he was a +living fury. His services to the company for which he worked were of +high value. He was easily the best superintendent on the line. But his +habit of man-killing at last resulted in his execution. + +Another man who gained even greater notoriety than Slade was "Wild +Bill" Hickock, a tall, yellow-haired giant who had done splendid +service as a scout in the western sector of the Civil War. + +"Wild Bill" I had known since 1857. He and I shared the pleasure of +walking a thousand miles to the Missouri River, after the bull-train in +which we both were employed had been burned by Lot Smith, the Mormon +raider. Afterward we rode the Pony Express together. + +While an express rider, Bill had the fight with the McCandless gang +which will always form an interesting chapter in the history of the +West. + +Coming into his swing station at Rock Creek one day, Bill failed to +arouse any one with his shouts for a fresh mount. This was a certain +indication of trouble. It was the stock-tender's business to be on hand +with a relief pony the instant the rider came in. The Pony Express did +not tolerate delays. + +Galloping into the yard, Bill dismounted and hurried to the stable. In +the door he saw the stock-tender lying dead, and at the same instant a +woman's screams rang from the cabin near by. Turning about, Bill found +himself face to face with a ruffian who was rushing from the house, +brandishing a six-shooter. He asked no questions, but pulled one of the +two guns he carried and fired. No sooner had the man fallen, however, +than a second, also armed, came out of the house. Hickock disposed of +this fellow also, and then entered the place, where four others opened +a fusillade on him. + +Although the room was thick with smoke, and Bill had to use extreme +care to avoid hitting the woman, who was screaming in the corner, he +managed to kill two of his assailants with his revolvers and to ward +off a blow with a rifle a third had leveled at him. + +The blow knocked the weapon from his hand, but his knife was still left +him, and with it he put the man with the rifle out of the way. His +troubles were not at an end, however. Another man came climbing in the +window to avenge his fellow gangsters. Bill reached for a rifle which +lay on the floor and shot first. + +When he took count a few minutes later he discovered that he had killed +five men and wounded a sixth, who escaped in the thick of the fight. + +The woman, who had been knocked unconscious by one of the desperadoes, +was soon revived. She was the stock-tender's wife, and had been +attacked the by gang as soon as they had slain her husband. + +The passengers of the Overland stage, which rolled in as Bill was +reviving the terrified woman, were given a view of Western life which +none of them ever forgot. + +Bill was the hero of the occasion, and a real hero he was, for probably +never has a man won such a victory against such terrific odds in all +the history of the war against the ruffians of the West. + +It was at Springfield, Missouri, that Bill had his celebrated fight +with Dave Tutt. The fight put an end to Tutt's career. I was a personal +witness to another of his gun exploits, in which, though the chances +were all against him, he protected his own life and incidentally his +money. An inveterate poker player, he got into a game in Springfield +with big players and for high stakes. Sitting by the table, I noticed +that he seemed sleepy and inattentive. So I kept a close watch on the +other fellows. Presently I observed that one of his opponents was +occasionally dropping a card in his hat, which he held in his lap, +until a number of cards had been laid away for future use in the game. + +The pot had gone around several times and was steadily raised by some +of the players, Bill staying right along, though he still seemed to be +drowsy. + +The bets kept rising. At last the man with the hatful of cards picked a +hand out of his reserves, put the hat on his head and raised Bill two +hundred dollars. Bill came back with a raise of two hundred, and as the +other covered it he quietly shoved a pistol into his face and observed: + +"I am calling the hand that is in your hat!" + +[Illustration: HE SHOVED A PISTOL IN THE MAN'S FACE AND SAID "I'M +CALLING THE HAND THAT'S IN YOUR HAT"] + +Gathering in the pot with his left hand, he held the pistol with his +right and inquired if any of the players had any objections to offer. +They hastened to reply that they had no objections whatever and we went +away from there. + +"Bill," I said, when we were well outside the place, "I had been +noticing that fellow's play right along, but I thought you hadn't. I +was going to get into the game myself if he beat you out of that +money." + +"Billy," replied Hickock, "I don't want you ever to learn it, but that +is one of my favorite poker tricks. It always wins against crooked +players." + +Not all of the gunmen of the West began straight. Some of them--many, +in fact--were thieves and murderers from the beginning. Such were the +members of the McCandless gang, which Hickock disposed of so +thoroughly. All along the stage route were robbers and man-killers far +more vicious than the Indians. Very early in my career as a +frontiersman I had an encounter with a party of these from which I was +extremely fortunate to escape with my life. + +I employed the leisure afforded me by my assignment as an extra rider +in hunting excursions, in which I took a keen delight. I was returning +home empty-handed from a bear hunt, when night overtook me in a lonely +spot near a mountain stream. I had killed two sage-hens and built a +little fire over which to broil them before my night's rest. + +Suddenly I heard a horse whinny farther up the stream. Thinking +instantly of Indians, I ran quickly to my own horse to prevent him from +answering the call, and thus revealing my presence. + +Filled with uneasiness as to who and what my human neighbors might be, +I resaddled my horse, and, leaving him tied where I could reach him in +a hurry if need be, made my way up-stream to reconnoiter. As I came +around a bend I received an unpleasant shock. Not one horse, but +fifteen horses, were grazing just ahead of me. + +On the opposite side of the creek a light shone high up the mountain +bank--a light from the window of a dugout. I drew near very cautiously +till I came within, sound of voices within the place, and discovered +that its occupants were conversing in my own language. That relieved +me. I knew the strangers to be white men. I supposed them to be +trappers, and, walking boldly to the door, I knocked. + +Instantly the voices ceased. There ensued absolute silence for a space, +and then came-whisperings, and sounds of men quietly moving about the +dirt floor. + +"Who's there?" called someone. + +"A friend and a white man," I replied. + +The door opened, and a big, ugly-looking fellow stood before me. + +"Come in," he ordered. + +I accepted the invitation with hesitation, but there was nothing else +to do. To retreat would have meant pursuit and probably death. + +Eight of the most villainous-appearing ruffians I have ever set eyes +upon sat about the dugout as I entered. Two of them I recognized at +once as teamsters who had been employed by Simpson a few months before. +Both had been charged with murdering a ranchman and stealing his +horses. Simpson had promptly discharged them, and it was supposed that +they had left the country. + +I gave them no sign of recognition. I was laying my plans to get out of +there as speedily as possible. I was now practically certain that I had +uncovered the hiding-place of a gang of horse-thieves who could have no +possible reason to feel anything but hostility toward an honest man. +The leader of the gang swaggered toward me and inquired menacingly: + +"Where are you going, young man, and who's with you?" + +"I am entirely alone," I returned. "I left Horseshoe Station this +morning for a bear hunt. Not finding any bears, I was going to camp out +till morning. I heard one of your horses whinnying, and came up to your +camp." + +"Where is your horse?" + +"I left him down the creek." + +They proposed going for the horse, which was my only means of getting +rid of their unwelcome society. I tried strategy to forestall them. + +"I'll go and get him," I said. "I'll leave my gun here." + +This, I fancied, would convince them that I intended to return, but it +didn't. + +"Jim and I will go with you," said one of the thieves. "You can leave +your gun here if you want to. You won't need it." + +I saw that if I was to get away at all I would have to be extremely +alert. These were old hands, and were not to be easily fooled. I felt +it safer, however, to trust myself with two men than with six, so I +volunteered to show the precious pair where I had left the horse, and +led them to my camp. + +The animal was secured, and as one of the men started to lead him up +the stream I picked up the two sage-hens I had intended for my evening +meal. The more closely we approached the dugout the less I liked the +prospect of reëntering it. One plan of escape had failed. I was sure +the ruffians had no intention of permitting me to leave them and inform +the stage people of their presence in the country. + +One more plan suggested itself to me, and I lost no time in trying it. +Dropping one of the sage-hens, I asked the man behind me to pick it up. +As he was groping for it in the darkness, I pulled one of my Colt's +revolvers, and hit him a terrific blow over the head. He dropped to the +ground, senseless. + +Wheeling about, I saw that the other man, hearing the fall, had turned, +his hand upon his revolver. It was no time for argument. I fired and +killed him. Then, leaping on my horse, I dug the spurs into his sides, +and back down the trail we went, over the rocks and rough ground toward +safety. + +[Illustration: IT WAS NO TIME FOR ARGUMENT. I FIRED, AND KILLED HIM] + +My peril was far from past. At the sound of the shot the six men in the +dugout tumbled forth in hot haste. They stopped an instant at the scene +of the shooting, possibly to revive the man I had stunned and to learn +from him what had happened. + +They were too wise to mount their horses, knowing that, afoot, they +could make better time over the rocky country than I could on +horseback. Steadily I heard them gaining, and soon made up my mind that +if I was to evade them at all I must abandon my horse. + +Jumping off, I gave him a smart slap with the butt of my revolver which +sent him down the valley. I turned and began to scramble up the +mountainside. + +I had climbed hardly forty feet when I heard them pass, following the +sound of my horse's feet. I dodged behind a tree as they went by, and +when I heard them firing farther down the trail I worked my way up the +mountainside. + +It was twenty-five miles to Horseshoe Station, and very hard traveling +the first part of the way. But I got to the station, just before +daylight, weary and footsore, but exceedingly thankful. + +Tired as I was, I woke up the men at the station and told them of my +adventure. Slade himself led the party that set out to capture my +former hosts, and I went along, though nearly beat out. + +Twenty of us, after a brisk ride, reached the dugout at ten o'clock in +the morning. But the thieves had gone. We found a newly made grave +where they had buried the man I had to kill, and a trail leading +southwest toward Denver. That was all. But my adventure at least +resulted in clearing the country of horse-thieves. Once the gang had +gone, no more depredations occurred for a long time. + +After a year's absence from home I began to long to see my mother and +sisters again. In June, 1861, I got a pass over the stage-line, and +returned to Leavenworth. The first rumblings of the great struggle that +was soon to be known as the Civil War were already reverberating +throughout the North; Sumter had been fired upon in April of that year. +Kansas, as every schoolboy knows, was previously the bloody scene of +some of the earliest conflicts. + +My mother's sympathies were strongly with the Union. She knew that war +was bound to come, but so confident was she in the strength of the +Federal Government that she devoutly believed that the struggle could +not last longer than six months at the utmost. + +Fort Leavenworth and the town of Leavenworth were still important +outfitting posts for the soldiers in the West and Southwest. The fort +was strongly garrisoned by regular troops. Volunteers were undergoing +training. Many of my boyhood friends were enlisting. I was eager to +join them. + +But I was still the breadwinner of the family, the sole support of my +sisters and my invalid mother. Not because of this, but because of her +love for me, my mother exacted from me a promise that I would not +enlist for the war while she lived. + +But during the summer of 1861 a purely local company, know as the +Red-Legged Scouts, and commanded by Captain Bill Tuff, was organized. +This I felt I could join without breaking my promise not to enlist for +the war, and join it I did. The Red-Legged Scouts, while they +coöperated with the regular army along the borders of Missouri, had for +their specific duty the protection of Kansas against raiders like +Quantrell, and such bandits as the James Boys, the Younger Brothers, +and other desperadoes who conducted a guerrilla warfare against Union +settlers. + +We had plenty to do. The guerrillas were daring fellows and kept us +busy. They robbed banks, raided villages, burned buildings, and looted +and plundered wherever there was loot or plunder to be had. + +But Tuff was the same kind of a fighting man as they, and working in a +better cause. With his scouts he put the fear of the law into the +hearts of the guerrillas, and they notably decreased their depredations +in consequence. + +Whenever and wherever we found that the scattered bands were getting +together for a general raid we would at once notify the regulars at +Fort Scott or Fort Leavenworth to be ready for them. Quantrell once +managed to collect a thousand men in a hurry, and to raid and sack +Lawrence before the troops could head them off. But when we got on +their trail they were driven speedily back into Missouri. + +In the meantime we took care that little mischief was done by the gangs +headed by the James Boys and the Youngers, who operated in Quantrell's +wake and in small bands. + +In the spring of '63 I left the Red-Legged Scouts to serve the Federal +Government as guide and scout with the Ninth Kansas Cavalry. The Kiowas +and Comanches were giving trouble along the old Santa Fe trail and +among the settlements of western Kansas. The Ninth Kansas were sent to +tame them and to protect immigrants and settlers. + +This was work that I well understood. We had a lively summer, for the +Indians kept things stirring, but after a summer of hard fighting we +made them understand that the Great White Chief was a power that the +Indians had better not irritate. November, '63, I returned with the +command to Leavenworth. I had money in my pockets, for my pay had been +$150 a month, and I was able to lay in an abundant supply of provisions +for my family. + +On the twenty-third day of December my mother passed away. Her life had +been an extremely hard one, but she had borne up bravely under poverty +and privation, supplying with her own teaching the education that the +frontier schools could not give her children, and by her Christian +example setting them all on a straight road through life. + +Border ruffians killed her husband, almost within sight of her home. +She passed months in terror and distress and, until I became old enough +to provide for her, often suffered from direst poverty. Yet she never +complained for herself; her only thoughts being for her children and +the sufferings that were visited upon them because of their necessary +upbringing in a rough and wild country. + +My sister Julia was now married to Al Goodman, a fine and capable young +man, and I was free to follow the promptings of an adventurous nature +and go where my companions were fighting. In January, 1864, the Seventh +Kansas Volunteers came to Leavenworth from the South, where they had +been fighting since the early years of the war. Among them I found many +of my old friends and schoolmates. I was no longer under promise not to +take part in the war and I enlisted as a private. + +In March of that year the regiment was embarked on steamboats and sent +to Memphis, Tennessee, where we joined the command of General A.J. +Smith. General Smith was organizing an army to fight the illiterate but +brilliant Confederate General Forrest, who was then making a great deal +of trouble in southern Tennessee. + +While we were mobilizing near Memphis, Colonel Herrick of our regiment +recommended me to General Smith for membership in a picked corps to be +used for duty as scouts, messengers, and dispatch carriers. Colonel +Herrick recounted my history as a plainsman, which convinced the +commander that I would be useful in this special line of duty. + +When I reported to General Smith, he invited me into his tent and +inquired minutely into my life as a scout. + +"You ought to be able to render me valuable service," he said. + +When I replied that I should be only too glad to do so, he got out a +map of Tennessee, and on it showed me where he believed General +Forrest's command to be located. His best information was that the +Confederate commander was then in the neighborhood of Okolona, +Mississippi, about two hundred miles south, of Memphis. + +He instructed me to disguise myself as a Tennessee boy, to provide +myself with a farm horse from the stock in the camp, and to try to +locate Forrest's main command. Having accomplished this, I was to +gather all the information possible concerning the enemy's strength in +men and equipment and defenses, and to make my way back as speedily as +possible. + +General Smith expected to start south the following morning, and he +showed me on the map the wagon road he planned to follow, so that I +might know where to find him on my return. He told me before we parted +that the mission on which he was sending me was exceedingly dangerous. +"If you are captured," he said, "you will be shot as a spy." + +To this I replied that my Indian scouting trips had been equally +dangerous, as capture meant torture and death, yet I had always +willingly undertaken them. + +"Do you think you can find Forrest's army?" he said. "Well, if you +can't find an army as big as that you're a mighty poor scout," he said +grimly. + +General Smith then turned me over to the man who was in charge of what +was called "the refuge herd," from which I found a mount built on the +lines of the average Tennessee farm horse. This man also provided me +with a suit of farmer's clothing, for which I exchanged my new soldier +uniform, and a bag of provisions. Leading me about a mile from camp, he +left me with the warning: + +"Look out, young fellow. You're taking a dangerous trip." Then we shook +hands and I began my journey. + +I had studied carefully the map General Smith had shown me, and had a +fairly accurate idea of the direction I was supposed to take. Following +a wagon road that led to the south, I made nearly sixty miles the first +night. The mare I had chosen proved a good traveler. + +When morning came I saw a big plantation, with the owner's and negroes' +houses, just ahead of me. I was anxious to learn how my disguise was +going to work, and therefore rode boldly up to the house of the +overseer and asked if I could get rest and some sort of breakfast. + +In response to his inquiries I said I was a Tennesseean and on my way +to Holly Springs. I used my best imitation of the Southern dialect, +which I can still use on occasion, and it was perfectly successful. I +was given breakfast, my mare was fed, and I slept most of the day in a +haystack, taking up my journey again immediately after dinner. + +Thereafter I had confidence in my disguise, and, while making no effort +to fall into conversation with people, I did not put myself out to +evade anyone whom I met. None of those with whom I talked suspected me +of being a Northern spy. + +At the end of a few days I saw that I was near a large body of troops. +It was in the morning after a hard day-and-night ride. Fearing to +approach the outposts looking weary and fagged out, I rested for an +hour, and then rode up and accosted one of them. To his challenge I +said I was a country boy, and had come in to see the soldiers. My +father and brother, I said, were fighting with Forrest, and I was +almost persuaded to enlist myself. + +My story satisfied the guard and I was passed. A little farther on I +obtained permission to pasture my horse with a herd of animals +belonging to the Confederates and, afoot, I proceeded to the camp of +the soldiers. By acting the part of the rural Tennesseean, making +little purchases from the negro food-stands, and staring open-mouthed +at all the camp life, I picked up a great deal of information without +once falling under suspicion. + +The question now uppermost in my mind was how I was going to get away. +Toward evening I returned to the pasture, saddled my mare and rode to +the picket line where I had entered. Here, to my dismay, I discovered +that the outposts had been recently changed. + +But I used the same story that had gained admission for me. In a sack +tied to my saddle were the food supplies I had bought from the negroes +during the day. These, I explained to the outposts, were intended as +presents for my mother and sisters back on the farm. They examined the +sack, and, finding nothing contraband in it, allowed me to pass. + +I now made all possible speed northward, keeping out of sight of houses +and of strangers. On the second day I passed several detachments of +Forrest's troops, but my training as a scout enabled me to keep them +from seeing me. + +Though my mare had proven herself an animal of splendid endurance, I +had to stop and rest her occasionally. At such times I kept closely +hidden. It was on the second morning after leaving Forrest's command +that I sighted the advance guard of Smith's army. They halted me when I +rode up, and for a time I had more trouble with them than I had had +with any of Forrest's men. I was not alarmed, however, and when the +captain told me that he would have to send me to the rear, I surprised +him by asking to see General Smith. + +"Are you anxious to see a big, fighting general?" he asked in +amazement. + +"Yes," I said. "I hear that General Smith can whip Forrest, and I would +like to see any man who can do that." + +Without any promises I was sent to the rear, and presently I noticed +General Smith, who, however, failed to recognize me. + +I managed, however, to draw near to him and ask him if I might speak to +him for a moment. + +Believing me to be a Confederate prisoner, he assented, and when I had +saluted I said: + +"General, I am Billy Cody, the man you sent out to the Confederate +lines." + +"Report back to your charge," said the general to the officer who had +me in custody. "I will take care of this man." + +My commander was much pleased with my report, which proved to be +extremely accurate and valuable. The disguise he had failed to +penetrate did not deceive my comrades of the Ninth Kansas, and when I +passed them they all called me by name and asked me where I had been. +But my news was for my superior officers, and I did not need the +warning Colonel Herrick gave me to keep my mouth shut while among the +soldiers. + +General Smith, to whom I later made a full detailed report, had spoken +highly of my work to Colonel Herrick, who was gratified to know that +his choice of a scout had been justified by results. + +It was not long before the whole command knew of my return, but beyond +the fact that I had been on a scouting expedition, and had brought back +information much desired by the commander, they knew nothing of my +journey. The next morning, still riding the same mare and still wearing +my Tennessee clothes, I rode out with the entire command in the +direction of Forrest's army. + +Before I had traveled five miles I had been pointed out to the entire +command, and cheers greeted me on every side. As soon as an opportunity +offered I got word with the general and asked if he had any further +special orders for me. + +"Just keep around," he said; "I may need you later on." + +"But I am a scout," I told him, "and the place for a scout is ahead of +the army, getting information." + +"Go ahead," he replied, "and if you see anything that I ought to know +about come back and tell me." + +Delighted to be a scout once more, I made my way forward. The general +had given orders that I was to be allowed to pass in and out the lines +at will, so that I was no longer hampered by the activities of my own +friends. I had hardly got beyond the sound of the troops when I saw a +beautiful plantation house, on the porch of which was a handsome old +lady and her two attractive daughters. + +They were greatly alarmed when I came up, and asked if I didn't know +that the Yankee army would be along in a few minutes and that my life +was in peril. All their own men folks, they said, were in hiding in the +timber. + +"Don't you sit here," begged the old lady, when I had seated myself on +the porch to sip a glass of milk for which I had asked her. "The Yankee +troops will go right through this house. They will break up the piano +and every stick of furniture, and leave the place in ruins. You are +sure to be killed or taken prisoner." + +By this time the advance guard was coming up the road. General Smith +passed as I was standing on the porch. I saw that he had noticed me, +though he gave no sign of having done so. As more troops passed, men +began leaving their companies and rushing toward the house. I walked +out and ordered them away in the name of the general. They all knew who +I was, and obeyed, much to the astonishment of the old lady and her +daughter. + +Turning to my hostess, I said: + +"Madam, I can't keep them out of your chicken-house or your smoke-house +or your storerooms, but I can keep them out of your home, and I will." + +I remained on the porch till the entire command had passed. Nothing was +molested. Much pleased, but still puzzled, the old lady was now +convinced that I was no Tennessee lad, but a sure-enough Yankee, and +one with a remarkable amount of influence. When I asked for a little +something to eat in return for what I had done, the best there was in +the house was spread before me. + +My hostess urged me to eat as speedily as possible, and be on my way. +Her men folks, she said, would soon return from the timber, and if they +learned that I was a Yank would shoot me on the spot. As she was +speaking the back door was pushed open and three men rushed in. The old +lady leaped between them and me. + +"Don't shoot him!" she cried. "He has protected our property and our +lives." But the men had no murderous intentions. + +"Give him all he wants to eat," said the eldest, "and we will see that +he gets back to the Yankee lines in safety. We saw him from the +treetops turn away the Yanks as he stood on the porch." + +While I finished my meal they put all manner of questions to me, being +specially impressed that a boy so young could have kept a great army +from foraging so richly stocked a plantation. I told them that I was a +Union scout, and that I had saved their property on my own +responsibility. + +"I knew you would be back here," I said. "But I was sure you wouldn't +shoot me when you learned what I had done." + +"You bet your life we won't!" they said heartily. + +After dinner I was stocked Tip with all the provisions I wanted, and +given a fine bottle of peach brandy, the product of the plantation. +Then the men of the place escorted me to the rear-guard of the command, +which I lost no time in joining. When I overtook the general and +presented him with the peach brandy, he said gruffly: + +"I hear you kept all the men from foraging on that plantation back +yonder." + +"Yes, sir," I said. "An old lady and her two daughters were alone +there. My mother had suffered from raids of hostile soldiers in Kansas. +I tried to protect that old lady, as I would have liked another man to +protect my mother in her distress. I am sorry if I have disobeyed your +orders and I am ready for any punishment you wish to inflict on me." + +"My boy," said the general, "you may be too good-hearted for a soldier, +but you have done just what I would have done. My orders were to +destroy all Southern property. But we will forget your violation, of +them." + +General Smith kept straight on toward Forrest's stronghold. Ten miles +from the spot where the enemy was encamped, he wheeled to the left and +headed for Tupedo, Mississippi, reaching there at dark. Forrest +speedily discovered that Smith did not intend to attack him on his own +ground. So he broke camp, and, coming up to the rear, continued a hot +fire through the next afternoon. + +Arriving near Tupedo, General Smith selected, as a battleground, the +crest of a ridge commanding the position Forrest had taken up. Between +the two armies lay a plantation of four or five thousand acres. The +next morning Forrest dismounted some four thousand cavalry, and with +cavalry and artillery on his left and right advanced upon our position. + +Straight across the plantation they came, while Smith rode back and +forth behind the long breastworks that protected his men, cautioning +them to reserve their fire till it could be made to tell. All our men +were fighting with single shotguns. The first shot, in a close action, +had to count, or a second one might never be fired. + +I had been detailed to follow Smith as he rode to and fro. With an eye +to coming out of the battle with a whole skin I had picked out a number +of trees, behind which I proposed to drop my horse when the fighting +got to close quarters. This was the fashion I had always employed in +Indian fighting. As the Confederates got within good range, the order +"Fire!" rang out. + +At that instant I wheeled my horse behind a big oak tree. Unhappily for +me the general was looking directly at me as this maneuver was +executed. When we had driven back and defeated Forrest's men I was +ordered to report at General Smith's tent. + +"Young man," said the General, when I stood before him, "you were +recommended to me as an Indian fighter. What were you doing behind that +tree!" + +"That is the way we have to fight Indians, sir," I said. "We get behind +anything that offers protection." It was twelve years later that I +convinced General Smith that my theory of Indian fighting was pretty +correct. + +After the consolidation of the regular army, following the war, Smith +was sent to the Plains as Colonel of the Seventh Cavalry. This was +afterward known as Custer's regiment, and we engaged in the battle of +the Little Big Horn, in which that gallant commander was slain. Smith's +cavalry command was moving southward on an expedition against the +Kiowas and Comanches in the Canadian River country, when I joined it as +a scout. + +Dick Curtis, acting as guide for Smith, had been sent on ahead across +the river, while the main command stopped to water their horses. +Curtis's orders were to proceed straight ahead for five miles, where +the troops would camp. He was followed immediately by the advance +guard, Smith and his staff following on. We had proceeded about three +miles when three or four hundred Indians attacked us, jumping out of +gullies and ravines, where they had been securely hidden. General Smith +at once ordered the orderlies to sound the recall and retreat, +intending to fall back quickly on the main command. + +He was standing close beside a deep ravine as he gave the order. +Knowing that the plan he proposed meant the complete annihilation of +our force, I pushed my horse close to him. + +"General," I said, "order your men into the ravine, dismount, and let +number fours hold horses. Then you will be able to stand off the +Indians. If you try to retreat to the main command you and every man +under you will be killed before you have retreated a mile." + +He immediately saw the sense of my advice. Issuing orders to enter the +ravine, he dismounted with his men behind the bank. There we stood off +the Indians till the soldiers in the rear, hearing the shots, came +charging to the rescue and drove the Indians away. The rapidity with +which we got into the ravine, and the protection its banks afforded us, +enabled us to get away without losing a man. Had the general's original +plan been carried out none of us would have come away to tell the +story. I was summoned to the general's tent that evening. + +"That was a brilliant suggestion of yours, young man," he said. "This +Indian fighting is a new business to me. I realize that if I had +carried out my first order not a man of us would ever have reached the +command alive." + +I said: "General, do you remember the battle of Tupedo?" + +"I do," he said, with his chest expanding a little. "I was in command +at that battle." The whipping of Forrest had been a particularly +difficult and unusual feat, and General Smith never failed to show his +pride in the achievement whenever the battle of Tupedo was mentioned. + +"Do you remember," I continued, "the young fellow you caught behind a +tree, and sent for him afterward to ask him why he did so?" + +"Is it possible you are the man who found Forrest's command!" he asked +in amazement. "I had often wondered what became of you," he said, when +I told him I was the same man. "What have you been doing since the +war!" + +I told him I had come West as a scout for General Sherman in 1865 and +had been scouting ever since. He was highly delighted to see me again, +and from that time forward, as long as he remained on the Plains, I +resumed my old position as his chief scout. + +After the battle of Tupedo, Smith's command was ordered to Memphis, and +from there sent by boat up the Mississippi. We of the cavalry +disembarked at Cape Jardo, Smith remaining behind with the infantry, +which came on later. General Sterling Price, of the Confederate army, +was at this time coming out of Arkansas into southern Missouri with a +large army. His purpose was to invade Kansas. + +Federal troops were not then plentiful in the West. Smith's army from +Tennessee, Blunt's troops from Kansas, what few regulars there were in +Missouri, and some detachments of Kansas volunteers were all being +moved forward to head off Price. Being still a member of the Ninth +Kansas Cavalry, I now found myself back in my old country--just ahead +of Price's army, which had now reached the fertile northwestern +Missouri. + +In carrying dispatches from General McNeil to General Blunt or General +Pleasanton I passed around and through Price's army many times. I +always wore the disguise of a Confederate soldier, and always escaped +detection. Price fought hard and successfully, gaining ground steadily, +till at Westport, Missouri, and other battlefields near the Kansas +line, the Federal troops checked his advance. + +At the Little Blue, a stream that runs through what is now Kansas City, +he was finally turned south, and took up a course through southern +Kansas. + +Near Mound City a scouting party of which I was a member surprised a +small detachment of Price's army. Our advantage was such that they +surrendered, and while we were rounding them up I heard one of them say +that we Yanks had captured a bigger prize than we suspected. When he +was asked what this prize consisted of, the soldier said: + +"That big man over yonder is General Marmaduke of the Southern army." + +I had heard much of Marmaduke and greatly admired his dash and ability +as a fighting man. Going over to him, I asked if there was anything I +could do to make him comfortable. He said that I could. He hadn't had a +bite to eat, and he wanted some food and wanted it right away. + +He was surrounding a good lunch I had in my saddle-bag, while I was +ransacking the saddle-bag of a comrade for a bottle of whisky which I +knew to be there. + +When we turned our prisoners over to the main command I was put in +charge of General Marmaduke and accompanied him as his custodian to +Fort Leavenworth. The general and I became fast friends, and our +friendship lasted long after the war. Years after he had finished his +term as Governor of Missouri he visited me in London, where I was +giving my Wild West Show. He was talking with me in my tent one day +when the Earl of Lonsdale and Lord Harrington rode up, dismounted, and +came over to where we were sitting. + +I presented Marmaduke to them as the governor of one of America's +greatest States and a famous Confederate general. Lonsdale, approaching +and extending his hand, smiled and said: + +"Ah, Colonel Cody, another one of your Yankee friends, eh?" + +Marmaduke, who had risen, scowled. But he held out his hand. "Look +here," he said, "I am much pleased to meet you, sir, but I want you +first to understand distinctly that I am no Yank." + +When I left General Marmaduke at Leavenworth and returned to my +command, Price was already in retreat. After driving him across the +Arkansas River I returned with my troop to Springfield, Missouri. From +there I went, under General McNeil, to Fort Smith and other places on +the Arkansas border, where he had several lively skirmishes, and one +big and serious engagement before the war was ended. + +The spring of 1865 found us again in Springfield, where we remained +about two months, recuperating and replenishing our stock. I now got a +furlough of thirty days and went to St. Louis, where I invested part of +a thousand dollars I had saved in fashionable clothes and in rooms at +one of the best hotels. It was while there that I met a young lady of a +Southern family, to whom I paid a great deal of attention, and from +whom I finally extracted a promise that if I would come back to St. +Louis at the end of the war she would marry me. + +On my return to Springfield I found an expedition in process of fitting +out for a scouting trip through New Mexico and into the Arkansas River +country, to look after the Indians. With this party I took part in a +number of Indian fights and helped to save a number of immigrant trains +from destruction. On our return to Fort Leavenworth we found General +Sanborn and a number of others of the former Union leaders who had come +to the border to make peace with the Indians. + +The various tribes that roamed the Plains had heard of the great war, +and, believing that it had so exhausted the white man that he would +fall an easy prey to Indian aggression, had begun to arm themselves and +make ready for great conquests. They had obtained great stores of arms +and ammunition. During the last two years of the war they had been +making repeated raids and inflicting vast damage on the settlers. + +At the close of the war, when the volunteers were discharged, I was +left free to return to my old calling. The regular army was in course +of consolidation. Men who had been generals were compelled to serve as +colonels and majors. The consolidated army's chief business was in the +West, where the Indians formed a real menace, and to the West came the +famous fighting men under whose command I was destined to spend many of +the eventful years to come. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +At the close of the war, General William Tecumseh Sherman was placed at +the head of the Peace Commission which had been sent to the border to +take counsel with the Indians. It had become necessary to put an end to +the hostility of the red man immediately either by treaty or by force. +His raids on the settlers could be endured no longer. + +The purpose of the party which Sherman headed was to confer with the +greatest of the hostile chiefs. Treaties were to be agreed upon if +possible. If negotiations for peace failed, the council would at least +act as a stay of hostilities. The army was rapidly reorganizing, and it +would soon be possible to mobilize enough troops to put down the +Indians in case they refused to come to terms peaceably. + +The camp of the Kiowas and Comanches--the first Indians with whom +Sherman meant to deal--was about three hundred miles southwest of +Leavenworth, in the great buffalo range, and in the midst of the +trackless Plains. + +By ambulance and on horseback, with wagons to carry the supplies, the +party set out for its first objective--Council Springs on the Arkansas +River, about sixty miles beyond old Fort Zarrah. + +I was chosen as one of the scouts or dispatch carriers to accompany the +party. The guide was Dick Curtis, a plainsman of wide experience among +the Indians. + +When we arrived at Fort Zarrah we found that no road lay beyond, and +learned that there was no water on the way. It was determined, +therefore, to make a start at two o'clock in the morning. Curtis said +this would enable us to reach our destination, sixty-five miles further +on, by two o'clock the next afternoon. + +The outfit consisted of two ambulances and one Government wagon, which +carried the tents and supplies. Each officer had a horse to ride if he +chose. If he preferred to ride in the ambulance his orderly was on hand +to lead his horse for him. + +We traveled steadily till ten o'clock in the morning, through herds of +buffalo whose numbers were past counting. I remember that General +Sherman estimated that the number of buffalo on the Plains at that time +must have been more than eleven million. It required all the energy of +the soldiers and scouts to keep a road cleared through the herds so +that the ambulance might pass. + +We breakfasted during the morning stop and rested the horses. For the +men there was plenty of water, which we had brought along in canteens +and camp kettles. There was also a little for the animals, enough to +keep them from suffering on the way. + +Two o'clock found us still making our way through the buffalo herds, +but with no Council Springs in sight. Curtis was on ahead, and one of +the lieutenants, feeling a little nervous, rode up to another of the +scouts. + +"How far are we from the Springs?" he inquired. + +"I don't know," said the guide uneasily. "I never was over here before, +but if any one knows where the Springs are that young fellow over there +does." He pointed to me. + +"When will we get to the Springs?" asked the officer, turning in my +direction. + +"Never--if we keep on going the way we are now," I said. + +"Why don't you tell the General that?" he demanded. + +I said that Curtis was the guide, not I; whereupon he dropped back +alongside the ambulance in which Sherman was riding and reported what +had happened. + +The General instantly called a halt and sent for the scouts. When all +of us, including Curtis, had gathered round him he got out of the +ambulance, and, pulling out a map, directed Curtis to locate the +Springs on it. + +"There has never been a survey made of this country, General," said +Curtis. "None of these maps are correct." + +"I know that myself," said Sherman. "How far are we from the Springs?" + +The guide hesitated. "I have never been there but once," he said, "and +then I was with a big party of Indians who did the guiding." He added +that on a perfectly flat country, dotted with buffalo, he could not +positively locate our destination. Unless we were sighted and guided by +Indians we would have to chance it. + +Sherman swung round on the rest of us. "Do any of you know where the +Springs are?" he asked, looking directly at me. + +"Yes, sir," I said, "I do." + +"How do you know, Billy?" asked Curtis. + +"I used to come over here with Charley Bath, the Indian trader," I +said. + +"Where are we now?" asked Sherman. + +"About twelve miles from the Springs. They are due south." + +"Due south! And we are traveling due west!" + +"Yes, sir," I replied, "but if Mr. Curtis had not turned in a few +minutes I was going to tell you." + +So for twelve miles I rode with Sherman, and we became fast friends. He +asked me all manner of questions on the way, and I found that he knew +my father well, and remembered his tragic death in Salt Creek Valley. +He asked what had become of the rest of the family and all about my +career. By the end of the ride I had told him my life history. + +As we were riding along together, with the outfit following on, I +noticed pony tracks from time to time, and knew that we were nearing +the Springs. Presently I said: + +"General, we are going to find Indians at the Springs when we reach +there." + +"How do you know?" + +"We have been riding where ponies have been grazing for the last mile." + +"I haven't seen any tracks," said the General in surprise. "Show me +one." + +I jumped off my horse, and, thrusting the buffalo grass aside, I +pointed out many tracks of barefooted ponies. "When we rise that +ridge," I told him, "we shall see the village, and thousands of ponies +and Indian lodges." + +In a very few minutes this prophecy came true. Curtis and the other +scouts with the officers rode up quickly behind us, and we all had a +fine view of this wonderful sight of the desert--a great Indian camp. +As we stood gazing at the spectacle we observed great excitement in the +village. Warriors by the dozens were leaping on their horses and riding +toward us, till at least a thousand of them were in the "receiving +line." + +"It looks to me as if we had better fall into position," said Sherman. + +"It is not necessary," I said. "They have given us the peace sign. They +are coming toward us without arms." + +So Sherman, with General Harney, General Sanborn, and the other +officers rode slowly forward to meet the oncoming braves. + +"This is where you need Curtis," I told the General as he advanced. "He +is the best Kiowa and Comanche interpreter on the Plains and he knows +every one of these Indians personally." + +Curtis was accordingly summoned and made interpreter, while I was +assigned to remain about the commander's tent and given charge of the +scouts. + +As the Indians drew near with signs of friendliness, Curtis introduced +the chiefs, Satanta, Lone Wolf, Kicking Bird, and others to General +Sherman as the head of the Peace Commission. + +The Indians, having been notified in advance of the coming of the +Commission, had already selected a special spring for our camp and had +prepared a great feast in honor of the meeting. To this feast, which +was spread in the center of the village, the Commissioners were +conducted, while the scouts and the escort went into camp. + +The Indians had erected a great canopy of tanned buffalo skins on tepee +poles. Underneath were robes for seats for the General and his staff, +and thither they were led with great ceremony. Near by was a great fire +on which, buffalo, antelope, and other animals were roasting. Even +coffee and sugar had been provided, and the feast was served with tin +plates for the meat and tin cups for the coffee. Another tribute to the +customs of the guests was a complete outfit of knives and forks. +Napkins, however, appeared to be lacking. + +Indian girls, dressed in elaborate costumes, served the repast, the +elder women preparing the food. Looking on, it seemed to me to be the +most beautiful sight I had ever seen--the grim old generals, who for +the last four and a half years had been fighting a great war sitting +serenely and contentedly down to meat and drink with the chiefs of a +wild, and, till lately, a hostile race. + +After all had eaten, the great chief, Satanta, loaded the big +peace-pipe, whose bowl was hewn from red stone, with a beautifully +carved stem eighteen inches long. The pipe was passed from mouth to +mouth around the circle. After the smoke was ended Satanta raised his +towering bulk above the banqueters. He drew his red blanket around his +broad shoulders, leaving his naked right arm free, for without his +right arm an Indian is deprived of his real powers of oratory. Making +signs to illustrate his every sentence, he spoke: + +"My great white brothers, I welcome you to my camp and to my people. +You can rest in safety, without a thought of fear, because our hearts +are now good to you--because we hope that the words you are going to +speak to us will make us glad that you have come. We know that you have +come a long way to see us. We feel that you are going to give us or +send us presents which will gladden the hearts of all my people. + +"I know that you must be very tired, and as I see that your tents are +pitched it would make our hearts glad to walk over to your village with +you, where you can rest and sleep well, and we hope that you will dream +of the many good things are going to send us and tell us when you +rested. + +"I have sent to your tents the choicest of young buffalo, deer, and +antelope, and if there is anything else in my camp which will make your +hearts glad I will be pleased to send it to you. If any of your horses +should stray away, my young men will bring them back to you." + +As the old chief concluded, General Sherman, rising, shook his hand and +said: + +"My red brother, your beautiful and romantic reception has deeply +touched the hearts of my friends and myself. We most heartily thank you +for it. When we are rested, and after we have slept in your wild +prairie city, we should like to hold a council with the chiefs and +warriors congregated here." + +When the officers returned to their own camp they agreed that the feast +was very grand, that the Indian maidens who served it were very pretty +in their gay costumes and beautiful moccasins. Most of them, however, +had observed that the hands of the squaws who did the cooking looked as +if they had not touched water for several months. It stuck in the +memory of some of the guests that, in their efforts to clean the +tinware, the squaws had left more soap in the corners than was +necessary. The coffee had a strong flavor of soap. + +"If we are going to have a banquet every day," said one officer, "I +think I'll do my eating in our own camp." + +[Illustration: CHIEF SATANTA PASSED THE PEACE-PIPE TO GENERAL SHERMAN +AND SAID: "MY GREAT WHITE BROTHERS"] + +General Sherman reminded him that this would be highly impolite to the +hosts, and ordered them, as soldiers, to make the best of the +entertainment and to line up for mess when the Indians made a feast. + +At ten o'clock the next morning the first session of the great council +was held. For three days the white chiefs and the red chiefs sat in a +circle under the canopy, and many promises of friendship were made by +the Indians. When the council was concluded, General Sherman sent for +me. + +"Billy," he said, "I want you to send two good men to Fort Ellsworth +with dispatches, where they can be forwarded to Fort Riley, the end of +the telegraph line. After your men are rested they can return to Fort +Zarrah and join us." When the two men were instructed by the General +and were on their way, he took me into his tent. + +"I want to go to Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River," he said, "then to +Fort St. Barine, on the Platte, and then to Laramie; after that we will +go to Cottonwood Springs, then to Fort Kearney and then to Leavenworth. +Can you guide me on that trip?" + +I told him that I could, and was made guide, chief of scouts, and +master of transportation, acting with an army officer as quartermaster. + +At Bent's Fort another council of two days was held with the Indians. +The journey homeward was made without difficulty. At Leavenworth I took +leave of one of the noblest and kindest-hearted men I have ever known. +In bidding me good-by, General Sherman said: + +"I don't think these councils we have held will amount to much. There +was no sincerity in the Indians' promises. I will see that the promises +we made to them are carried out to the letter, but when the grass grows +in the spring they will be, as usual, on the warpath. As soon as the +regular army is organized it will have to be sent out here on the +border to quell fresh Indian uprisings, because these Indians will give +us no peace till they are thoroughly thrashed." + +The General thanked me for my services, and told me he was very lucky +to find me. "It is not possible that I will be with the troops when +they come," he said. "They will be commanded by General Philip +Sheridan. You will like Sheridan. He is your kind of a man. I will tell +him about you when I see him. I expect to hear great reports of you +when you are guiding the United States army over the Plains, as you +have so faithfully guided me. The quartermaster has instructions to pay +you at the rate of $150 a month, and as a special reward I have ordered +that you be paid $2000 extra. Good-by! I know you will have good luck, +for you know your business." + +After the departure of General Sherman I made a brief visit to my +sisters in Salt Creek Valley, and for a time, there being no scouting +work to do, drove stage between Plum Creek and Fort Kearney. + +I was still corresponding with Miss Frederici, the girl I had left +behind me in St. Louis. My future seemed now secure, so I decided that +it was high time I married and settled down, if a scout can ever settle +down. So, surrendering my stage job, I returned to Leavenworth and +embarked for St. Louis by boat. After a week's visit at the home of my +fiancée we were quietly married at her home. I made, I suppose, rather +a wild-looking groom. My brown hair hung down over my shoulders, and I +had just started a little mustache and goatee. I was dressed in the +Western fashion, and my appearance was, to say the least, unusual. We +were married at eleven o'clock in the morning, and took the steamer +_Morning Star_ at two in the afternoon for our honeymoon journey home. + +As we left our carriages and entered the steamer, my wife's father and +mother and a number of friends accompanying us, I noticed that I was +attracting considerable excited attention. A number of people, men and +women, were on the deck. As we passed I heard them whispering: + +"There he is! That's him! I'd know him in the dark!" + +It was very plain to me that these observations were not particularly +friendly. The glares cast at me were openly hostile. While we were +disposing our baggage in our stateroom--I had hired the bridal +chamber--I heard some of my wife's friends asking her father if he knew +who I was, and whether I had any credentials. He replied that he had +left the matter of credentials to his daughter. + +"Well," said one of the party, "these people on board are excursionists +from Independence, and they say this son-in-law of yours is the most +desperate outlaw, bandit, and house-burner on the frontier!" + +The old gentleman was considerably disturbed at this report. He made up +his mind to get a little first-hand information, and he took the most +direct means of getting it. + +"Who are you?" he asked, walking over to me. "The people on board don't +give you a very good recommendation." + +"Kindly remember," I replied, "that we have had a little war for the +past five years on the border. These people were on one side and I on +the other, and it is natural that they shouldn't think very highly of +me." + +My argument was not convincing. "I am going to take my daughter home +again," said my father-in-law, and started toward the stateroom. + +I besought him to leave the decision to her, and for the next ten +minutes I pleaded my case with all the eloquence I could command. I was +talking against odds, for my wife, as well as her parents' friends, +were all ardent Southerners, and I am proud to say that after fifty +years of married life, she is still as strongly "Secesh" as ever. But +when I put the case to her she said gamely that she had taken me for +better or for worse and intended to stick to me. + +She was in tears when she said good-by to her parents and friends, and +still in tears after they had left. I tried to comfort her with +assurances that when we came among Northern people I would not be +regarded as such a desperate character, but my consolation was of +little avail. At dinner the hostile stares that were bent on me from +our neighbors at table did not serve to reassure her. It was some +comfort to me afterward when the captain sent for me and told me that +he knew me, that my Uncle Elijah was his old-time friend, and one of +the most extensive shippers on the steamboat line. "It is shameful the +way these people are treating you," he said, "but let it pass, and when +we get to Independence everything will be all right." + +But everything was not all right. In the evening, when I led my wife +out on the floor of the cabin, where the passengers were dancing, every +dancer immediately walked off the floor, the men scowling and the women +with their noses in the air. All that night my wife wept while I walked +the floor. + +At daybreak, when we stopped for wood, I heard shots and shouting. +Walking out on deck, I saw the freed negroes who composed the crew +scrambling back on board. The steamboat was backing out in the stream. +Later I learned that my fellow passengers had wired up the river that I +was on board, and an armed party had ridden down to "get" me. + +I quickly returned to the stateroom, and, diving into my trunk, took +out and buckled on a brace of revolvers which had done excellent +service in times past. This action promptly confirmed my wife's +suspicions. She was now certain that I was the bandit I had been +accused of being. I had no time to reason with her now. Throwing my +coat back, so that I rested my hands on the butts of my revolvers, I +strolled out through the crowd. + +One or two men who had been doing a great deal of loud talking a few +minutes past backed away, as I walked past and looked them squarely in +the eyes. Nothing more was said, and soon I reached the steward's +office, unmolested. Here I found a number of men dressed in blue +uniforms. They told me they were discharged members of the Eighth +Indiana Volunteers. They were traveling to Kansas, steerage, saving +their money so they might have it to invest in homes when they reached +their destination. They had all heard of me, and now proposed to arm +and defend me should there be any further hostile demonstrations. I +gladly welcomed their support, more for my wife's sake than for my own. + +"My wife," I said, "firmly believes that I am an outlaw." + +"You can't blame her," said the spokesman of the party, "after what has +happened. But wait till she gets among Union people and she will learn +her mistake. We know your history, and of your recent services to +General Sherman. We know that old 'Pap' Sherman wouldn't have an +outlaw in his service. If you had seen some of the interviews he has +given out about your wife's father and his friends there would have +been trouble at the start." + +My new-found friends did not do things by halves. In order to be able +to give a ball in the cabin they exchanged their steerage tickets for +first-class passage. That night the ball was given, with my wife and +myself as the guests of honor. + +The Independence crowd, observing the preparations for the ball, +demanded that the captain stop at the first town and let them off. They +saw that the tide had turned, and were apprehensive of reprisals. The +captain told them that if they should behave like ladies and gentlemen +all would be well. + +That night they stood outside looking in while my wife, now quite +reassured, was introduced to the ladies and gentlemen from Indiana, and +danced till she was weary. + +We looked for trouble when we reached Independence the next day. There +was a bigger crowd than usual on the levee, but when it was seen that +my Yankee friends had their Spencer carbines with them all was quiet. +As we pulled out the old captain called me outside. + +"Cody, it is all over now," he said. "But don't you think you were the +only restless man on board. When I backed out into the river the other +night I had to leave four of my best deckhands either dead or wounded +on the bank. I will never forget the way you walked out through the +crowd with that pair of guns in your hand. I have heard of the +execution these weapons can do when they get in action." + +When we stopped at Kansas City I telegraphed to Leavenworth that we +were coming. As the boat approached the Leavenworth levee my soldier +friends were out on deck in their dress uniforms, and I stood on the +deck, my bride on my arm. Soon we heard the music of the Fort +Leavenworth band and the town band, and crowds of citizens were on the +wharf as the boat tied up. + +The commandant of the fort, D.R. Anthony, the Mayor of Leavenworth, my +sisters, and hundreds of my friends came rushing aboard the boat to +greet us. That night we were given a big banquet to which my soldier +chums and their wives were invited. My wife had a glorious time. After +it was all over, she put her arms about my neck and cried: + +"Willy, I don't believe you are an outlaw at all!" + +I had reluctantly promised my wife that I would abandon the Plains. It +was necessary to make a living, so I rented a hotel in Salt Creek +Valley, the same hotel my mother had formerly conducted, and set up as +a landlord. + +It was a typical frontier hotel, patronized by people going to and from +the Plains, and it took considerable tact and diplomacy to conduct it +successfully. I called the place "The Golden-Rule House," and tried to +conduct it on that principle. I seemed to have the qualifications +necessary, but for a man who had lived my kind of life it proved a tame +employment. I found myself sighing once more for the freedom of the +Plains. Incidentally I felt sure I could make money as a plainsman, +and, now that I had a wife to support, money had become a very +important consideration. + +I sold out the Golden-Rule House and set out alone for Saline, Kansas, +which was then at the end of construction of the Kansas Pacific +Railway. On my way I stopped at Junction City, were I again met my old +friend, Wild Bill, who was scouting for the Government, with +headquarters at Fort Ellsworth, afterward called Fort Harker. He told +me more scouts were needed at the Post, and I accompanied him to the +fort, where I had no difficulty in securing employment. + +During the winter of 1866-67 I scouted between Fort Ellsworth and Fort +Fletcher. I was at Fort Fletcher in the spring of 1867 when General +Custer came out to accompany General Hancock on an Indian expedition. I +remained here till the post was flooded by a great rise of Big Creek, +on which it was located. The water overflowed the fortifications, +rendering the place unfit for further occupancy, and it was abandoned +by the Government. The troops were removed to Fort Hays, a new post, +located farther west, on the south fork of Big Creek. It was while I +was at Fort Hays that I had my first ride with the dashing Custer. He +had come up from Ellsworth with an escort of only ten men, and wanted a +guide to pilot him to Fort Larned, sixty-five miles distant. + +When Custer learned that I was at the Post he asked that I be assigned +to duty with him. I reported to him at daylight the next day--none too +early, as Custer, with his staff and orderlies, was already in the +saddle. When I was introduced to Custer he glanced disapprovingly at +the mule I was riding. + +"I am glad to meet you, Cody," he said. "General Sherman has told me +about you. But I am in a hurry, and I am sorry to see you riding that +mule." + +"General," I returned, "that is one of the best horses at the fort." + +"It isn't a horse at all," he said, "but if it's the best you've got we +shall have to start." + +We rode side by side as we left the fort. My mule had a fast walk, +which kept the general's horse most of the time in a half-trot. + +His animal was a fine Kentucky thoroughbred, but for the kind of work +at hand I had full confidence in my mount. Whenever Custer was not +looking I slyly spurred the mule ahead, and when he would start forward +I would rein him in and pat him by way of restraint, bidding him not to +be too fractious, as we hadn't yet reached the sandhills. In this way I +set a good lively pace--something like nine miles an hour--all morning. + +At Smoky Hill River we rested our animals. Then the general, who was +impatient to be off, ordered a fresh start. I told him we had still +forty miles of sandhills to cross, and advised an easier gait. + +"I have no time to waste on the road," he said. "I want to push right +ahead." + +Push right ahead we did. I continued quietly spurring my mule and then +counseling the brute to take it easy. Presently I noticed that the +escort was stringing out far behind, as their horses became winded with +the hard pace through the sand. Custer, looking back, noticed the same +thing. + +"I think we are setting too fast a pace for them, Cody," he said, but +when I replied that I thought this was merely the usual pace for my +mule and that I supposed he was in a hurry he made no further comment. + +Several times during the next forty miles we had to stop to wait for +the escort to close up. Their horses, sweating and panting, had reached +almost the limit of their endurance. I continued patting my animal and +ordering him to quiet down, and Custer at length said: + +"You seem to be putting it over me a little today." + +When we reached a high ridge overlooking Pawnee Fork we again waited +for our lagging escort. As we waited I said: + +"If you want to send a dispatch to the officer in command at Fort +Larned, I will be pleased to take it down for you. You can follow this +ridge till you come to the creek and then follow the valley right down +to the fort." + +Custer swung around to the captain, who had just ridden up, and +repeated to him my instructions as to how to reach the fort. "I shall +ride ahead with Cody," he added. "Now, Cody, I am ready for you and +that mouse-colored mule." + +The pace I set for General Custer from that time forward was "some +going." When we rode up to the quarters of Captain Daingerfield Parker, +commandant of the post, General Custer dismounted, and his horse was +led off to the stables by an orderly, while I went to the scouts' +quarters. I was personally sure that my mule was well cared for, and he +was fresh as a daisy the next morning. + +After an early breakfast I groomed and saddled my mule, and, riding +down to the general's quarters, waited for him to appear. I saluted as +he came out, and said that if he had any further orders I was ready to +carry them out. + +"I am not feeling very pleasant this morning, Cody," he said. "My horse +died during the night." + +I said I was very sorry his animal got into too fast a class the day +before. + +"Well," he replied, "hereafter I will have nothing to say against a +mule. We will meet again on the Plains. I shall try to have you +detailed as my guide, and then we will have time to talk over that +race." + +A few days after my return to Fort Hays the Indians made a raid on the +Kansas Pacific Railroad, killing five or six men and running off a +hundred or more horses and mules. The news was brought to the +commanding officer, who immediately ordered Major Arms, of the Tenth +Cavalry, to go in pursuit of the raiders. The Tenth Cavalry was a negro +regiment. Arms took a company, with one mountain howitzer, and I was +sent along as scout. + +On the second day out we discovered a large party of Indians on the +opposite side of the Saline River, and about a mile distant. The party +was charging down on us and there was no time to lose. Arms placed his +howitzer on a little knoll, limbered it up, and left twenty men to +guard it. Then, with the rest of the command, he crossed the river to +meet the redskins. + +Just as he had got his men across the stream we heard a terrific +shouting. Looking back toward the knoll where the gun had been left, we +saw our negro gun-guard flying toward us, pursued by more than a +hundred Indians. More Indians were dancing about the gun, although they +had not the slightest notion what to do with it. + +Arms turned back with his command and drove the redskins from their +useless prize. The men dismounted and took up a position there. + +A very lively fight followed. Five or six men, including Major Arms, +were wounded, and a number of the horses were shot. As the fight +proceeded, the enemy seemed to become steadily more numerous. It was +apparent that reinforcements were arriving from some large party in the +rear. + +The negro troops, who had been boasting of what they would do to the +Indians, were now singing a different tune. + +"We'll jes' blow 'em off'm de fahm," they had said, before there was an +enemy in sight. Now, every time the foe would charge us, some of the +darkies would cry: + +"Heah dey come! De whole country is alive wif 'em. Dere must be ten +thousand ob dem. Massa Bill, does you-all reckon we is ebber gwine to +get out o' heah?" + +The major, who had been lying under the cannon since receiving his +wound, asked me if I thought there was a chance to get back to the +fort. I replied that there was, and orders were given for a retreat, +the cannon being left behind. + +During the movement a number of our men were killed by the deadly fire +of the Indians. But night fell, and in the darkness we made fairly good +headway, arriving at Fort Hays just at daybreak. During our absence +cholera had broken out at the post. Five or six men were dying daily. +For the men there was a choice of dangers--going out to fight the +Indians on the prairie, or remaining in camp to be stricken with +cholera. To most of us the former was decidedly the more inviting. + +"The Rise and Fall of Modern Rome"--was the chapter of frontier history +in which I next figured. For a time I was part owner of a town, and on +my way to fortune. And then one of those quick changes that mark +Western history in the making occurred and I was left--but I will tell +you the story. + +At the town of Ellsworth, which I visited one day while carrying +dispatches to Fort Harker, I met William Rose, who had a contract for +trading on the right-of-way of the Kansas Pacific near Fort Hays. His +stock had been stolen by the Indians, and he had come to Ellsworth to +buy more. + +Rose was enthusiastic about a project for laying out a town site on the +west side of Big Creek, a mile from the fort, where the railroad was to +cross. When, in response to a request for my opinion, I told him I +thought the scheme a big one, he invited me to come in as a partner. He +suggested that after the town was laid out and opened to the public we +establish a store and saloon. + +I thought it would be a grand thing to become half owner of a town, and +at once accepted the proposition. We hired a railroad engineer to +survey the town site and stake it into lots. Also we ordered a big +stock of the goods usually kept in a general merchandise store on the +frontier. This done, we gave the town the ancient and historical name +of Rome. As a starter we donated lots to anyone who would build on +them, reserving for ourselves the corner lots and others which were +best located. These reserved lots we valued at two hundred and fifty +dollars each. + +When the town was laid out I wrote my wife that I was worth $250,000, +and told her I wanted her to get ready to come to Ellsworth by rail. +She was then visiting her parents at St. Louis, with our baby daughter +whom we had named Arta. + +I was at Ellsworth to meet her when she arrived, bringing the baby. +Besides three or four wagons, in which the supplies for the new general +store and furniture for the little house I had built were loaded, I had +a carriage for her and the baby. The new town of Rome was a hundred +miles west. I knew that it would be a dangerous trip, as the Indians +had long been troublesome along the railroad, and I realized the danger +more fully because of the presence of my wife and little daughter. + +A number of immigrants bound for the new town accompanied us. + +The first night out I formed the men into a company, one squad to stand +watch while the others slept. All the early part of the evening I went +the rounds of the camp, much to my wife's annoyance. + +"Why are you away so much?" she kept asking. "It is lonesome here, and +I need you." + +Rather than let her know of my uneasiness about the Indians, I told her +I was trying to sell lots to the men while they were en route. As the +night wore on and everything seemed quiet I prepared to get a little +rest. I did not take my clothes off, and, much to my wife's surprise, +slept with my rifle and revolvers close by me. I had just dropped off +to sleep when I heard shots, and knew they could mean nothing but +Indians. + +The attacking party was small and we were fully prepared. When they +discovered this they fired a few shots and galloped away. + +The second night was almost a repetition of the first. After another +party had been repulsed, Mrs. Cody asked me if I had brought her and +the baby out on the Plains to be killed. + +"This is the kind of a life I lead every day and get fat on it," I +said. But she did not seem to think it especially congenial. + +Everybody turned out to greet us when we arrived in Rome. Even the +gambling-hall houses and the dance-halls closed in our honor. The next +day we moved into our little house. That night there was a veritable +fusillade of revolver shots outside the window. + +"What is that?" asked Mrs. Cody. + +"Just a serenade," I said. + +"Are yon firing blank cartridges?" + +"No. If it became known that revolvers were loaded with blank +cartridges around here we would soon lose some of our most valued +citizens. Everybody in town, from the police judge to dishwashers, +carries a pistol." + +"Why?" + +"To keep law and order." + +That puzzled my wife. She said that in St. Louis policemen kept law and +order, and wanted to know why we didn't have them to do it out here. I +informed her that a policeman would not last very long in a town like +this, which was perfectly true. + +On my return from a hunting trip a few days later I met a man who had +come into town on the stage-coach, and whom Mrs. Cody had seen looking +over the town site from every possible angle. He told me he thought I +had selected a good town site--and I agreed with him. He asked me to go +for a ride around the surrounding country with him the next day. I told +him I was going on a buffalo hunt. He had never killed a buffalo, he +said. He wanted to get a fine head to take back with him, and would be +grateful if I would take him with me. I promised to see that he got a +nice head if he came along, and early the next morning rode down to his +hotel. He was dressed in a smart hunting costume and had his rifle. We +started for the plains, my wagons following to gather up the meat we +should kill. + +As we rode out I explained to him how I hunted. "I kill as many buffalo +as I want," I said. "This I call a 'run.' The wagons come along +afterward and the butchers cut the meat and load it." When I went out +on my "run" I told him where to shoot to kill. But when my work was +done I met him coming back crestfallen. He had failed to get his +buffalo down, although he had shot him three times. + +"Come along with me," I said. "I see another herd over there. I am +going to change saddles with you and let you ride the best buffalo +horse on the Plains." + +He was astonished and delighted to think I would let him ride Brigham, +the most famous buffalo horse in the West. When we drew near the herd I +pointed out a fine four-year-old bull with a splendid head. I galloped +alongside. Brigham spotted the buffalo I wanted, and after my +companion's third shot the brute fell. My pupil was overjoyed with his +success, and appeared to be so grateful to me that I felt sure I should +be able to sell him three or four blocks of Rome real estate at least. +I invited him to take dinner, and served as part of the repast the meat +of the buffalo he had shot. The next morning he looked me up and told +me he wanted to make a proposition to me. + +"What is it?" I asked. I had thought I was the one who was going to +make a proposition. + +"I will give you one-eighth of this town site," he said. + +The nerve of this proposal took me off my feet. Here was a total +stranger offering me one-eighth of my own town site as a reward for +what I had done for him. + +I told him that if he killed another buffalo I would have to hog-hobble +him and send him out of town; then rode off and left him. + +This magnanimous offer occurred right in front of my own house. My wife +overheard it, and also my reply. + +As I rode away, he called out that he wanted to explain, but I was +thoroughly disgusted. + +"I have no time to listen to you," I shouted over my shoulder. + +I was bound out on a buffalo hunt to get meat for the graders twenty +miles away on the railroad, and I kept right on going. Three days +afterward I rode back over the ridge above the town of Rome and looked +down on it. + +I took several more looks. The town was being torn down and carted +away. The balloon-frame buildings were coming apart section by section. +I could see at least a hundred teams and wagons carting lumber, +furniture, and everything that made up the town over the prairies to +the eastward. + +My pupil at buffalo hunting was Dr. Webb, president of the town-site +company of the Kansas Pacific. After I had ridden away without +listening to his explanations he had invited the citizens of Rome to +come over and see where the new railroad division town of Hays City was +to be built. He supplied them with wagons for the journey from a number +of rock wagons that had been lent him by the Government to assist him +in the location of a new town. The distance was only a mile, and he got +a crowd. At the town site of Hays City he made a speech, telling the +people who he was and what he proposed to do. He said the railroad +would build its repair-shops at the new town, and there would be +employment for many men, and that Hays City was destined soon to be the +most important place on the Plains. He had already put surveyors to +work on the site. Lots, he said, were then on the market, and could be +had far more reasonably than the lots in Rome. + +My fellow-citizens straightway began to pick out their lots in the new +town. Webb loaned them the six-mule Government wagons to bring over +their goods and chattels, together with the timbers of their houses. +When I galloped into Rome that day there was hardly a house left +standing save my little home, our general store, and a few sod-houses +and dugouts. + +Mrs. Cody and the baby were sitting on a drygoods box when I rode up to +the store. My partner, Rose, stood near by, whistling and whittling. + +"My word, Rose! What has become of our town!" I cried. Rose could make +no answer. Mrs. Cody said: + +"You wrote me you were worth $250,000." + +"We've got no time to talk about that now," I said. "What made this +town move away?" + +"You ought to have taken Mr. Webb's offer," was her answer. + +"Who the dickens is Webb?" I stormed. Rose looked up from his +whittling. "Bill," he said, "that little flapper-jack was the president +of the town-site company for the K.P. Railroad, and he's run such a +bluff on our citizens about a new town site that is going to be a +division-point that they've all moved over there." + +"Yes," commented Mrs. Cody, "and where is your $250,000?" + +"Well, I've got to make it yet," I said, and then to Rose: "How did the +fall hit you?" + +"What fall?" + +"From millionaire to pauper." + +"It hasn't got through hitting me yet," he said solemnly. + +Rose went back to his grading contract, and I resumed my work as a +buffalo hunter. When the Perry House, the Rome hotel, was moved to Hays +City and rebuilt there, I took my wife and daughter and installed them +there. + +It was hard to descend from the rank of millionaires to that of graders +and buffalo hunters, but we had to do it. The rise and fall of modern +Rome had made us, and it broke us! + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +I soon became better acquainted with Dr. Webb, through whose agency our +town of Rome had fallen almost overnight. We visited him often in Hays, +and eventually he presented my partner Rose and myself each with two +lots in the new town. + +Webb frequently accompanied me on buffalo-hunting excursions; and +before he had been on the prairie a year there were few men who could +kill more buffalo than he. + +Once, when I was riding Brigham, and Webb was mounted on a splendid +thoroughbred bay, we discovered a band of Indians about two miles +distant, maneuvering so as to get between us and the town. A gallop of +three miles brought us between them and home; but by that time they had +come within three-quarters of a mile of us. We stopped to wave our +hands at them, and fired a few shots at long range. But as there were +thirteen in the party, and they were getting a little too close, we +turned and struck out for Hays. They sent some scattering shots in +pursuit, then wheeled and rode off toward the Saline River. + +When there were no buffalo to hunt I tried the experiment of hitching +Brigham to one of our railroad scrapers, but he was not gaited for that +sort of work. I had about given up the idea of extending his usefulness +to railroading when news came that buffaloes were coming over the hill. +There had been none in the vicinity for some time. As a consequence, +meat was scarce. + +I took the harness from Brigham, mounted him bareback and started after +the game, being armed with my new buffalo killer which I had named +"Lucretia Borgia," an improved breech-loading needle-gun which I had +obtained from the Government. + +As I was riding toward the buffaloes I observed five men coming from +the fort. They, too, had seen the herd and had come to join the chase. +As I neared them I saw that they were officers, newly arrived at the +fort, a captain and four lieutenants. + +"Hello, my friend!" sang out the captain as they came up. "I see you +are after the same game we are." + +"Yes, sir," I returned. "I saw those buffaloes coming. We are out of +fresh meat, so I thought I would get some." + +The captain eyed my cheap-looking outfit closely. Brigham, though the +best buffalo horse in the West, was decidedly unprepossessing in +appearance. + +"Do you expect to catch any buffaloes on that Gothic steed!" asked the +captain, with a laugh. + +"I hope so." + +"You'll never catch them in the world, my fine fellow. It requires a +fast horse to overtake those animals." + +"Does it?" I asked innocently. + +"Yes. But come along with us. We're going to kill them more for the +sport than anything else. After we take the tongues and a piece of the +tenderloin, you may have what is left." + +Eleven animals were in the herd, which was about a mile distant. I +noticed they were making toward the creek for water. I knew buffalo +nature, and was aware that it would be difficult to turn them from +their course. I therefore started toward the creek to head them off, +while the officers dashed madly up behind them. + +The herd came rushing up past me, not a hundred yards distant, while +their pursuers followed, three hundred yards in the rear. + +"Now," thought I, "is the time to get in my work." I pulled the blind +bridle from Brigham, who knew as well as I did what was expected of +him. The moment he was free of the bridle he set out at top speed, +running in ahead of the officers. In a few jumps he brought me +alongside the rear buffalo. Raising old "Lucretia Borgia," I killed the +animal with one shot. On went Brigham to the next buffalo, ten feet +farther along, and another was disposed of. As fast as one animal would +fall, Brigham would pass to the next, getting so close that I could +almost touch it with my gun. In this fashion I killed eleven buffaloes +with twelve shots. + +As the last one dropped my horse stopped. I jumped to the ground. +Turning round to the astonished officers, who had by this time caught +up, I said: + +"Now, gentlemen, allow me to present you with all the tongues and +tenderloins from these animals that you want." + +Captain Graham, who, I soon learned, was the senior officer, gasped. +"Well, I never saw the like before! Who are you, anyway?" + +"My name is Cody," I said. + +Lieutenant Thompson, one of the party, who had met me at Fort Harker, +cried out: "Why, that is Bill Cody, our old scout." He introduced me to +his comrades, Captain Graham and Lieutenants Reed, Emmick, and Ezekial. + +Graham, something of a horseman himself, greatly admired Brigham. "That +horse of yours has running points," he admitted. + +The officers were a little sore at not getting a single shot; but the +way I had killed the buffaloes, they said, amply repaid them for their +disappointment. It was the first time they had ever seen or heard of a +white man running buffaloes without either saddle or bridle. + +I told them Brigham knew nearly as much about the business as I did. He +was a wonderful horse. If the buffalo did not fall at the first shot he +would stop to give me a second chance; but if, on the second shot, I +did not kill the game, he would go on impatiently as if to say: "I +can't fool away my time by giving you more than two shots!" + +Captain Graham told me that he would be stationed at Fort Hays during +the summer. In the event of his being sent out on a scouting expedition +he wanted me as scout and guide. I said that although I was very busy +with my railroad contract I would be glad to go with him. + +That night the Indians unexpectedly raided our horses, and ran off five +or six of the best work-teams. At daylight I jumped on Brigham, rode to +Fort Hays, and reported the raid to the commanding officer. Captain +Graham and Lieutenant Emmick were ordered out with their company of one +hundred colored troops. In an hour we were under way. The darkies had +never been in an Indian fight and were anxious to "sweep de red debbils +off de face ob de earth." Graham was a dashing officer, eager to make a +record, and it was with difficulty that I could trail fast enough to +keep out of the way of the impatient soldiers. Every few moments the +captain would ride up to see if the trail was freshening, and to ask +how soon we would overtake the marauders. + +At the Saline River we found the Indians had stopped only to graze and +water the animals and had pushed on toward Solomon. After crossing the +river they made no effort to conceal their trail, thinking they were +safe from pursuit. We reached Solomon at sunset. Requesting Captain +Graham to keep his command where it was, I went ahead to try to locate +the redmen. + +Riding down a ravine that led to the river, I left my horse, and, +creeping uphill, looked cautiously over the summit upon Solomon. In +plain sight, not a mile away, was a herd of horses grazing, among them +the animals which had been stolen from us. Presently I made out the +Indian camp, noted its "lay," and calculated how best we could approach +it. + +Graham's eyes danced with excitement when I reported the prospect of an +immediate encounter. We decided to wait until the moon rose, and then +make a sudden dash, taking the redskins by surprise. + +We thought we had everything cut and dried, but alas! just as we were +nearing the point where we were to take the open ground and make our +charge, one of the colored gentlemen became so excited that he fired +his gun. + +We began the charge immediately, but the warning had been sounded. The +Indians at once sprang to their horses, and were away before we reached +their camp. Captain Graham shouted, "Follow me, boys!" and follow him +we did, but in the darkness the Indians made good their escape. The +bugle sounded the recall, but some of the darkies did not get back to +camp until the next morning, having, in their fright, allowed the +horses to run wherever it suited them to go. + +We followed the trail awhile the next day, but it became evident that +it would be a long chase, and as we were short of rations we started +back to camp. Captain Graham was bitterly disappointed at being cheated +out of a fight that seemed at hand. He roundly cursed the darky who bad +given, the warning with his gun. That gentleman, as a punishment, was +compelled to walk all the way back to Fort Hays. + +The western end of the Kansas Pacific was at this time in the heart of +the buffalo country. Twelve hundred men were employed in the +construction of the road. The Indians were very troublesome, and it was +difficult to obtain fresh meat for the hands. The company therefore +concluded to engage expert hunters to kill buffaloes. + +Having heard of my experience and success as a buffalo hunter, Goddard +Brothers, who had the contract for feeding the men, made me a good +offer to become their hunter. They said they would require about twelve +buffaloes a day--twenty-four hams and twelve humps, as only the hump +and hindquarters of each animal were utilized. The work was dangerous. +Indians were riding all over that section of the country, and my duties +would require me to journey from five to ten miles from the railroad +every day in order to secure the game, accompanied by only one man with +a light wagon to haul the meat back to camp. I demanded a large salary, +which they could well afford to pay, as the meat itself would cost them +nothing. Under the terms of the contract which I signed with them, I +was to receive five hundred dollars a month, agreeing on my part to +supply them with all the meat they wanted. + +Leaving Rose to complete our grading contract, I at once began my +career as a buffalo hunter for the Kansas Pacific. It was not long +before I acquired a considerable reputation, and it was at this time +that the title "Buffalo Bill" was conferred upon me by the railroad +hands. Of this title, which has stuck to me through life, I have never +been ashamed. + +During my engagement as hunter for the company, which covered a period +of eighteen months, I killed 4,280 buffaloes and had many exciting +adventures with the Indians, including a number of hairbreadth escapes, +some of which are well worth relating. + +One day, in the spring of 1868, I mounted Brigham and started for Smoky +Hill River. After a gallop of twenty miles I reached the top of a small +hill overlooking that beautiful stream. Gazing out over the landscape, +I saw a band of about thirty Indians some half-mile distant. I knew by +the way they jumped on their horses they had seen me as soon as I saw +them. + +My one chance for my life was to run. I wheeled my horse and started +for the railroad. Brigham struck out as if he comprehended that this +was a life-or-death matter. On reaching the next ridge I looked around +and saw the Indians, evidently well mounted, and coming for me full +speed. Brigham put his whole strength into the flight, and for a few +minutes did some of the prettiest running I ever saw. But the Indians +had nearly as good mounts as he, and one of their horses in particular, +a spotted animal, gained on me steadily. + +Occasionally the brave who was riding this fleet horse would send a +bullet whistling after me. Soon they began to strike too near for +comfort. The other Indians were strung out along behind, and could do +no immediate damage. But I saw that the fellow in the lead must be +checked, or a stray bullet might hit me or the horse. Suddenly stopping +Brigham, therefore, I raised old "Lucretia" to my shoulder and took +deliberate aim, hoping to hit either the horse or the rider. He was not +eighty yards behind me. At the crack of the rifle down went the horse. +Not waiting to see if he regained his feet, Brigham and I went fairly +flying toward our destination. We had urgent business just then and +were in a hurry to attend to it. + +The other Indians had gained while I stopped to drop the leader. A +volley of shots whizzed past me. Fortunately none of them hit. Now and +then, to return the compliment, I wheeled and fired. One of my shots +broke the leg of one of my pursuers' mounts. + +But seven or eight Indians now remained in dangerous proximity to me. +As their horses were beginning to lag, I checked Brigham to give him an +opportunity to get a few extra breaths. I had determined that if the +worst came to the worst I would drop into a buffalo wallow, where I +might possibly stand off my pursuers. I was not compelled to do this, +for Brigham carried me through nobly. + +When we came within three miles of the railroad track, where two +companies of soldiers were stationed, one of the outposts gave the +alarm. In a few minutes, to my great delight, I saw men on foot and on +horseback hurrying to the rescue. The Indians quickly turned and +galloped away as fast as they had come. When I reached my friends, I +turned Brigham over to them. He was led away and given the care and +rub-down that he richly deserved. + +Captain Nolan of the Tenth Cavalry now came up with forty men, and on +hearing my account of what had happened determined to pursue the +Indians. I was given a cavalry horse for a remount and we were off. + +Our horses were all fresh and excellent stock. We soon began shortening +the distance between ourselves and the fugitives. Before they had fled +five miles we overtook them and killed eight of their number. The +others succeeded in making their escape. Upon coming to the place where +I had dropped the spotted horse that carried the leader of my pursuers +I found that my bullet had struck him in the forehead, killing him +instantly. He was a fine animal, and should have been engaged in better +business. + +On our return we found old Brigham grazing contentedly. He looked up +inquiring, as if to ask if we had punished the redskins who pursued us. +I think he read the answer in my eyes. + +Another adventure which deserves a place in these reminiscences +occurred near the Saline River. My companion at the time was Scotty, +the butcher who accompanied me on my hunts, to cut up the meat and load +it on the wagon for hauling to the railroad camp. + +I had killed fifteen buffaloes, and we were on our way home with a +wagonload of meat when we were jumped by a big band of Indians. + +[Illustration: WINNING MY NAME--"BUFFALO BILL"] + +I was mounted on a splendid horse belonging to the company, and could +easily have made my escape, but Scotty had only the mule team, which +drew the wagon as a means of flight, and of course I could not leave +him. + +To think was to act in those days. Scotty and I had often talked of +what we would do in case of a sudden attack, and we forthwith proceeded +to carry out the plan we had made. + +Jumping to the ground, we unhitched the mules more quickly than that +operation had ever been performed before. The mules and my horse we +tied to the wagon. We threw the buffalo hams on the ground and piled +them about the wheels so as to form a breastwork. Then, with an extra +box of ammunition and three or four extra revolvers which we always +carried with us, we crept under the wagon, prepared to give our +visitors a reception they would remember. + +On came the Indians, pell-mell, but when they got within a hundred +yards of us we opened such a sudden and galling fire that they held up +and began circling about us. + +Several times they charged. Their shots killed the two mules and my +horse. But we gave it to them right and left, and had the satisfaction +of seeing three of them fall to the ground not more than fifty feet +away. + +When we had been cooped up in our little fort for about an hour we saw +the cavalry coming toward us, full gallop, over the prairie. The +Indians saw the soldiers almost as soon as we did. Mounting their +horses, they disappeared down the cañon of the creek. When the cavalry +arrived we had the satisfaction of showing them five Indians who would +be "good" for all time. Two hours later we reached the camp with our +meat, which we found to be all right, although it had a few bullets and +arrows imbedded in it. + +It was while I was hunting for the railroad that I became acquainted +with Kit Carson, one of the most noted of the guides, scouts, and +hunters that the West ever produced. He was going through our country +on his way to Washington. I met him again on his return, and he was my +guest for a few days in Hays City. He then proceeded to Fort Lyon, +Colorado, near which his son-in-law, Mr. Boggs, resided. His health had +been failing for some time, and shortly afterward he died at Mr. +Boggs's residence on Picket Wire Creek. + +Soon after the adventure with Scotty I had my celebrated buffalo +shooting contest with Billy Comstock, a well-known guide, scout, and +interpreter. Comstock, who was chief of scouts at Fort Wallace, had a +reputation of being a successful buffalo hunter, and his friends at the +fort--the officers in particular--were anxious to back him against me. + +It was arranged that I should shoot a match with him, and the +preliminaries were easily and satisfactorily arranged. We were to hunt +one day of eight hours, beginning at eight o'clock in the morning. The +wager was five hundred dollars a side, and the man who should kill the +greater number of buffaloes from horseback was to be declared the +winner. Incidentally my title of "Buffalo Bill" was at stake. + +The hunt took place twenty miles east of Sheridan. It had been well +advertised, and there was a big "gallery." An excursion party, whose +members came chiefly from St. Louis and numbered nearly a hundred +ladies and gentlemen, came on a special train to view the sport. Among +them was my wife and my little daughter Arta, who had come to visit me +for a time. + +Buffaloes were plentiful. It had been agreed that we should go into the +herd at the same time and make our "runs," each man killing as many +animals as possible. A referee followed each of us, horseback, and +counted the buffaloes killed by each man. The excursionists and other +spectators rode out to the hunting-grounds in wagons and on horseback, +keeping well out of sight of the buffaloes, so as not to frighten them +until the time came for us to dash into the herd. They were permitted +to approach closely enough to see what was going on. + +For the first "run" we were fortunate in getting good ground. Comstock +was mounted on his favorite horse. I rode old Brigham. I felt confident +that I had the advantage in two things: first, I had the best buffalo +horse in the country; second, I was using what was known at the time as +a needle-gun, a breech-loading Springfield rifle, caliber .50. This was +"Lucretia," the weapon of which I have already told you. Comstock's +Henry rifle, though it could fire more rapidly than mine, did not, I +felt certain, carry powder and lead enough to equal my weapon in +execution. + +When the time came to go into the herd, Comstock and I dashed forward, +followed by the referees. The animals separated. Comstock took the left +bunch, I the right. My great forte in killing buffaloes was to get them +circling by riding my horse at the head of the herd and shooting their +leaders. Thus the brutes behind were crowded to the left, so that they +were soon going round and round. + +This particular morning the animals were very accommodating. I soon had +them running in a beautiful circle. I dropped them thick and fast till +I had killed thirty-eight, which finished my "run." + +Comstock began shooting at the rear of the buffaloes he was chasing, +and they kept on in a straight line. He succeeded in killing +twenty-three, but they were scattered over a distance of three miles. +The animals I had shot lay close together. + +Our St. Louis friends set out champagne when the result of the first +run was announced. It proved a good drink on a Kansas prairie, and a +buffalo hunter proved an excellent man to dispose of it. + +While we were resting we espied another herd approaching. It was a +small drove, but we prepared to make it serve our purpose. The +buffaloes were cows and calves, quicker in their movements than the +bulls. We charged in among them, and I got eighteen to Comstock's +fourteen. + +Again the spectators approached, and once more the champagne went +round. After a luncheon we resumed the hunt. Three miles distant we saw +another herd. I was so far ahead of my competitor now that I thought I +could afford to give an exhibition of my skill. Leaving my saddle and +bridle behind, I rode, with my competitor, to windward of the +buffaloes. + +I soon had thirteen down, the last one of which I had driven close to +the wagons, where the ladies were watching the contest. It frightened +some of the tender creatures to see a buffalo coming at full speed +directly toward them, but I dropped him in his tracks before he had got +within fifty yards of the wagon. This finished my "run" with a score of +sixty-nine buffaloes for the day. Comstock had killed forty-six. + +It was now late in the afternoon. Comstock and his backers gave up the +idea of beating me. The referee declared me the winner of the match, +and the champion buffalo hunter of the Plains. + +On our return to camp we brought with us the best bits of meat, as well +as the biggest and best buffalo heads. The heads I always turned over +to the company, which found a very good use for them. They were mounted +in the finest possible manner and sent to the principal cities along +the road, as well as to the railroad centers of the country. Here they +were prominently placed at the leading hotels and in the stations, +where they made an excellent advertisement for the road Today they +attract the attention of travelers almost everywhere. Often, while +touring the country, I see one of them, and feel reasonably certain +that I brought down the animal it once ornamented. Many a wild and +exciting hunt is thus called to my mind. + +In May, 1868, the Kansas Pacific track was pushed as far as Sheridan. +Construction was abandoned for the time, and my services as buffalo +hunter were no longer required. A general Indian war was now raging all +along the Western borders. General Sheridan had taken up headquarters +at Fort Hays, in order to be on the job in person. Scouts and guides +were once more in great demand, and I decided to go back to my old +calling. + +I did not wish to kill my faithful old Brigham by the rigors of a +scouting campaign. I had no suitable place to leave him, and determined +to dispose of him. At the suggestion of a number of friends, all of +whom wanted him, I put him up at a raffle, selling ten chances at +thirty dollars each, which were all quickly taken. Ike Bonham, who won +him, took him to Wyandotte, Kansas, where he soon added fresh laurels +to his already shining wreath. In the crowning event of a tournament he +easily outdistanced all entries in a four-mile race to Wyandotte, +winning $250 for his owner, who had been laughed at for entering such +an unprepossessing animal. + +I lost track of him after that. For several years I did not know what +had become of him. But many years after, while in Memphis, I met Mr. +Wilcox, who had once been superintendent of construction on the Kansas +Pacific. He informed me that he owned Brigham, and I rode out to his +place to take a look at my gallant old friend. He seemed to remember +me, as I put my arms about his neck and caressed him like a long-lost +child. + +When I had received my appointment as guide and scout I was ordered to +report to the commandant of Fort Larned, Captain Daingerfield Parker. I +knew that it would be necessary to take my family, who had been with me +at Sheridan, to Leavenworth and leave them there. This I did at once. + +When I arrived at Larned, I found the scouts under command of Dick +Curtis, an old-time scout of whom I have spoken in these reminiscences. +Three hundred lodges of Kiowa and Comanche Indians were encamped near +the fort. These savages had not yet gone on the warpath, but they were +restless and discontented. Their leading chief and other warriors were +becoming sullen and insolent. The Post was garrisoned by only two +companies of infantry and one troop of cavalry. General Hazen, who was +at the post, was endeavoring to pacify the Indians; I was appointed as +his special scout. + +Early one morning in August I accompanied him to Fort Zarrah, from +which post he proceeded, without an escort, to Fort Harker. +Instructions were left that the escort with me should return to Larned +the next day. After he had gone I went to the sergeant in command of +the squad and informed him I intended to return that afternoon. I +saddled my mule and set out. All went well till I got about halfway +between the two posts, when at Pawnee Rock I was suddenly jumped by at +least forty Indians, who came rushing up, extending their hands and +saying, "How?" "How?" These redskins had been hanging about Fort Larned +that morning. I saw that they had on their warpaint, and looked for +trouble. + +As they seemed desirous to shake hands, however, I obeyed my first +friendly impulse, and held out my hand. One of them seized it with a +tight grip and jerked me violently forward. Another grabbed my mule by +the bridle. In a few minutes I was completely surrounded. + +Before I could do anything at all in my defense, they had taken my +revolvers from the holsters and I received a blow on the head from a +tomahawk which rendered me nearly senseless. My gun, which was lying +across the saddle, was snatched from its place. Finally two Indians, +laying hold of the bridle, started off in the direction of the Arkansas +River, leading the mule, which was lashed by the other Indians who +followed along after. + +The whole crowd was whooping, singing, and yelling as only Indians can. +Looking toward the opposite side of the river, I saw the people of a +big village moving along the bank, and made up my mind that the redmen +had left the Post, and were on the warpath in dead earnest. + +My captors crossed the stream with me, and as we waded through the +shallow water they lashed both the mule and me. Soon they brought me +before an important-looking body of Indians, who proved to be the +chiefs and principal warriors. Among them I recognized, old Satanta and +others whom I knew. I supposed that all was over with me. + +All at once Satanta asked me where I had been, and I suddenly had an +inspiration. + +I said I had been after a herd of cattle or "Whoa-haws" as they called +them. The Indians had been out of meat for several weeks, and a large +herd of cattle which had been promised them had not arrived. + +As soon as I said I had been after "Whoa-haws" old Satanta began +questioning me closely. When he asked where the cattle were I replied +that they were only a few miles distant and that I had been sent by +General Hazen to inform him that the herd was coming, and that they +were intended for his people. This seemed to please the old rascal. He +asked if there were any soldiers with the herd. I said there were. +Thereupon the chiefs held a consultation. Presently Satanta asked me if +the general had really said they were to have the cattle. I assured him +that he had. I followed this by a dignified inquiry as to why his young +men had treated me so roughly. + +He intimated that this was only a boyish freak, for which he was very +sorry. The young men had merely wanted to test my courage. The whole +thing, he said, was a joke. The old liar was now beating me at the +lying game, but I did not care, since I was getting the best of it. + +I did not let him suspect that I doubted his word. He ordered the young +men to restore my arms and reprimanded them for their conduct. He was +playing a crafty game, for he preferred to get the meat without +fighting if possible, and my story that soldiers were coming had given +him food for reflection. After another council the old man asked me if +I would go and bring the cattle down. "Of course," I told him. "Such +are my instructions from General Hazen." + +In response to an inquiry if I wanted any of his young men to accompany +me I said that it would be best to go alone. Wheeling my mule around, I +was soon across the river, leaving the chief firmly believing that I +was really going for the cattle, which existed only in my imagination. + +I knew if I could get the river between me and the Indians I would have +a good three-quarters of a mile start of them and could make a run for +Fort Larned. But as I reached the river bank I looked about and saw ten +or fifteen Indians who had begun to suspect that all was not as it +should be. + +The moment my mule secured a good foothold on the bank I urged him into +a gentle lope toward the place where, according to my story, the cattle +were to be brought. + +Upon reaching the top of the ridge and riding down the other side out +of view, I turned my mount and headed westward for Fort Larned. I let +him out for all he was worth, and when I reached a little rise and +looked back the Indian village lay in plain sight. + +My pursuers were by this time on the ridge I had passed over, and were +looking for me in every direction. Soon they discovered me, and +discovered also that I was running away. They struck out in swift +pursuit. In a few minutes it became painfully evident that they were +gaining. + +When I crossed Pawnee Fork, two miles from the Post, two or three of +them were but a quarter of a mile behind. As I gained the opposite side +of the creek I was overjoyed to see some soldiers in a Government wagon +a short distance away. I yelled at the top of my lungs that the Indians +were after me. + +When Denver Jim, an old scout, who was with the party, was informed +that there were ten or fifteen Indians in the pursuit he said: + +"Let's lay for them." + +The wagon was driven hurriedly in among the trees and low box-elder +bushes, and secreted, while we waited. We did not wait long. Soon up +came the Indians, lashing their horses, which were blowing and panting. +We let two of them pass, then opened a lively fire on the next three or +four, killing two at the first volley. The others discovering that they +had run into an ambush, whirled around and ran back in the direction +from which they had come. The two who had passed heard the firing and +made their escape. + +The Indians that were killed were scalped, and we appropriated their +arms and equipment. Then, after catching the horses, we made our way +into the Post. The soldiers had heard us firing, and as we entered the +fort drums were beating and the buglers were sounding the call to fall +in. The officers had thought Satanta and his warriors were coming in to +capture the fort. + +That very morning, two hours after General Hazen had left, the old +chief drove into the Post in an ambulance which he had received some +months before from the Government. He seemed angry and bent on +mischief. In an interview with Captain Parker, the ranking officer, he +asked why General Hazen had left the fort without supplying him with +beef cattle. The captain said the cattle were then on the road, but +could not explain why they were delayed. + +The chief made numerous threats. He said that if he wanted to he could +capture the whole Post. Captain Parker, who was a brave man, gave him +to understand that he was reckoning beyond his powers. Satanta finally +left in anger. Going to the sutler's store, he sold his ambulance to +the post-trader, and a part of the proceeds he secretly invested in +whisky, which could always be secured by the Indians from rascally men +about a Post, notwithstanding the military and civil laws. + +He then mounted his horse and rode rapidly to his village. He returned +in an hour with seven or eight hundred of his warriors, and it looked +as if he intended to carry out his threat of capturing the fort. The +garrison at once turned out. The redskins, when within a half mile, +began circling around the fort, firing several shots into it. + +While this circling movement was taking place, the soldiers observed +that the whole village had packed up and was on the move. The mounted +warriors remained behind some little time, to give their families an +opportunity to get away. At last they circled the Post several times +more, fired a few parting shots, and then galloped over the prairie to +overtake the fast-departing village. On their way they surprised and +killed a party of woodchoppers on Pawnee Fork, as well as a party of +herders guarding beef cattle. + +The soldiers with the wagon I had opportunely met at the crossing had +been out looking for the bodies of these victims, seven or eight in +all. Under the circumstances it was not surprising that the report of +our guns should have persuaded the garrison that Satanta's men were +coming back to make their threatened assault. + +There was much excitement at the Post. The guards had been doubled. +Captain Parker had all the scouts at his headquarters. He was seeking +to get one of them to take dispatches to General Sheridan at Fort Hays. +I reported to him at once, telling him of my encounter and my escape. + +"You were lucky to think of that cattle story, Cody," he said. "But for +that little game your scalp would now be ornamenting a Kiowa lodge." + +"Cody," put in Dick Curtis, "the captain is trying to get somebody to +take dispatches to General Sheridan. None of the scouts here seem +willing to undertake the trip. They say they are not well enough +acquainted with the country to find the way at night." + +A storm was coming up, and it was sure to be a dark night. Not only did +the scouts fear they would lose the way, but, with hostile Indians all +about, the undertaking was exceedingly dangerous. A large party of +redskins was known to be encamped at Walnut Creek, on the direct road +to Fort Hays. + +Observing that Curtis was obviously trying to induce me to volunteer, I +made an evasive answer. I was wearied from my long day's ride, and the +beating I received from the Indians had not rested me any. But Curtis +was persistent. He said: + +"I wish you were not so tired, Bill. You know the country better than +the rest of us. I'm certain you could go through." + +"As far as the ride is concerned," I said, "that would not matter. But +this is risky business just now, with the country full of hostile +Indians. Still, if no other man will volunteer I will chance it, +provided I am supplied with a good horse. I am tired of dodging Indians +on a Government mule." + +At this, Captain Nolan, who had been listening, said: + +"Bill, you can have the best horse in my company." + +I picked the horse ridden by Captain Nolan's first sergeant. To the +captain's inquiry as to whether I was sure I could find my way, I +replied: + +"I have hunted on every acre of ground between here and Fort Hays. I +can almost keep my route by the bones of the dead buffaloes." + +"Never fear about Cody, captain," Curtis added; "he is as good in the +dark as he is in the daylight." + +By ten o'clock that night I was on my way to Fort Hays, sixty-five +miles distant across the country. + +It was pitch-dark, but this I liked, as it lessened the probability of +the Indians' seeing me unless I stumbled on them by accident. My +greatest danger was that my horse might run into a hole and fall, and +in this way get away from me. To avoid any such accident I tied one end +of my rawhide lariat to my belt and the other to the bridle. I did not +propose to be left alone, on foot, on that prairie. + +Before I had traveled three miles the horse, sure enough, stepped into +a prairie dog's hole. Down he went, throwing me over his head. He +sprang to his feet before I could catch the bridle, and galloped away +into the darkness. But when he reached the end of his lariat he +discovered that he was picketed to Bison William. I brought him up +standing, recovered my gun, which had fallen to the ground, and was +soon in the saddle again. + +Twenty-five miles from Fort Larned the country became rougher, and I +had to travel more carefully. Also I proceeded as quietly as possible, +for I knew I was in the vicinity of the Indians who had been lately +encamped on Walnut Creek. But when I came up near the creek I +unexpectedly rode in among a herd of horses. The animals became +frightened, and ran off in all directions. Without pausing to make any +apology, I backed out as quickly as possible. But just at that minute a +dog, not fifty yards away, set up a howl. Soon I heard Indians talking. +They had been guarding the horses, and had heard the hoofbeats of my +horse. In an instant they were on their ponies and after me. + +I urged my mount to full speed up the creek bottom, taking chances of +his falling into a hole. The Indians followed me as fast as they could, +but I soon outdistanced them. + +I struck the old Santa Fe trail ten miles from Fort Hays just at +daybreak. Shortly after reveille I rode into the post, where Colonel +Moore, to whom I reported, asked for the dispatches from Captain Parker +for General Sheridan. He asked me to give them into his hands, but I +said I preferred to hand them to the general in person. Sheridan, who +was sleeping in the same building, heard our voices and bade me come +into his room. + +"Hello, Cody!" he said. "Is that you?" + +"Yes, sir," I said. "I have dispatches for you." + +He read them hurriedly, told me they were very important, and asked all +about the outbreak of the Kiowas and Comanches. I gave him all the +information I possessed. + +"Bill," said General Sheridan, "you've had a pretty lively ride. I +suppose you're tired after your long journey." + +"Not very," I said. + +"Come in and have breakfast with me." + +"No, thank you. Hays City is only a mile from here. I know every one +there and want to go over and have a time." + +"Very well, do as you please, but come back this afternoon, for I want +to see you." + +I got little rest at Hays City, and yet I was soon to set out on +another hard ninety-five-mile journey. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +When I rode back to General Sheridan's headquarters, after a visit with +old friends at Hays City, I noticed several scouts in a little group +engaged in conversation on some important topic. Upon inquiry I learned +that General Sheridan wanted a dispatch sent to Fort Dodge, a distance +of ninety-five miles. + +The Indians had recently killed two or three men engaged in carrying +dispatches over this route. On this account none of the scouts were at +all anxious to volunteer. A reward of several hundred dollars had +failed to secure any takers. + +The scouts had heard of what I had done the day before. They asked me +if I did not think the journey to Fort Dodge dangerous. I gave as my +opinion that a man might possibly go through without seeing an Indian, +but that the chances were ten to one that he would have an exceedingly +lively run before he reached his destination, provided he got there at +all. + +Leaving the scouts arguing as to whether any of them would undertake +the venture, I reported to General Sheridan. He informed me that he was +looking for a man to carry dispatches to Fort Dodge, and, while we were +talking, Dick Parr, his chief of scouts, came in to inform him that +none of his scouts would volunteer. Upon hearing this, I said: + +"General, if no one is ready to volunteer, I'll carry your dispatches +myself." + +"I had not thought of asking you to do this, Cody," said the general. +"You are already pretty hard-worked. But it is really important that +these dispatches should go through." + +"If you don't get a courier before four this afternoon, I'll be ready +for business," I told him. "All I want is a fresh horse. Meanwhile I'll +get a little more rest." + +It was not much of a rest, however, that I got. I went over to Hays +City and had a "time" with the boys. Coming back to the Post at the +appointed hour, I found that no scout had volunteered. I reported to +the general, who had secured an excellent horse for me. Handing me the +dispatches, he said: + +"You can start as soon as you wish. The sooner the better. And good +luck to you, my boy!" + +An hour later I was on my way. At dusk I crossed the Smoky Hill River. +I did not urge my horse much, as I was saving him for the latter end of +the journey, or for any run I might have to make should the "wild boys" +jump me. + +Though I kept a sharp watch through the night I saw no Indians, and had +no adventures worth relating. Just at daylight I found myself +approaching Saw Log River, having ridden about seventy-five miles. + +A company of colored cavalry, under command of Major Cox, was stationed +at this point. I approached the camp cautiously. The darky soldiers had +a habit of shooting first and crying "Halt!" afterward. When I got +within hearing distance I called out, and was answered by one of the +pickets. I shouted to him not to shoot, informing him that I carried +dispatches from Fort Hays. Then, calling the sergeant of the guard, I +went up to the vidette, who at once recognized me, and took me to the +tent of Major Cox. + +This officer supplied me with a fresh horse, as requested by General +Sheridan in a letter I brought to him. After an hour's sleep and a +meal, I jumped into the saddle, and before sunrise was on my way. I +reached Fort Dodge, twenty-five miles further on, between nine and ten +o'clock without having seen a single Indian. + +When I had delivered my dispatches, Johnny Austin, an old friend, who +was chief of scouts at the Post, invited me to come to his house for a +nap. When I awoke Austin told me there had been Indians all around the +Post. He was very much surprised that I had seen none of them. They had +run off cattle and horses, and occasionally killed a man. Indians, he +said, were also very thick on the Arkansas River between Fort Dodge and +Fort Larned, and had made considerable trouble. The commanding officer +of Fort Dodge was very anxious to send dispatches to Fort Larned, but +the scouts, like those at Fort Hays, were backward about volunteering. +Fort Larned was my Post, and I wanted to go there anyhow. So I told +Austin I would carry the dispatches, and if any of the boys wanted to +go along I would be glad of their company. This offer was reported to +the commanding officer. He sent for me, and said he would be glad to +have me take the dispatches, if I could stand the trip after what I had +already done. + +"All I want is a fresh horse, sir," said I. + +"I am sorry we haven't a decent horse," he replied, "but we have a +reliable and honest Government mule, if that will do you." + +"Trot out the mule," I told him. "It is good enough for me. I am ready +at any time." + +The mule was forthcoming. At dark I pulled out for Fort Larned, and +proceeded without interruption to Coon Creek, thirty miles from Fort +Dodge. I had left the wagon road some distance to the south, and +traveled parallel to it. This I decided would be the safer course, as +the Indians might be lying in watch for dispatch-bearers and scouts +along the main road. + +At Coon Creek I dismounted and led the mule down to the river to get a +drink of water. While I was drinking the brute jerked loose and struck +out down the creek. I followed him, trusting that he would catch his +foot in the bridle rein and stop, but he made straight for the wagon +road, where I feared Indians would be lurking, without a pause. At last +he struck the road, but instead of turning back toward Fort Dodge he +headed for Fort Larned, keeping up a jogtrot that was just too fast to +permit me to overtake him. + +I had my gun in hand, and was sorely tempted to shoot him more than +once, and probably would have done so but for the fear of bringing the +Indians down on me. But he was going my way, so I trudged along after +him mile after mile, indulging from time to time in strong language +regarding the entire mule fraternity. The mule stuck to the road and +kept on for Fort Larned, and I did the same thing. The distance was +thirty-five miles. As day was beginning to break, we--the mule and +myself--found ourselves on a hill looking down on the Pawnee Fork, on +which Fort Larned was located, only four miles away. When the sunrise +gun sounded we were within half a mile of the Post. + +I was thoroughly out of patience by this time. + +"Now, Mr. Mule," I said, "it is my turn," and threw my gun to my +shoulder. Like the majority of Government mules, he was not easy to +kill. He died hard, but he died. + +Hearing the report of the gun, the troops came rushing out to see what +was the matter. When they heard my story they agreed that the mule had +got no more than his deserts. I took the saddle and bridle and +proceeded to the Post, where I delivered my dispatches to Captain +Parker. I then went to Dick Curtis's house at the scouts' headquarters +and put in several hours of solid sleep. + +During the day General Hazen returned from Fort Harker. He had +important dispatches to send to General Sheridan. I was feeling highly +elated over my ride, and as I was breaking the scout records I +volunteered for this mission. + +The general accepted my offer, though he said there was no necessity of +my killing myself. I said I had business which called me to Fort Hays, +anyway, and that it would make no difference to the other scouts if he +gave me the job, as none of them were particularly eager for the +journey. + +Accordingly, that night, I mounted an excellent horse, and next morning +at daylight reached General Sheridan's headquarters at Fort Hays. + +The general was surprised to see me, and still more so when I told him +of the time I had made on the rides I had successfully undertaken. I +believe this record of mine has never been beaten in a country infested +with Indians and subject to blizzards and other violent weather +conditions. + +To sum up, I had ridden from Fort Larned to Fort Zarrah, a distance of +sixty-five miles and back in twelve hours. Ten miles must be added to +this for the distance the Indians took me across the Arkansas River. In +the succeeding twenty-four hours I had gone from Fort Larned to Fort +Hays, sixty-five miles, in eight hours. During the next twenty-four +hours I rode from Fort Hays to Fort Dodge, ninety-five miles. The +following night I traveled from Fort Dodge to Fort Larned, thirty miles +on mule back and thirty-five miles on foot, in twelve hours, and the +next night sixty-five miles more from Fort Larned to Fort Hays. + +Altogether I had ridden and walked three hundred and sixty-five miles +in fifty-eight hours, an average of over six miles an hour. + +Taking into consideration the fact that most of this riding was done in +the night over wild country, with no roads to follow, and that I had +continually to look out for Indians, it was regarded at the time as a +big ride as well as a dangerous one. + +What I have set down here concerning it can be verified by referring to +the autobiography of General Sheridan. + +General Sheridan complimented me highly on this achievement. He told me +I need not report back to General Hazen, as he had more important work +for me to do. The Fifth Cavalry, one of the finest regiments of the +army, was on its way to the Department of the Missouri, and he was +going to send an expedition against the Dog Soldier Indians who were +infesting the Republican River region. + +"Cody," he said, "I am going to appoint you guide and chief of scouts +of the command. How does that suit you?" + +I told him it suited me first rate and thanked him for the honor. + +The Dog Soldier Indians were a band of Cheyennes and of unruly, +turbulent members of other tribes who would not enter into any treaty, +and would have kept no treaty if they had made one. They had always +refused to go on a reservation. They got their name from the word +"Cheyenne," which is derived from chien, the French word for "dog." + +On the third of October the Fifth Cavalry arrived at Fort Hays, and I +at once began making the acquaintance of the members of the regiment. +General Sheridan introduced me to Colonel Royal, the commander, whom I +found a gallant officer and an agreeable gentleman. I also became +acquainted with Major W.H. Brown, Major Walker, Captain Sweetman, +Quartermaster E.M. Hays, and many others of the men with whom I was +soon to be associated. + +General Sheridan, being anxious to punish the Indians who had lately +fought General Forsythe, did not give the regiment much of a rest. On +October 5th it began the march to Beaver Creek country. + +The first night we camped on the south fork of Big Creek, four miles +west of Hays City. By this time I had become well acquainted with Major +Brown and Captain Sweetman. They invited me to mess with them, and a +jolly mess we had. There were other scouts with the command besides +myself. I particularly remember Tom Kenahan, Hank Fields, and a +character called "Nosey." + +The morning of the 6th we pulled out to the north. During the day I was +particularly struck with the appearance of the regiment. It was a +beautiful command, and when strung out on the prairies with, a train of +seventy-five six-mule wagons, ambulances, and pack-mules, I felt very +proud of my position as guide and chief of scouts with such a warlike +expedition. + +Just as we were going into camp on the Saline River that night we ran +into a band of some fifteen Indians. They saw us, and dashed across the +creek, followed by some bullets which we sent after them. + +This little band proved to be only a scouting party, so we followed it +only a mile or two. Our attention was directed shortly to a herd of +buffaloes, and we killed ten or fifteen for the command. + +Next day we marched thirty miles. When we went into camp Colonel Royal +asked me to go out and kill some buffaloes for the boys. + +"All right, colonel," I said; "send along a wagon to bring in the +meat." + +"I am not in the habit of sending out my wagons till I know there is +something to be hauled in," he said. "Kill your buffaloes first, and +I'll send the wagons." + +Without further words I went out on my hunt. After a short absence I +returned and asked the colonel to send his wagons for the half-dozen +buffaloes I had killed. + +The following afternoon he again requested me to go out after +buffaloes. I didn't ask for any wagons this time, but rode out some +distance, and, coming upon a small herd, headed seven or eight of them +directly for the camp. Instead of shooting them I ran them at full +speed right into the place and then killed them one after another in +rapid succession. + +Colonel Royal, who witnessed the whole proceeding, was annoyed and +puzzled, as he could see no good reason why I had not killed the +buffaloes on the prairie. + +Coming up angry, he demanded an explanation. + +"I can't allow any such business as this, Cody," he exclaimed. "What do +you mean by it!" + +"I didn't care about asking for wagons this time, Colonel," I replied. +"I thought I would make the buffaloes furnish their own +transportation." + +The colonel saw the force of my defense, and had no more to say on the +subject. + +No Indians had been seen in the vicinity during the day. Colonel Royal, +having posted his pickets, supposed that everything was serene for the +night. But before morning we were aroused by shots, and immediately +afterward one of the mounted pickets came galloping into camp with the +announcement that there were Indians close at hand. All the companies +fell into line, prepared and eager for action. The men were still new +to Indian fighting. Many of them were excited. + +But, despite the alarm, no Indians made their appearance. Upon going to +the post where the picket said he had seen them, none were to be found, +nor could the faintest trace be discovered. + +The sentinel, an Irishman, insisted that there certainly had been +redskins there. + +"But you must be mistaken," said the colonel. + +"Upon me sowl, I'm not. As sure as me name's Pat Maloney, wan iv them +red devils hit me on th' head with a club, so he did," persisted the +picket. + +When morning came we made a successful effort to clear up the mystery. +Elk tracks were found in the vicinity, and it was undoubtedly a herd of +elk that had frightened the picket. When he turned to flee he must have +hit his head on an overhanging limb, which he supposed was the club of +a redskin, bent on his murder. It was hard, however, to convince him +that he could have been mistaken. + +Three days' march brought us to Beaver Creek, where we encamped and +where scouts were sent out in different directions. None of these +parties discovered Indians, and they all returned to camp at about the +same time. They found it in a state of excitement. A few hours before +the return of the scouts the camp had been attacked by a party of +redskins, who had killed two men and made off with sixty horses +belonging to Company H. + +That evening the command started on the trail of the horse thieves. +Major Brown with two companies and three days' rations pushed ahead in +advance of the main command. On the eighteenth day out, being +unsuccessful in the chase, and nearly out of rations, the entire +command marched toward the nearest railroad station and camped on the +Saline river, three miles distant from Buffalo Tank. + +While waiting for supplies we were joined by a new commanding officer, +Brevet-Major-Greneral E.A. Carr, who was the senior major of the +regiment and ranked Colonel Royal. He brought with him the celebrated +Forsythe Scouts, who were commanded by Lieutenant Pepoon, a +regular-army officer. + +While in this camp, Major Brown welcomed a new lieutenant, who had come +to fill a vacancy in the command. This was A.B. Bache, and on the day +he was to arrive Major Brown had his private ambulance brought out and +invited me to ride with him to the railroad station to meet the +lieutenant. On the way to the depot he said: + +"Now, Cody, we'll give Bache a lively little ride, and shake him up a +little." + +The new arrival was given a back seat in the ambulance when he got off +the train, and we headed for the camp. + +Presently Major Brown took the reins from his driver and at once began +whipping the mules. When he had got them into a lively gallop he +pulled out his revolver and fired several shots. The road was terribly +rough and the night was intensely dark. We could not see where we were +going, and it was a wonderful piece of luck that the wagon did not tip +over and break our necks. + +Finally Bache asked, good-humoredly: + +"Is this the way you break in all your new lieutenants, Major?" + +"Oh, no," returned the major. "But this is the way we often ride in +this country. Keep your seat, Mr. Bache, and we'll take you through on +time," he quoted, from Hank Monk's famous admonition to Horace Greeley. + +We were now rattling down a steep hill at full speed. Just as we +reached the bottom, the front wheels struck a deep ditch over which the +mules had jumped. We were all brought up standing, and Bache plunged +forward headlong to the front of the vehicle. + +"Take the back seat, lieutenant," said Major Brown sternly. + +Bache replied that he had been trying to do so, keeping his nerve and +his temper. We soon got the wagon out of the ditch and resumed our +drive. We swung into camp under full headway, and created considerable +amusement. Everyone recognized the ambulance, and knew that Major Brown +and I were out for a lark, so little was said about the exploit. + +Next morning at an early hour the command started out on another Indian +hunt. General Carr, who had a pretty good idea where he would be likely +to find them, directed me to guide him by the nearest route to Elephant +Fork, on Beaver Creek. + +When we arrived at the South Fork of the Beaver, after two days' march, +we discovered a fresh Indian trail. We had followed it hurriedly for +eight miles when we discovered, on a bluff ahead, a large number of +Indians. + +General Carr ordered Lieutenant Pepoon's scouts and Company M to the +front. Company M was commanded by Lieutenant Schinosky, a reckless +dare-devil born in France, who was eager for a brush with the Indians. + +In his anxiety to get into the fight he pushed his company nearly a +mile in advance of the main command, when he was jumped by some four +hundred Indians. Until our main force could come to his support he had +as lively a little fight as any one could have asked for. + +As the battle proceeded, the Indians continued to increase in numbers. +At last it became apparent that we were fighting eight hundred or a +thousand of them. The engagement was general. There were killed and +wounded on both sides. The Indians were obviously fighting to give +their families and village a chance to get away. We had surprised them +with a larger force than they knew was in that part of the country. The +battle continued steadily until dark. We drove them before us, but they +fought stubbornly. At night they annoyed us by firing down into our +camp from the encircling hills. Several times it was necessary to order +out the command to dislodge them and to drive them back where they +could do no damage. + +After one of these sallies, Captain Sweetman, Lieutenant Bache, and +myself were taking supper together when "Whang!" came a bullet into Mr. +Bache's plate. We finished our supper without having any more such +close calls. + +At daylight next morning we took the trail again, soon reaching the +spot where the Indians had camped the night before. Here there had been +a large village, consisting of five hundred lodges. Continuing our +pursuit, we came in sight of the retreating village at two in the +afternoon. At once the warriors turned back and gave us battle. + +To delay us as much as possible they set fire to the prairie grass in +front and on all sides of us. For the remainder of the afternoon we +kept up a running fight. Repeatedly the Indians attempted to lead us +away from the trail of their fleeing village. But their trail was +easily followed by the tepee poles, camp-kettles, robes, and all the +paraphernalia which proved too heavy to carry for long, and which were +dropped in the flight. It was useless to try to follow them after +nightfall, and at dark we went into camp. + +Next morning we were again on the trail, which led north and back +toward Beaver Creek. The trail crossed this stream a few miles from +where we had first discovered the Indians. They had made almost a +complete circle in the hope of misleading us. + +Late in the afternoon we again saw them going over a hill far ahead. +Toward evening the main body of warriors once more came back and fought +us, but we continued to drive them till dusk, when we encamped for the +night. + +Soon the Indians, finding they could not hold out against us, scattered +in every direction. We followed the main trail to the Republican River, +where we made a cut-off and proceeded north toward the Platte. + +Here we found that the Indians, traveling day and night, had got a long +start. General Carr decided we had pushed them so hard and given them +such a thorough scaring that they would leave the Republican country +and go north across the railroad. It seemed, therefore, unnecessary to +pursue them any further. Most of the Indians did cross the river near +Ogallah as he predicted, and thence continued northward. + +That night we returned to the Republican River and camped in a grove of +cottonwoods, which I named Carr's Grove in honor of our commander. + +General Carr informed me that the next day's march would be toward the +headwaters of the Beaver. I said that the distance was about +twenty-five miles, and he said we would make it the next day. Getting +an early start in the morning, we struck out across the prairie. My +position, as guide, was the advance guard. About two o'clock General +Carr overtook me and asked me how far I supposed it was to water. I +replied that I thought it was about eight miles, although we could see +no sign of a stream ahead. + +"Pepoon's scouts say you are traveling in the wrong direction," said +the general. "They say, the way you are bearing, it will be fifteen +miles before we strike any branches of the Beaver, and that when you do +you will find no water, for they are dry at this season of the year in +this locality." + +"I think the scouts are mistaken, General," I said. "The Beaver has +more water near its head than it has below. At the place where we will +strike the stream we will find immense beaver dams, big and strong +enough to cross your whole command if you wish." + +"Well, go ahead," he said. "I leave it to you. But, remember, I don't +want a dry camp." + +"No danger of that," I returned and rode on. As I predicted, we found +water seven or eight miles further on. Hidden in the hills was a +beautiful little tributary of the Beaver. We had no trouble in +selecting a fine camp with good spring water and excellent grass. +Learning that the stream, which was but eight miles long, was without a +name, the general took out his map, and, locating it, christened it +Cody's Creek, which name it still bears. + +Early the next morning we pulled out for the Beaver. As we were +approaching the stream I rode on ahead of the advance guard in order to +find a crossing. Just as I turned a bend of the creek "Bang!" went a +shot, and down went my horse, accompanied by myself. + +I disentangled myself and jumped clear of the carcass, turning my guns +loose at two Indians whom I discovered in the direction from which the +shot had come. In the suddenness of it all I missed my aim. The Indians +fired two or three more shots, and I returned the compliment by +wounding one of their horses. + +On the other side of the creek I saw a few lodges moving rapidly away, +and also mounted warriors. They also saw me and began blazing away with +their guns. The Indians who had killed my horse were retreating across +the creek, using a beaver dam for a bridge. I accelerated their pace by +sending a few shots after them and also fired at the warriors across +the stream. I was undecided as to whether it would be best to run back +to the command on foot or to retain my position. The troops, I knew, +would come up in a few minutes. The sound of the firing would hasten +their arrival. + +The Indians soon saw that I was alone. They turned and charged down the +hill, and were about to cross the creek and corral me when the advance +guard of the command appeared over the ridge and dashed forward to my +rescue. Then the redskins whirled and made off. + +When General Carr arrived he ordered Company I to pursue the band. I +accompanied Lieutenant Brady, who commanded the company. For several +hours we had a running fight with the Indians, capturing several of +their horses and most of their lodges. At night we returned to the +command, which by this time had crossed the dam. + +For several days we scouted along the river. We had two or three lively +skirmishes, but at last our supplies began to run low, and the general +ordered us to return to Fort Wallace, which we reached three days +afterward. + +While the regiment remained here, waiting for orders, I spent most of +my time hunting buffaloes. One day while I was out with a small party, +fifty Indians jumped us, and we had a terrific battle for an hour. We +finally managed to drive them off, with four of their warriors killed. +With me were a number of excellent marksmen, and they did fine work, +sending bullets thick and fast where they would do the most execution. + +Two or three of our horses were hit. One man was wounded. We were ready +and willing to stay with the Indians as long as they would stay with +us. But they gave it up at last. We finished our hunt and returned to +the Post with plenty of buffalo meat. Here we received the compliments +of General Carr on our little fight. + +In a few days orders came from General Sheridan to make a winter +campaign in the Canadian River country. We were to proceed to Fort Lyon +on the Arkansas River and fit out for the expedition. Leaving Fort +Wallace in November, 1868, we arrived at Fort Lyon in the latter part +of the month, and began the work of outfitting. + +Three weeks before this, General Penrose had left the Post with a +command of three hundred men. He had taken no wagons with him. His +supply train was composed of pack mules. General Carr was ordered to +follow with supplies on Penrose's trail and to overtake him as soon as +possible. I was particularly anxious to catch up with Penrose's +command, as my old friend, "Wild Bill," was among his scouts. + +For the first three days we followed the trail easily. Then we were +caught in Freeze-Out Cañon by a fearful snowstorm. This compelled us to +go into camp for a day. + +It now became impossible longer to follow Penrose's trail. The ground +was covered with snow, and he had left no sign to show in which +direction he was going. + +General Carr sent for me, and told me it was highly important that we +should not lose the trail. He instructed me to take some scouts, and, +while the command remained in camp, to push on as far as possible to +seek for some sign that would indicate the direction Penrose had taken. + +Accompanied by four men, I started out in a blinding snowstorm. We rode +twenty-four miles in a southerly direction till we reached a tributary +of the Cimarron. From here we scouted up and down the stream for a few +miles, and at last turned up one of Penrose's old camps. + +It was now late in the afternoon. If the camp was to come up the next +day it was necessary for us to return immediately with our information. + +We built a fire in a sheltered spot, broiled some venison we had shot +during the day, and after a substantial meal I started back alone, +leaving the others behind. + +It was eleven o'clock when I got back into camp. A light was still +burning in General Carr's tent. He was sitting up to await my return. +He was overjoyed at the news I brought him. He had been extremely +anxious concerning the safety of Penrose. Rousing up his cook, he +ordered a hot supper for me, which, after my long, cold ride, I greatly +appreciated. I passed the night in the general's tent, and woke the +next morning fully refreshed and ready for a big day's work. + +The snow had drifted deeply overnight, and the command had a hard tramp +through it when it set out next morning for the Cimarron. In many +ravines the drifts had filled in to a great depth. Often the teamsters +had to shovel their way through. + +At sundown we reached the Cimarron, and went into a nice warm camp. The +next morning, on looking around, we found that Penrose, who was not +encumbered with wagons, had kept on the west side of the Cimarron. Here +the country was so rough that we could not stay on the trail with +wagons. But we knew that he would continue down the river, and the +general gave orders to take the best route down-stream, which I found +to be on the east side. Before we could make any headway with our wagon +trains we had to leave the river and get out on the divide. + +For some distance we found a good road, but suddenly we were brought up +standing on a high table-land overlooking the beautiful winding creek +that lay far below us. How to get the wagons down became a serious +problem for the officers. + +We were in the foothills of the rough Raton Mountains. The bluff we +were on was steep and rugged. + +"Cody," said General Carr, "we're in a nice fix now." + +"That's nothing," I replied. + +"But you never can take the train down." + +"Never mind the train, General. You are looking for a good camp. How +does that valley suit you?" + +"That will do," he said. "I can easily descend with the cavalry, but +how to get the wagons down is a puzzler." + +"By the time your camp is located the wagons will be there," I said. + +"All right," he returned. "I'll leave it to you, inasmuch as you seem +to want to be the boss." He ordered the command to dismount and lead +the horses down the mountain. When the wagon-train, which was a mile in +the rear, came up, one of the drivers asked: + +"How are we going to get down there?" + +"Run down, slide down, fall down--any way to get down," I told him. + +"We never can do it," said another wagon-master. "It's too steep. The +wagons will run over the mules." + +"Oh, no," I said. "The mules will have to keep out of the way." + +I instructed Wilson, the chief wagon-master, to bring up his +mess-wagon. He drove the wagon to the brink of the bluff. Following my +directions, he brought out extra chains with which we locked both +wheels on each side, and then rough-locked them. + +This done, we started the wagons down the hill. The wheel-horses, or +rather the wheel-mules, were good on the hold back, and we got along +beautifully till the wagon had nearly reached the bottom of the +declivity. Then the wagon crowded the mules so hard that they started +on the run and came galloping down into the valley to the spot General +Carr had selected for his camp. There was not the slightest accident. + +Three other wagons followed in the same way. In half an hour every +wagon was in the camp. It was an exciting sight to see the six-mule +teams come almost straight down the mountainside and finally break into +a run. At times it seemed certain that the wagon must turn a somersault +and land on the mules, but nothing of the kind happened. + +Our march proved be a lucky one so far as gaining on Penrose was +concerned. The route he had taken on the west side of the stream was +rough and bad, and with our great wagon-train we made as many miles in +one day as he had in seven. + +His command had taken a high table-land whose sides were so steep that +not even a pack mule could make the descent, and he had been obliged to +retrace the trail for a great distance, losing three days while doing +so. + +The incident of this particular camp we had selected was an exciting +turkey hunt. We found the trees along the river bank literally alive +with turkeys. After unsaddling the horses, two or three hundred +soldiers surrounded a grove of timber, and there was a grand turkey +round-up. Guns, clubs, and even stones were used as weapons. Of course, +after the hunt we had roast turkey, boiled turkey, fried turkey, and +turkey on toast for our fare, and in honor of the birds which had +provided this treat we named the place Camp Turkey. + +When we left camp we had an easy trail for several days. Penrose had +taken a southerly direction toward the Canadian River. No Indians were +to be seen, nor did we find any signs of them. + +One day, while riding in advance of the command down San Francisco +Creek, I heard some one calling my name from a little bunch of willow +brush on the opposite bank of the stream. Looking closely at the spot, +I saw a colored soldier. + +"Sakes alive, Massa Bill, am dat you?" shouted the man, whom I +recognized as a member of the Tenth Cavalry. + +"Come out o' heah," I heard him call to someone behind him. "Heah's +Massa Buffalo Bill." Then he sang out to me: "Massa Bill, is you got +any hahdtack?" + +"Nary a bit of hardtack, but the wagons will be along presently, and +you can get all you want." + +"Dat's de best news Ah's heahd fo' sixteen long days, Massa Bill." + +"Where's your command? Where's General Penrose?" I demanded. + +"Dunno," said the darky. "We got lost, an' we's been starvin' ever +since." + +By this time two other negroes had emerged from their hiding-place. +They had deserted Penrose's command, which was out of rations and in a +starving condition. They were trying to make their way back to old Fort +Lyon. General Carr concluded, from what they could tell him, that +Penrose was somewhere on Polladora Creek. But nothing definite was to +be gleaned from the starving darkies, for they knew very little +themselves. + +General Carr was deeply distressed to learn that Penrose and his men +were in such bad shape. He ordered Major Brown to start out the next +morning with two companies of cavalry and fifty pack mules, loaded with +provisions, and to make all possible speed to reach and relieve the +suffering soldiers. I went with this detachment. On the third day out +we found the half-famished soldiers encamped on the Polladora. The camp +presented a pitiful sight. For over two weeks the men had only quarter +rations and were now nearly starved to death. Over two hundred mules +were lying dead, having succumbed to fatigue and starvation. + +Penrose, having no hope that he would be found, had sent back a company +of the Seventh Cavalry to Fort Lyon for supplies. As yet no word had +been heard from them. The rations brought by Major Brown arrived none +too soon. They were the means of saving many lives. + +Almost the first man I saw after reaching the camp was my true and +tried friend, "Wild Bill." That night we had a jolly reunion around the +campfires. + +When General Carr came up with his force, he took command of all the +troops, as he was the senior officer. When a good camp had been +selected he unloaded his wagons and sent them back to Fort Lyon for +supplies. He then picked out five hundred of the best men and horses, +and, taking his pack-train with him, started south for the Canadian +River. The remainder of the troops were left at the supply camp. + +I was ordered to accompany the expedition bound for the Canadian River. +We struck the south fork of this stream at a point a few miles above +the old adobe walls that were once a fort. Here Kit Carson had had a +big Indian fight. + +We were now within twelve miles of a new supply depot called Fort +Evans, established for the Third Cavalry and Evans's expedition from +New Mexico. + +The scouts who brought this information reported also that they +expected the arrival of a bull-train from New Mexico with a large +quantity of beer for the soldiers. + +"Wild Bill" and I determined to "lay" for this beer. That very evening +it came along, and the beer destined for the soldiers at Fort Evans +never reached them. It went straight down the thirsty throats of +General Carr's command. + +The Mexicans living near Fort Evans had brewed the beer. They were +taking it to Fort Evans to sell to the troops. But it found a better +market without going so far. It was sold to our boys in pint cups, and, +as the weather was very cold, we warmed it by putting the ends of our +picket pins, heated red-hot, into the brew before we partook of it. The +result was one of the biggest beer jollifications it has ever been my +misfortune to attend. + +One evening General Carr summoned me to his tent. He said he wanted to +send some scouts with dispatches to Fort Supply, to be forwarded from +there to General Sheridan. He ordered me to call the scouts together +and to select the men who were to go. + +I asked if I were to go, but he replied that he could not spare me. The +distance to Camp Supply was about two hundred miles. Because of the +very cold weather it was sure to be a hard trip. None of the scouts +were at all keen about undertaking it, but it was finally settled that +"Wild Bill," "Little Geary," a half-breed, and three other scouts +should carry the dispatches. They took their departure the next day +with orders to return as soon, as possible. + +We scouted for several days along the Canadian River, finding no sign +of Indians. The general then returned to camp, and soon our wagon-train +returned with provisions from Fort Lyon. Our animals were in poor +condition, so we remained in different camps along San Francisco Creek +and on the North Fork of the Canadian till "Wild Bill" and his scouts +returned from Fort Supply. + +Among the scouts in Penrose's command were fifteen Mexicans. Among them +and the Americans a bitter feud existed. When Carr united Penrose's +command with his own, and I was made chief of scouts, this feud grew +more intense than ever. The Mexicans often threatened to "clean us +out," but they postponed the execution of the threat from time to time. +At last, however, when we were all in the sutler's store, the +long-expected fight took place, with the result that the Mexicans were +severely beaten. + +On hearing of the row, General Carr sent for "Wild Bill" and me. From +various reports he had made up his mind that we were the instigators of +the affair. After listening to what we had to say, however, he decided +that the Mexicans were as much to blame as we were. It is possible that +both "Wild Bill" and I had imbibed a few more drinks than we needed +that evening. General Carr said to me: + +"Cody, there are plenty of antelopes in the country. You can do some +hunting while we stay here." After that my time was spent in the chase, +and I had fine success. I killed from twenty to twenty-five antelopes +every day, and the camp was supplied with fresh meat. + +When the horses and mules belonging to the outfit had been sufficiently +recruited to travel, we returned to Fort Lyon, reaching there in March, +1869. The command recruited and rested for thirty days before +proceeding to the Department of the Platte, whither it had been +ordered. + +At my request, General Carr kindly granted me a month's leave of +absence to visit my family in St. Louis. He instructed Captain Hays, +our quartermaster, to let me ride my mule and horse to Sheridan, 140 +miles distant. At Sheridan I was to take the train for St. Louis. + +I was instructed to leave the animals in the quartermaster's corral at +Fort Wallace until I should come back. Instead of doing this, I put +them both in charge of my old friend Perry, the hotel-keeper at +Sheridan. + +After twenty days, pleasantly spent with my family at St. Louis, I +returned to Sheridan. There I learned that my horse and mule had been +seized by the Government. + +The quartermaster's agent at Sheridan had reported to General Bankhead, +commanding at Fort Wallace, and to Captain Laufer, the quartermaster, +that I had left the country and had sold the animals to Perry. Laufer +took possession of the animals, and threatened to have Perry arrested +for buying Government property. He refused to pay any attention to +Perry's statement that I would return in a few days, and that the +animals had merely been left in his care. + +As soon as I found this out I proceeded to the office of the +quartermaster's agent who had told this lie, and gave him the thrashing +he richly deserved. When I had finished with him he hastened to the +fort, reported what had happened, and returned with a guard to protect +him. + +Next morning, securing a horse from Perry, I rode to Fort Wallace and +demanded my horse and mule from General Bankhead. I told him they were +Quartermaster Hays's property and belonged to General Carr's command, +and explained that I had obtained permission to ride them to Sheridan +and return. + +General Bankhead gruffly ordered me out of his office and off the +reservation, declaring that if I didn't leave in a hurry he would have +me removed by force. + +I told him he might do this and be hanged, using, very possibly, a +stronger expression. That night, while sleeping at the Perry House, I +was awakened by a tap on my shoulder and was astonished to see the room +filled with armed negro soldiers with their guns all pointed at me. The +first word came from the sergeant. + +"Now looka heah, Massa Bill; if you move we'll blow you off de fahm, +suah!" Just then Captain Ezekial entered, and ordered the soldiers to +stand back. + +"I'm sorry, Bill," he said, when I demanded to know what this meant. +"But I've been ordered by General Bankhead to arrest you and bring you +to Fort Wallace." + +"All right," said I. "But you could have made the arrest without +bringing the whole Thirty-eighth Infantry with you." + +"I know that, Bill, but you've not been in a very good humor the last +day or two, and we didn't know how you'd act." + +I dressed hurriedly and accompanied the captain to Fort Wallace. When +we reached there at two o'clock in the morning the captain said: + +"Bill, I'm sorry, but my orders are to put you in the guardhouse." + +I told him I did not blame him for carrying out orders, and was made a +guardhouse prisoner for the first and only time in my life. The +sergeant of the guard, who was an old friend from Captain Graham's +company, refused to put me in a cell, kindly allowing me to sleep in +his own bed, and in a few minutes I was sound asleep. + +Captain Graham called to see me in the morning. He said it was a shame +to lock me up, and promised to speak to the general about it. At +guard-mount, when I was not summoned, I sent word to Captain Graham +that I wanted to see General Bankhead. He sent back word that the +general refused to have anything to do with me. + +As it was impossible to send word to General Carr, I determined to send +a dispatch direct to General Sheridan. I wrote out a long telegram, +informing him of my difficulty. But when it was taken to the telegraph +office for transmission the operator refused to send it at once. +Instead he showed it to General Bankhead, who tore it up. When no reply +came I went to the office, accompanied by a guard, and learned from the +operator what he had done. + +"See here, my young friend," said I, "this is a public telegraph line. +I want my telegram sent, or there'll be trouble." + +He knew very well it was his duty to send the dispatch. I rewrote it +and gave it to him, with the money to pay for it. But before he made +any effort to transmit it he called on General Bankhead and informed +him of what I had said. Seeing that the dispatch would have to go +through, the general sent for me. + +"If I let you go, sir, will you leave the Post at once and not bother +anyone at Sheridan?" he demanded. + +"No, sir," I replied, "I'll do nothing of the kind. I'll remain in the +guardhouse till I get an answer from General Sheridan." + +"If I give you your horse and mule will you proceed at once to Fort +Lyon?" + +"No, sir; I have some bills to settle at Sheridan and some other +business to transact." + +"Well, sir, will you at least promise not to interfere any further with +the quartermaster's agent at Sheridan?" + +"I shall not trouble him any more, sir. I have had all I want from +him." + +General Bankhead thereupon sent for Captain Laufer and ordered him to +turn the horse and mule over to me. In a few minutes I was on my way to +Sheridan, and, having settled my business there, I proceeded to Fort +Lyon, arriving there two days afterward. I related my adventures to +General Carr, Major Brown, and the other officers, who were highly +amused thereby. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +When I returned to General Carr's command after my experience as a +prisoner I was informed that the general had been waiting for me for +two weeks. + +"I'm glad you've come, Bill," said the general. "While we've been at +this Post a number of valuable animals have been stolen, as well as +many Government horses and mules. We think the thieves are still near +the fort. Fresh tracks have been found near Fort Lyon. Perhaps Bill +Green, the scout who has been up there, can tell you something about +them." + +Sending for Green, I found that he had marked the place where he had +lost the trail of the marauders. + +Next morning, accompanied by Green, Jack Farley, and another scout, I +set out after the horse-thieves. + +While making a circuit about the tracks we had found leading away from +the spot where Green discovered them, we found the trail of twelve +animals--four mules and eight horses--in the edge of the sandhills. + +From this point we had no trouble in trailing them down to the Arkansas +River. This stream they had followed toward Denver, whither they were +undoubtedly bound. + +When we got within four miles of Denver we found that the thieves had +passed four days before. I concluded that they had decided to dispose +of the animals in Denver. I was aware that Saturday was the big auction +day there, so we went to a hotel outside the town to await that day. I +was too well known in the city to show myself there, for the thieves +would have taken alarm had they learned of my presence. + +Early Saturday morning we rode into the city and stabled our animals at +the Elephant Corral. I secured a room in a hotel overlooking the +corral, and took up a post of observation. I did not have to wait long. + +A man, whom I recognized at once as Williams, one of our old packers, +rode into the ring, mounted on Lieutenant Forbush's mule, and leading +another Government mule. This mule had been recently branded, and over +the "U.S." a plain "D B" had been stamped. + +As the man's confederate did not appear I decided he was outside with +the rest of the stolen animals. + +When Mr. Forbush's mule was put up at auction I came down to the corral +and walked through the crowd of bidders. + +The packer saw me, and tried to get away, but I seized him firmly by +the shoulder. + +"I guess, my friend," said I, "that you'll have to go with me. Make any +resistance and I'll shoot you on the spot!" + +To the auctioneer and an inquisitive officer I showed my commission as +a United States detective. With Farley and Green, who were close at +hand, I took my prisoner three miles down the Platte. There we +dismounted, and began preparations to hang our prisoner to a limb. We +informed him that he could escape this fate only by telling us where +his partner was hidden. + +He at first denied having any partner, but when we gave him five +minutes to live unless he told the truth, he said his pal was in an +unoccupied house three miles farther down the river. + +We took up our journey, and, coming in sight of the house, saw a number +of animals grazing near it. As we rode to the door, another of our old +packers, whom I recognized as Bill Bevins, stepped to the front door. I +instantly covered him with my rifle and ordered him to throw up his +hands before he could draw his revolver. + +Looking through the house, we found saddles, pack-saddles, lariats, +blankets, overcoats, and two Henry rifles. We returned with the whole +outfit to Denver, where we lodged Williams and Bevins in jail. The next +day we tied each man to a mule and started on the return journey. + +At the hotel where we had stopped before making the arrests, we were +joined by our man with the pack mule. That night we camped on Cherry +Creek, seventeen miles from Denver. + +It was April, and the weather was cold and stormy. We found a warm and +cozy camping-place in the bend of the creek. We made our beds in a +row--feet to the fire. The prisoners had thus far been docile and I did +not think it necessary to hobble them. They slept inside, and it was +arranged that some one was to be constantly on guard. About one o'clock +in the morning it began snowing. Shortly before three, Jack Farley, who +was on guard, and sitting at the foot of the bed with his back to the +prisoners, was kicked into the fire by Williams. The next instant +Bevins, who had got hold of his shoes, sprang up, jumped over the fire, +and started away on the run. + +As soon as I was enough awake to comprehend what was going on I sent a +shot after him. Williams attempted to follow Bevins, but as he did so I +knocked him down with the butt of my revolver. Farley had by this time +got out of the fire. Green had started after Bevins, firing at him as +he ran, but the thief made his escape into the brush. + +In his flight, unfortunately for him, he dropped one of his shoes. + +Leaving Williams in charge of Farley and "Long Doc," the man with the +pack mule, Green and I struck out for Bevins. We heard him breaking +through the brush, but, knowing it would be useless to try to follow +him on foot, we went back and saddled two of the fastest horses. At +daylight we struck out on his trail, which was plainly visible in the +snow. + +Though he had an hour and a half's start his track lay through a +country covered with prickly pear. We knew that with a bare foot he +could make little progress. We could see, however by the long jumps he +was taking, that he was making excellent time. Soon the trail became +spotted with blood, where the thorns of the prickly pear had pierced +his shoeless foot. + +After a run of twelve miles we saw Bevins crossing a ridge two miles +ahead. We reached the ridge just as he was descending the divide toward +the South Platte, which at this point was very deep and swift. + +If he got across the stream he stood a good chance of escape. We pushed +our horses as fast as possible, and when we got within range I told him +to halt or I would shoot. He knew I was a good shot, and coolly sat +down to wait for us. + +"Bevins, you gave us a good chase," I said, as we rode up. + +"Yes," he returned calmly, "and if I'd had fifteen minutes' more start +and got across the Platte you'd never have caught me." + +Bevins's flight was the most remarkable feat of its kind I have ever +heard of. A man who could run barefooted in the snow through a +prickly-pear patch was surely a "tough one." When I looked at the man's +bleeding foot I really felt sorry for him. He asked me for my knife, +and when I gave it to him he dug the thorns out of his foot with its +sharp point. I consider him the gamest man I ever met. + +I could not suffer a man with such a foot to walk, so I dismounted, and +he rode my horse back to camp, while Green and I rode the other horse +by turns. We kept a close watch on our prisoner. We had had plenty of +proof that he needed it. His injured foot must have pained him +fearfully, but never a word of complaint escaped him. + +After breakfasting we resumed our journey. We had no further trouble +till we reached the Arkansas River, where we found a vacant cabin and +took possession of it for the night. + +There was no fear that Bevins would try to escape. His foot was swollen +to a great size, and was useless. Believing that Williams could not get +away from the cabin, we unbound him. + +The cabin was comfortably warmed and well-lighted by the fire. We left +"Long Doc" on guard and went to sleep. + +At one o'clock Williams asked "Doc" to allow him to step to the door +for a minute. "Doc" had his revolver in hand, and did not think it +necessary to waken us. He granted the request. With "Doc," revolver in +hand, watching him, Williams walked to the outer edge of the floor. +Suddenly he made a spring to the right and was out of sight in the +black darkness before his guard could even raise his revolver. + +"Doc" leaped after him, firing just as he rounded the corner of the +cabin. The report brought us all to our feet. I at once covered Bevins +with my revolver, but, seeing that he could barely stir, I lowered it. + +Then in came "Doc," swearing a blue streak and announcing that Williams +had escaped. Nothing was left us but to gather our horses close to the +cabin and stand guard the rest of the night to prevent the possibility +of our late prisoner sneaking in and getting away with one of them. +This was the last I ever saw or heard of Williams, but we got back to +Fort Lyon with Bevins. + +Though we had lost one of our prisoners, General Carr complimented us +on the success of our trip. The next day we took Bevins to Bogg's +Ranch, on Picket Wire Creek, where he was to await trial. But he never +was tried. He made his escape, as I had expected he would do. + +In 1872 I heard that he was at his old tricks on Laramie Plains. A +little later he sent word to me that if he ever met me he would kill me +on sight. Shortly thereafter he was arrested and convicted for robbery, +but made his escape from Laramie City prison. Later he organized a +desperate gang of outlaws which infested the country north of the Union +Pacific. When, the stage began running between Cheyenne and Deadwood, +these outlaws robbed coaches and passengers, often making big hauls of +plunder. Finally most of the gang were caught, tried, and convicted, +and sent to the penitentiary for a number of years. Bevins was among +the number. + +Soon after my return to Fort Lyon, the Fifth Cavalry was ordered to the +Department of the Platte. While we were at Fort Wallace, getting +supplies en route I passed the quarters of General Bankhead, who had +ordered my arrest on the occasion of my last visit to that Post. The +general sent out for me, and as I entered his office he extended his +hand. + +"I hope you have no hard feelings for me, Cody," he said. "I have just +had a talk with General Carr and Quartermaster Hays. If you had told me +you had permission to ride that horse and mule, there would have been +no trouble." + +"That's all right, General," I said. "I don't believe your +quartermaster's agent will ever circulate any more false stories about +me." + +"No," said the general; "he hasn't recovered yet from the beating you +gave him." + +When the command reached the north fork of the Beaver, I rode down the +valley toward the stream, and discovered a large fresh Indian trail. I +found tracks scattered all over the valley and on both sides of the +creek, as if a large village had recently passed that way. I estimated +there could not be less than four hundred lodges, or between +twenty-five hundred and three thousand warriors, women, and children in +the band. + +When I reported my discovery to General Carr, he halted his regiment, +and, after consulting a few minutes, ordered me to select a ravine, or +as low ground as possible, so that the troops might be kept out of +sight of the Indians until we could strike the creek. + +We went into camp on the Beaver. The general ordered Lieutenant Ward to +take twelve men and myself and follow up the trail for several miles. +Our orders were to find out how fast the Indians were traveling. I soon +made up my mind by the frequency of their camps that they were moving +slowly, hunting as they journeyed. + +After we had scouted about twelve miles, keeping our horses well +concealed under the bank of the creek, Ward and I left our horses and +crept to a high knoll where there was a good view for some distance +down-stream. As we looked over the summit of the hill we saw a whole +Indian village, not three miles away. Thousands of ponies were grazing +on the prairie. To our left, on the opposite side of the creek, two or +three parties of Indians were coming in, laden with buffalo meat. + +"This is no place for us, Lieutenant," said I. "I think we have +business at the camp which must be attended to as soon as possible." + +"I agree with you," he returned. "The quicker we get there the better." + +We came down the hill as fast as we could and joined our men. +Lieutenant Ward hurriedly wrote a note and sent it to General Carr by a +corporal. As the man started away on a gallop Ward said: "We will +march, slowly back until we meet the troops. I think General Carr will +soon be here." + +A minute or two later we heard shots in the direction taken by our +courier. Presently he came flying back around the bend of the creek, +with three or four Indians in hot pursuit. The lieutenant, with his +squad of soldiers, charged upon them. They turned and ran across the +stream. + +"This will not do," said Ward, when the last redskin had disappeared. +"The whole village will know the soldiers are near by." + +"Lieutenant," said I, "give me that note. I'll take it to the general." + +He gladly handed me the dispatch. Spurring my horse, I dashed up the +creek. Soon I observed another party of Indians returning to the +village with meat. I did not wait for them to attack me, but sent a +shot after them at long range. + +In less than an hour I reached the camp and delivered the dispatch to +General Carr. "Boots and Saddles" was sounded, and all the troops save +two companies, which were left to guard the supply train, were soon +galloping toward the Indian camp. + +When we had ridden three miles we met Lieutenant Ward. He had run into +a party of Indian hunters. One of their number had been killed in the +encounter, and one of Ward's horses had been wounded. + +At the end of five miles we came in sight of hundreds of Indians, +advancing up the creek to meet us. + +They formed a complete line on our front. General Carr, who wanted to +strike their village, ordered the troops to charge, break through the +line, and keep straight on. + +No doubt this movement would have been successfully executed had it not +been for the daredevil, rattle-brained Lieutenant Schinosky, commanding +Company B. Misunderstanding the orders, he charged on the Indians on +the left, while the rest of the command swept through the line. The +main body was keeping straight on toward the village when it was +discovered that Schinosky and his company were surrounded by five +hundred Indians. + +To save the company, General Carr was forced to order a halt and hurry +back to the rescue. During the short fight Schinosky had several men +and a number of horses killed. + +Valuable time had been consumed by the rescue. Night was coming on. The +Indians were fighting desperately to keep us from reaching their +village, whose population, having been informed by courier of what was +going on, was packing up and getting away. + +During the afternoon we had all we could do to hold our own with the +mounted warriors. They stayed stubbornly in our front, contesting every +inch of ground. + +The wagon-train, which had been ordered to come up, had not arrived. +Fearful that it had been surrounded, General Carr ordered the command +to return and look for it. We found it at nine o'clock that night, and +went into camp. + +Next morning, when we moved down the creek, not an Indian was to be +seen. Village and all, they had disappeared. Two miles down the stream +we came to a spot where the village had been located. Here we found +many articles which had been left in the hurry of flight. These we +gathered up and burned. + +The trail, which we followed as rapidly as possible, led northeast +toward the Republican River. On reaching that stream a halt was +ordered. Next morning at daylight we again pulled out. We gained +rapidly on the Indians, and could occasionally see them from a +distance. + +About eleven o 'clock that morning, while Major Babcock was ahead with +his company, and as we were crossing a deep ravine, we were surprised +by perhaps three hundred warriors. They at once began a lively fire. +Our men galloped out of the ravine to the rough prairie and returned +it. We soon succeeded in driving the enemy before us. At one time we +were so close upon them that they threw away most of their lodges and +camp equipment, and left their played-out horses behind them. For miles +we could see Indian furniture strewn in all directions. + +Soon they scattered into small bodies, dividing the trail. At night our +horses began to give out, and a halt was called. A company was detailed +to collect all the loose Indian ponies, and to burn the abandoned camp +equipment. + +We were now nearly out of rations. I was sent for supplies to the +nearest supply point, old Fort Kearney, sixty miles distant. + +Shortly after this the command reached Fort McPherson, which for some +time thereafter continued to be the headquarters of the Fifth Cavalry. +We remained there for ten days, fitting out for a new expedition. We +were reënforced by three companies of the celebrated Pawnee Indian +Scouts, commanded by Major Frank North. At General Carr's +recommendation I was now made chief of scouts in the Department of the +Platte, with better pay. I had not sought this position. + +I became a firm friend of Major North and his officers from the start. +The scouts had made a good reputation for themselves. They had +performed brave and valuable services in fighting against the Sioux, +whose bitter enemies they were. During our stay at Fort McPherson I +made the acquaintance of Lieutenant George P. Belden, known as "The +White Chief." His life has been written by Colonel Brisbin, of the +army. Belden was a dashing rider and an excellent shot. An hour after +our introduction he challenged me to a rifle match, which was at once +arranged. + +We were to shoot ten shots each at two hundred yards for fifty dollars +a side. Belden was to use a Henry rifle. I was to shoot my old +"Lucretia." This match I won. Belden at once proposed another, a +hundred-yard match, as I was shooting over his distance. This he won. +We were now even, and we stopped right there. + +While we were at Fort McPherson, General Augur and +Brevet-Brigadier-General Thomas Duncan, colonel of the Fifth Cavalry, +paid us a visit for the purpose of reviewing our command. The men +turned out in fine style, and showed themselves to be well-drilled +soldiers. Next the Pawnee scouts were reviewed. It was amusing to see +them in their full uniform. They had been supplied with the regular +cavalry uniform, but on this occasion some of them had heavy overcoats, +others large black hats with all the brass accoutrements attached; some +were minus trousers and wore only breech-clouts. Some had regulation +pantaloons, but only shirts. Part of them had cut the breech of their +pantaloons away, leaving only the leggings. Still others had big brass +spurs, but wore no boots nor moccasins. + +But they understood the drill remarkably well for Indians. The commands +were given them by Major North, who spoke their tongue as readily as +any full-blooded Pawnee. They were well mounted, and felt proud of the +fact that they were regular United States soldiers. That evening after +the drill many ladies attended the dance of the Indians. Of all savages +I have ever seen, the Pawnees are the most accomplished dancers. + +Our command set out on the trail the next day. Shortly afterward, when +we were encamped on the Republican River near the mouth of the Beaver, +we heard the yells of Indians, followed by shots, in the vicinity of +our mule herd, which had been driven down to water. + +Presently one of the herders, with an arrow still quivering in his +flesh, came dashing into the camp. + +My horse was close at hand. Mounting him bareback, I galloped after the +mule herd, which had been stampeded. I supposed that I would be the +first man on the scene. But I found I was mistaken. The Pawnee scouts, +unlike regular soldiers, had not waited for the formality of orders +from their officers. Jumping their ponies bareback and putting ropes in +the animals' mouths, they had hurried to the place from which the shots +came and got there before I did. + +The marauders proved to be a party of fifty or more Sioux, who had +endeavored to stampede our animals. They were painfully surprised to +find their inveterate enemies, the Pawnees, coming toward them at full +gallop. They had no idea the Pawnees were with the command. They knew +that it would take regular soldiers a few minutes to turn out, and +fancied they would have plenty of time to stampede the herd and get +away. + +In a running fight of fifteen or twenty miles several of the Sioux were +killed. I was mounted on an excellent horse Colonel Royal had selected +for me. For the first mile or two I was in advance of the Pawnees. Soon +a Pawnee shot past me. I could not help admiring the horse he was +riding. I determined that if possible that horse should be mine. He was +a big buckskin, or yellow horse. I took a careful look at him, so as to +recognize him when we got back to camp. + +After the chase was over I rode over to Major North and asked him about +the animal. I was told that he was one of the favorite steeds of the +command. + +"What chance is there to trade for him?" I asked. + +"It is a Government horse," replied the Major. "The Indian who rides +him is very much attached to him." + +I told Major North I had fallen in love with the horse, and asked if he +had any objections to my trying to secure him. He replied that he had +not. A few days later, after making the Indian several presents, I +persuaded him to trade horses with me. In this way I became possessed +of the buckskin, although he still remained Government property. I +named him Buckskin Joe, and he proved to be a second Brigham. + +I rode him during the summers of '69, '70, '71, and '72. He was the +horse ridden by the Grand Duke Alexis on his buffalo hunt. In the +winter of '72, after I had left Fort McPherson, Buckskin Joe was +condemned and sold at public sale to Dave Perry at North Platte. In +1877 he presented him to me. He remained on my ranch on the Dismal +River for many years, stone blind, until he died. + +At the end of twenty days, after a few unimportant running fights, we +found ourselves back to the Republican River. + +Hitherto the Pawnee scouts had not taken much interest in me. But while +at the camp I gained their respect and admiration by showing them how +to kill buffaloes. Though they were excellent buffalo killers, for +Indians, I had never seen them kill more than four or five animals in +one run. A number of them would surround a herd and dash in on it, each +one killing from one to four buffaloes. I had gone out in company with +Major North, and watched them make a "surround." Twenty Pawnees, +circling a herd, killed thirty-two buffaloes. + +As they were cutting up the animals, another herd appeared. The Pawnees +were getting ready to surround it, when I asked Major North to keep +them back to let me show them what I could do. He did as I requested. I +knew Buckskin Joe was a good buffalo horse, and, feeling confident that +I would astonish the Indians, I galloped in among the herd. I did +astonish them. In less than a half-mile run I dropped thirty-six, +killing a buffalo at nearly every shot. The dead animals were strung +out over the prairie less than fifty feet apart. This manner of killing +greatly pleased the Indians. They called me "Big Chief," and thereafter +I had a high place in their esteem. + +We soon left the camp and took a westward course up the Republican +River. Major North, with two companies of his Pawnees, and Colonel +Royal, with two or three companies of cavalry, made a scout north of +the river. + +After making camp on the Blacktail Deer Fork we observed a band of +Indians coming over the prairie at full gallop, singing and yelling and +waving their lances and long poles. We first supposed them to be the +hostile Sioux, and for a few moments all was excitement. But the +Pawnees, to our surprise, made no effort to go out to attack them. +Presently they began singing themselves. Major North walked over to +General Carr and said: + +"General, those are our men. They had had a fight. That is the way they +act when they come back from battle with captured scalps." + +The Pawnees came into camp on the run. We soon learned that they had +run across a party of Sioux who were following a big Indian trail. The +Sioux had evidently been in a fight. Two or three had been wounded, and +were being carried by the others. The Pawnees "jumped" them, and killed +three or four of their number. + +Next morning our command came up to the Indian trail where the Sioux +had been found. We followed it for several days. From the number of +campfires we passed we could see that we were gaining on the Sioux. + +Wherever they had camped we found the print of a woman's shoe. This +made us all the more eager to overtake them, for it was plain that they +had a white woman as their captive. + +All the best horses were selected by the general, and orders were given +for a forced march. The wagon-train was to follow as rapidly as +possible, while the command pushed on ahead. + +I was ordered to pick out five or six of the best Pawnees and proceed +in advance of the command, keeping ten or twelve miles ahead, so that +when the Indians were overtaken we could learn the location of their +camp, and give the troops the required information in time to plan an +effective attack. + +When we were ten miles in advance of the regiment we began to move +cautiously. We looked carefully over the summits of the hills before +exposing ourselves to observation from the front. At last we made out +the village, encamped in the sandhills south of the South Platte River +at Summit Springs. + +Here I left the Pawnees to watch, while I rode back to the command and +informed General Carr that the Indians were in sight. + +The men were immediately ordered to tighten their saddles and otherwise +to prepare for action. I changed my horse for old Buckskin Joe. He had +been led for me up to this time, and was comparatively fresh. Acting on +my suggestion, General Carr made a circuit to the north. I knew that if +the Indians had scouts out they would naturally watch in the direction +whence they had come. When we had passed the camp, and were between it +and the river, we turned and started back. + +By this maneuver we avoided detection by the Sioux scouts. The general +kept the command wholly out of sight until within a mile of the +village. Then the advance guard was halted till all the soldiers caught +up. Orders were issued that at the sound of the charge the whole +command was to rush into the village. + +As we halted on the summit of the hill overlooking the still +unsuspecting Sioux, General Carr called to his bugler: + +"Sound the charge!" + +The bugler, in his excitement, forgot the notes of the call. Again the +general ordered "Sound the charge!" and again the musician was unable +to obey the command. + +Quartermaster Hays, who had obtained permission to join the command, +comprehended the plight of the bugler. Rushing up to him, he seized the +bugle, and sounded the call himself, in clear, distinct tones. As the +troops rushed forward he threw the bugle away, and, drawing his pistol, +was among the first to enter the village. The Indians had just driven +up their horses and were preparing to move camp when they saw the +soldiers. + +Many of them jumped on their ponies, and, leaving everything behind +them, advanced to meet the attack. On second thought, however, they +decided it would be useless to resist. Those who were mounted rode +away, while those on foot fled for the neighboring hills. We charged +through their village, shooting right and left at everything we saw. +Pawnees, officers, and regular soldiers were all mixed together, while +the Sioux went flying away in every direction. + +The general had instructed the soldiers to keep a sharp look-out for +white women when they entered the village. Two were soon found. One of +them was wounded, and the other had just been killed. Both were Swedes, +and the survivor could not speak English. + +A Swedish soldier was soon found to act as interpreter. The woman's +name was Weichel. She said that as soon as the Indians saw the troops +coming, a squaw, the wife of Tall Bull, had killed Mrs. Alerdice, her +companion in captivity, with a hatchet. The infuriated squaw had +attacked Mrs. Weichel, wounding her. The purpose of the squaw was +apparently to prevent both women from telling the soldiers how cruelly +they had been treated. + +The attack lasted but a little while. The Indians were driven several +miles away. The soldiers gathered in the herd of Indian horses, which +was running wild over the prairie, and drove the animals back into +camp. After a survey of our work we found we had killed about one +hundred and forty Indians and captured one hundred and twenty squaws +and papooses, two hundred lodges, and eight hundred horses and mules. + +General Carr ordered that all the tepees, lodges, buffalo robes, camp +equipage, and provisions, including a large quantity of buffalo meat, +should be gathered and burned. Mrs. Alerdice, the murdered Swedish +captive, was buried. Captain Kane read the burial service, as we had no +chaplain with us. While this was going on, the Sioux warriors recovered +from their panic and came back to give us battle. All around the attack +a fight began. I was on the skirmish line, and noticed an Indian who +was riding a large bay horse, and giving orders to his men in his own +language. + +I could understand part of what he said. He was telling them that they +had lost everything and were ruined, and was entreating them to follow +him until they died. The horse this chief was riding was extremely +fleet. I determined to capture him if possible, but I was afraid to +fire at the rider lest I kill the horse. + +Often the Indian, as he rode around the skirmish line, passed the head +of a ravine. It occurred to me that if I dismounted and crept up the +ravine, I could, as he passed, easily drop him from the saddle with no +fear of hitting the horse. Accordingly I crept into the ravine and +secreted myself there to wait till Mr. Chief came riding by. + +When he was not more than thirty yards away I fired. The next instant +he tumbled from the saddle, and the horse kept on his way without a +rider. Instead of running back to the Indians, he galloped toward the +soldiers, by one of whom he was caught. + +Lieutenant Mason, who had been very conspicuous in the fight and had +killed two or three Indians himself, came galloping up the ravine, and, +jumping from his horse, secured the elaborate war-bonnet from the head +of the dead chief, together with all his other accoutrements. + +We both rejoined the soldiers. I started in search of the horse, and +found him in the possession of Sergeant McGrath, who had captured him. +McGrath knew that I had been trying to get the horse, and he had seen +me kill its rider. He handed the animal over to me at once. I little +thought at the time that I had captured the fastest running horse west +of the Missouri River, but this later proved to be the fact. + +Late that evening our wagon-train arrived. Mrs. Weichel, the wounded +woman, had been carefully attended by the surgeons, and we placed her +in the ambulance. Gathering up the prisoners, squaws, and papooses, we +set out for the South Platte River, eight miles distant, where we went +into camp. + +Next morning, by order of General Carr, all the money found in the +village was turned over to the adjutant. Above two thousand dollars was +collected, and the entire amount was given to Mrs. Weichel. + +The command now proceeded to Fort Sedgwick, from which point the +particulars of our fight, which took place Sunday, July 11, 1869, was +telegraphed to all parts of the country. + +During our two weeks' stay at this Post, General Augur, of the +Department of the Platte, made us a visit, and complimented the command +highly on the gallant service it had performed. Tall Bull and his +Indians had long been a terror to the border settlements. For their +crushing defeat, and the killing of the chief, General Carr and the +command were complimented in General Orders. + +Mrs. Weichel was cared for in the Post hospital. After her recovery she +married the hospital steward. Her former husband had been killed by the +Indians. Our prisoners were sent to the Whetstone Agency, on the +Missouri, where Spotted Tail and the friendly Sioux were then living. +The captured horses and mules were distributed among the officers and +soldiers. + +Among the animals which I thus obtained were my Tall Bull horse and a +pony which I called Powder Face. This animal figured afterward in the +stories of "Ned Buntline," and became famous. + +One day, while we were waiting at Fort McPherson, General Carr received +a telegram announcing that the Indians had made a dash on the Union +Pacific, killing several section men and running off stock of +O'Fallen's Station. An expedition was going out of Fort McPherson to +catch and punish the redskins if possible. + +I was ordered by General Carr to accompany this expedition. That night +I proceeded by rail to Fort McPherson Station, and from there rode +horseback to the fort. Two companies, under command of Major Brown, had +been ordered out. Next morning, as we were about to start, Major Brown +said to me: + +"By the way, Cody, we're going to have a character with us on this +scout. It's old 'Ned Buntline,' the novelist." + +At the same time I saw a stoutly built man near by who wore a blue +military coat. On his breast were pinned perhaps twenty badges of +secret societies and gold medals. He limped a little as he approached +me, and I concluded that this must be the novelist. + +"He has a good mark to shoot at on his left breast," I said to Brown, +"but he looks like a soldier." I was introduced to him by his real +name, which was Colonel E.Z.C. Judson. + +"I was to deliver a temperance lecture tonight," said my new +acquaintance, "but no lecture for me when there is a prospect of a +fight. The major has offered me a horse, but I don't know how I shall +stand the ride." + +I assured him that he would soon feel at home in the saddle, and we set +out. The command headed for the North Platte, which had been swollen by +mountain rains. In crossing we had to swim our horses. Buntline was the +first man across. + +We reached O'Fallen's Station at eleven o'clock. In a short time I +succeeded in finding an Indian trail. The party of Indians, which had +come up from the south, seemed to be a small one. We followed the track +of the Indians, to the North Platte, but they had a start of two days. +Major Brown soon abandoned the pursuit, and returned to Fort Sedgwick. +During this short scout, Buntline had plied me with questions. He was +anxious to go out on the next scout with me. + +By this time I had learned that my horse, Tall Bull, was a remarkably +fast runner. Therefore, when Lieutenant Mason, who owned a racer, +challenged me to a race, I immediately accepted. We were to run our +horses a single dash of a half mile for five hundred dollars a side. + +Several of the officers, as well as Rube Wood, the post-trader, offered +to make side bets with me. I took them up until I had my last cent on +Tall Bull. + +I saw from the start that it would be easy to beat the lieutenant's +horse, and kept Tall Bull in check, so that no one might know how fast +he really was. I won easily, and pocketed a snug sum. Everybody was now +talking horse race. Major Brown said that if Tall Bull could beat the +Pawnees' fast horse, I could break his whole command. + +The next day all the troops were paid off, including the Pawnees. For +two or three days our Indian allies did nothing but run horses, as all +the lately captured animals had to be tested to determine which was the +swiftest. Finally the Pawnees offered to run their favorite against +Tall Bull. They raised three hundred dollars to bet on their horse, and +I covered the money. In addition I took numerous side bets. The race +was a single dash of a mile. Tall Bull won without any trouble, and I +was ahead on this race about seven hundred dollars. + +I also got up a race for my pony, Powder Face, against a fast pony +belonging to Major Lute North, of the Pawnee Scouts. I selected a small +boy living at the Post for a jockey, Major North rode his own pony. The +Pawnees, as usual, wanted to bet on their pony, but as I had not yet +ascertained the running qualities of Powder Face I did not care to risk +much on him. Had I known him as well as I did afterward I would have +backed him with every cent I had. He proved to be one of the swiftest +ponies I ever saw, and had evidently been kept as a racer. + +The dash between the ponies was to be four hundred yards. When I led +Powder Face over the course he seemed to understand what he was there +for. North was on his pony; my boy was up. I had all I could do to hold +the fiery little fellow back. He was so lively on his feet that I +feared his young rider might not be able to stick on his back. + +At last the order to start was given by the judges. I brought Powder +Face up to the score, and the word "Go!" was given. So swiftly did he +jump away that he left his rider sitting on the ground. Nevertheless he +went through and won the race without a rider. It was an easy victory, +and after that I could get no more races. + +General Carr having obtained a leave of absence, Colonel Royal was +given command of an expedition that was ordered to go out after the +Indians. In a few days we set out for the Republican, where, we had +learned, there were plenty of Indians. + +At Frenchman's Fork we discovered a village, but did not surprise it, +for the Indians had seen us approaching and were in retreat as we +reached their camping-place. + +We chased them down-stream and through the sandhills, but they made +better time than we did, and the pursuit was abandoned. + +While we were in the sandhills, scouting the Niobrara country, the +Pawnee Indians brought into camp some very large bones, one of which +the surgeon of the expedition pronounced to be the thigh bone of a +human being. The Indians said the bones were those of a race of people +who long ago had lived in that country. They said these people were +three times the size of a man of the present day, that they were so +swift and strong that they could run by the side of a buffalo, and, +taking the animal in one arm, could tear off a leg and eat it as they +ran. + +These giants, said the Indians, denied the existence of a Great Spirit. +When they heard the thunder or saw the lightning, they laughed and +declared that they were greater than either. This so displeased the +Great Spirit that he caused a deluge. The water rose higher and higher +till it drove these proud giants from the low grounds to the hills and +thence to the mountains. At last even the mountaintops were submerged +and the mammoth men were drowned. + +After the flood subsided, the Great Spirit came to the conclusion that +he had made men too large and powerful. He therefore corrected his +mistake by creating a race of the size and strength of the men of the +present day. This is the reason, the Indians told us, that the man of +modern times is small and not like the giants of old. The story has +been handed down among the Pawnees for generations, but what is its +origin no man can say. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +One morning, in the spring of 1870, a band of horse-stealing Indians +raided four ranches near the mouth of Fremont Creek, on the North +Platte. After scooping up horses from these ranches they proceeded to +the Fort McPherson herd, which was grazing above the Post, and took +about forty Government animals. Among these was my favorite little +pony, Powder Face. + +When the alarm was given, "Boots and Saddles" was sounded. I always +kept one of my best horses by me, and was ready for any surprise. The +horse that I saddled that day was Buckskin Joe. + +As I galloped for the herd, I saw the Indians kill two of the herders. +Then, circling all the horses toward the west, they disappeared over a +range of hills. I hurried back to the camp and told the general that I +knew where to pick up the trail. Company I, commanded by a little +red-headed chap--Lieutenant Earl D. Thomas--was the first to report, +mounted, at the adjutant's office. Thomas had but lately graduated from +West Point. + +His sole instructions were: "Follow Cody and be off quick." As he rode +away General Emory called after him: "I will support you with more +troops as fast as they are saddled." + +The lieutenant followed me on the run to the spot where I saw the +Indians disappear. Though the redskins had an hour and a half start on +us, we followed them, on a gallop, till we could see that they had +begun to drive their horses in a circle, and then in one direction +after another, making the trail uncertain. It was getting dark, but I +succeeded in keeping on some of the tracks. + +All that night the Indians endeavored, by scattering their horses, to +throw us off the trail. At three o'clock in the morning I made up my +mind that they were traveling for the headwaters of Medicine Creek, and +headed straight in that direction. + +We found that they had reached the creek, but remained there only long +enough to water their horses. Then they struck off to the southwest. I +informed Lieutenant Thomas that the next water was at the Springs at +the head of Red Willow Creek, thirty-five miles away. The Indians, I +said, would stop there. + +Thomas's men had not had time to bring so much as their coats with +them. At the alarm they grabbed their sidearms and carbines and +ammunition belts, and leaped into their saddles. None of us had had +anything to eat since dinner the day before. In the whole outfit there +was not a canteen in which to carry water. + +I notified Thomas that he must decide whether the troop was to undergo +the terrible hardship of riding a whole day without food or water, on +the chance of overtaking the Indians and getting their rations and +supplies away from them. He replied that the only instructions he had +received from General Emory were to follow me. I said that if it were +left to me, I would follow the Indians. + +"You have heard Cody," said Thomas to his men. "Now, I would like to +hear what you men think about it." + +Through their first sergeant they said they had followed Cody on many a +long trail, and were willing to follow him to the end of this one. So +the order to mount was given, and the trail was taken up. Several times +that day we found the Indians had resorted to their old tactics of +going in different directions. They split the herd of horses in +bunches, and scattered them. It was very hard to trail them at good +speed. + +Forty hours without food, and twelve hours without water, we halted for +a council when darkness set in. + +I told Thomas that when we got within three miles of the Springs the +men could rest their horses and get a little sleep, while I pushed on +ahead to look for the Indians. This was done. When we reached the spot +I had designated the saddles were removed, so that the horses could +graze and roll. I rode on ahead. + +As I had suspected I should, I found the Indians encamped at the +Springs with the stock grazing around them. As quickly as possible I +got back to the command with my news. The horses were quietly saddled +and we proceeded, seldom speaking or making any noise. + +As we rode along I gave the lieutenant and first sergeant the +description of the camp and suggested that it could be best approached +just at daylight. We had but forty-one men. Ten of these, I said, +should be detailed to take charge of the herd, while the lieutenant and +I charged the camp. + +The Indians were encamped on a little knoll, around which was miry +ground, making a cavalry charge difficult. The Indians numbered as many +as we did. The safest plan was to dismount some of the men, leaving +others to hold the horses, and proceed to the attack on foot. The rest +of the men were to remain with their horses, and get through, the +marshy ground mounted, if they could. + +A halt was called, and this was explained to the men. It didn't take +them long to understand. We approached very cautiously till we got +within a quarter of a mile of the Indians. Then the charge was sounded. +We did not find the land as miry as we had supposed. Dashing in among +the Indians, we completely surprised them. Most of them grabbed the +guns, with which they always slept, and fled to the marsh below the +camp. Others ran for their horses. It was fortunate that we had +dismounted ten men. These were able to follow the Indians who had +escaped to marsh. + +When we made the charge my chief thought was to keep a lookout for my +pony, Powder Pace. Soon I saw an Indian, mounted on him, making his +escape. I rushed through the camp, shooting to the left and right, but +keeping a beeline after Powder Face and his rider. Soon another Indian +who was afoot leaped up behind Powder Face's rider. I knew that the +little animal was very swift for a short distance, but that he would be +badly handicapped by the weight of two men. + +I realized that my old Buckskin Joe was tired but his staying qualities +were such that I was sure he would overtake Powder Face, carrying +double weight. + +Though I was not a hundred yards behind the object of my pursuit when +the second Indian mounted I was afraid to shoot. It was not yet quite +daylight. I feared to fire lest I hit my beloved pony. For two miles I +followed through the sandhills before I dared to use my rifle. + +The Indian riding at the rear had a revolver with which he kept banging +away, but I paid little attention to him. I knew a man shooting behind +with a pistol was likely to hit nothing but air. At last I took a +steady aim while old Joe was running smoothly. The bullet not only hit +the rear man, but passed through him and killed the man in front. + +They both fell. I took another shot to make sure they were not playing +'possum. As they fell, Powder Face stopped and looked around, to learn +what it was all about. I called to him, and he came up to me. + +Both Indians were wearing beautiful war-bonnets, of which I took +possession, as well as of their fancy trappings. Then, taking Powder +Face by the rope, I led him back to the Springs to see how the +lieutenant had made out. + +The herd of horses was held and surrounded by a few soldiers. The rest +were still popping at the Indians. But most of the redskins were either +hidden among the marshes, or had got clear away to the surrounding +hills. + +I found the lieutenant, and told him I thought we had accomplished all +that was possible. The orderly sounded the recall. I have never seen a +muddier set of boys than those who came out of the marsh and began +rummaging around the Indian camp. We soon discovered two or three +hundred pounds of dried meat--buffalo, deer, and antelope, also a +little coffee and sugar and an old kettle and tin cups which the +Indians had used. + +All the men by this time had all the water they wanted. Each was +chewing a piece of dried meat. Pickets were posted to prevent a +surprise. Soon coffee was ready. In a short time everybody was filled +up, and I told Thomas we had better be getting out of there. + +Many of the men began saddling the stolen horses, so as to rest their +own. The lieutenant was eager to remain and rest until the +reënforcements that General Emory had promised should arrive. + +"Your orders were to follow me, weren't they?" I asked. + +"Yes." + +"Well, then, keep on following me, and you'll soon see the reason for +getting out of here." + +"All right," he agreed. "I've heard the general say that in a tight +place your directions should always be followed." + +With most of the men driving the captured horses we started for Fort +McPherson. I didn't take the trail that we had followed in. I knew of a +shorter route, and besides, I didn't want to meet the support that was +coming. I knew the officer in command, and was sure that if he came up +he would take all the glory of the capture away from Lieutenant Thomas. +Naturally I wanted all the credit for Thomas and myself as we were +entitled to. + +The soldiers that had been sent out after us found and destroyed the +village, but we did not meet them. They discovered seven or eight dead +Indians, and there were a few more down in the marsh which they +overlooked. The major in command sent out scouts to find our trail. +Texas Jack, who was on this duty, returned and reported that he had +found it, and that we were going back to the fort by another route. + +The major said: "That's another of those tricks of Cody's. He will +guide Thomas back and he will get all the glory before I can overtake +him." + +We rode into Fort McPherson about six o'clock that evening. I told +Thomas to make his report immediately, which he did. General Emory +complimented him highly, and Thomas generously said that all he did was +to obey orders and follow Cody. A report was made to General Sheridan, +and the next day that officer wired Thomas his congratulations. + +The next day the command that was sent out after us returned to the +fort. The major was hotter than a wounded coyote. He told the general +that it was all my fault, and that he did not propose to be treated in +any such manner by any scout, even if it were General Sheridan's pet, +Buffalo Bill. He was told by the general that the less he said about +the matter the better it would be for him. This was Lieutenant Thomas's +first raid, and he was highly elated with its success. He hoped he +would be mentioned for it in Special Orders, and sure enough, when the +Special Orders came along both he and myself, together with the little +command, received complimentary mention. This Thomas richly deserved, +for he was a brave, energetic, and dashing officer. I gave him the two +war-bonnets I had taken from the Indians I shot from the back of Powder +Face, asking that he present them to the daughters of General Augur, +who were then visiting the Post. + +Shortly after our return another expedition was organized, with the +Republican River country as its destination. It was commanded by +General Duncan, a blusterer, but a jolly old fellow. The officers who +knew him well said we would have a fine time, as he was very fond of +hunting. He was a good fighter. It was rumored that an Indian's bullet +could never hurt him. A cannon-ball, according to report, had hit him +in the head without injuring him at all, while another cannon-ball, +glancing off his skull, had instantly killed one of the toughest mules +in the army! + +The Pawnee scouts, who had been mustered out of service during the +winter of 1869 and '70, were reorganized to accompany this expedition. +I was glad of this. I had become very much attached to Major North, one +of the officers, and to many of the Indians. Beside myself the only +white scout we had in the Post at this time was John Y. Nelson, whose +Indian name was Cha-Sha-Cha-Opeyse, or Red-Willow-Fill-the-Pipe. The +man was a character. He had a squaw wife and a half-breed family. He +was a good fellow, but had few equals and no superiors as a liar. + +With the regimental band playing "The Girl I Left Behind Me" we started +out from the Post. A short march brought us to the head of Fox Creek, +where we camped. Next morning General Duncan sent me word that I was to +bring my rifle and shoot at a mark with him. I did not feel like +shooting at anything except myself, for the night before I had been +interviewing the sutler's store, in company with Major Brown. When I +looked for my gun, I found that I had left it behind me. I got cold +consolation from Major Brown when I informed him of my loss. Then I +told him that the general had sent for me to shoot a match with him, +and that if the old man discovered my predicament there would be +trouble. + +"Well, Cody," said the major, "the best thing you can do is to make +some excuse, and then go and borrow a gun from one of the men. Tell the +general you loaned your rifle to someone for a hunt. While you are gone +I will send back to the Post for it." + +I got a gun from John Nelson, and marched to the general's +headquarters, where I shot the match. It resulted in his favor. + +General Duncan, who had never before commanded the Pawnee Scouts, +confused them by posting the guards in a manner that was new to them. +Furthermore, he insisted that the guards should call the hours through +the night: "Nine o'clock and all is well," etc., giving the numbers of +their posts. Few of the scouts understood English. They were greatly +troubled. + +Major North explained to them that when the man on the post nearest +them called the hour, they must repeat the call as closely as they +could. It was highly amusing to hear them do this. They would try to +remember what the man on the next post had said. For example, when a +white soldier called out "Post Number One, Half-past Nine and all is +well!" the Indians would cry out "Poss Number half-pass five cents go +to h--l I don't care." So ridiculous were their efforts to repeat the +calls, that the general finally gave it up and countermanded the order. + +One day, after an uneventful march, Major North and I went out on +Prairie Dog Creek in advance of the command to kill some buffaloes. +Night was approaching, and we looked about for a suitable camping-place +for the soldiers. Major North dismounted and was resting, while I rode +down to the creek to see if there was plenty of grass in the vicinity. + +I found an excellent camping spot, and told North I would ride over the +hill a little way, so that the advance guard might see me. This I did, +and when the advance guard came in sight I dismounted and lay down upon +the grass to rest. + +Suddenly I heard three or four shots. In a moment Major North came +dashing toward me, pursued by eight or ten Indians. I at once sprang to +the saddle and sent several shots toward the Indians, fifty or more of +whom were now in sight. Then, we turned our horses and ran. + +The bullets sang after us. My whip was shot from my hand, and the +daylight was let through the crown of my hat. We were in close +quarters, when Lieutenant Valknar, with several men, came galloping to +our relief. The Indians, discovering them, whirled and fled. + +As soon as Major North sighted his Pawnees he began riding in a circle, +which was the signal to them that there were hostile Indians in front. +In an instant they broke ranks pell-mell, with the major at their head, +and went after the flying warriors. + +The second day that we had been following the Indians we came upon an +old squaw who had been left on the prairie to die. Her people had built +for her a little shade or lodge, and had given her some +provisions--enough to last her trip to the Happy Hunting-Grounds. This +is often done by the Indians when an enemy is in pursuit and one of +their number becomes too feeble to keep pace with the flight. + +Our scout, John Nelson, recognized the squaw as a relative of his +Indian wife. From her we learned that the redskins we were pursuing +were known as the Pawnee Killer band. They had lately killed Buck's +surveying party, consisting of eight or nine men. This massacre had +occurred a few days before on Beaver Creek. We had found a number of +surveying instruments in the abandoned camp, and knew therefore that +the Indians had had a fight with white men. After driving the Indians +across the Platte we returned to Fort McPherson, bringing with us the +old squaw, who was sent to the Spotted Tail Agency. + +During my absence my wife had given birth to a son. Though he was +several weeks old when I returned no name had been given him. I called +him Elmo Judson, in honor of Colonel Judson, whose pen name was "Ned +Buntline." But the officers insisted upon calling him Kit Carson Cody +and it was finally settled that this should be his name. + +Shortly after my return I received orders instructing me to accompany +Professor Marsh on a fossil-hunting expedition into the rough lands of +the Big Horn Basin. The party was to consist of a number of scientists +besides Professor Marsh, together with twenty-five students from Yale, +which institution was sending out the expedition. + +I was to get together thirty-five saddle-horses for the party. The +quartermaster arranged for the transportation, pack mules, etc. But +General Sheridan, under whose direction the scientists were proceeding, +always believed in my ability to select good horses from a +quartermaster's herd. + +In a few days Professor Marsh and his companions arrived. The Pawnee +Scouts, then in camp, had a year before unearthed some immense fossil +bones, so it was decided that Major North, with a few of these scouts, +should also accompany the expedition. Professor Marsh had heard of this +discovery, and was eager to find some of the same kind of fossils. + +Professor Marsh believed that the Basin would be among the last of the +Western lands to be settled. The mountain wall which surrounded it +would turn aside pioneers going to Montana or northern Oregon. These +would head to the east of Big Horn Mountains, while those bound for +Utah, Idaho, and California would go to the south side of the Wind +River Mountains. He was confident, however, that some day the Basin +would be settled and developed, and that in its fertile valleys would +be found the most prosperous people in the world. It was there that my +interest in the great possibilities of the West was aroused. + +I never forgot what I heard around the campfire. In 1894 the Carey +Irrigation Act was passed by Congress. A million acres of land was +given to each of the arid States. I was the first man to receive a +concession of two hundred thousand acres from the Wyoming State Land +Board. + +I could not get away to the Basin till late in the autumn of 1894, so I +formed a partnership with George T. Beck, who proceeded to Wyoming, +where he was found by Professor Elwood Mead, then in the service of the +State. There a site was located and the line of an irrigation canal was +surveyed. + +A town was laid out along the canal, and my friends insisted upon +naming it Cody. At this time there was no railroad in the Big Horn +Basin; but shortly afterward the Burlington sent a spur out from its +main line, with Cody as its terminus. In 1896 I went out on a scout to +locate the route of a wagon road from Cody into the Yellowstone Park. +This was during Mr. McKinley's first administration. + +I went to Washington, saw the President, and explained to him the +possibilities of a road of eighty miles, the only one entering the +National Park from the East. It would be, I told him, the most +wonderful scenic road in the West. Mr. Roosevelt ordered the building +of this road, which has now become the favorite automobile route into +the Park. Today the Big Horn Basin is one of the richest of American +oil lands, and the Pennsylvania of the West for coal production. Every +one of the prophecies that Professor Marsh made to us around that +campfire has come true. + +In December, 1870, I was sent as a witness to Fort D.A. Russell, near +the city of Cheyenne, where a court-martial was to be held. Before +leaving home my wife had given me a list of articles she needed for the +furnishing of our house. These I promised to purchase in Cheyenne. + +On arriving at Fort Russell I found many officers, also witnesses at +the court-martial, and put in most of my time with them. A postponement +of a week gave us an opportunity to "do" Cheyenne. That town furnished +abundant opportunities for entertainment, as there was every kind of +game in operation, from roulette to horse-racing. I sent for my horse, +Tall Bull, and a big race was arranged between him and a Cheyenne +favorite called Green's Colt. But before Tall Bull could arrive the +court-martial was over and the race was off. I sold the animal to +Lieutenant Mason. I met many old friends in Cheyenne, among them R.S. +Van Tassell, Tim Dier, Major Talbot, Luke Morrin, Posey Wilson, and +many others. They constituted a pretty wild bunch, and kept me so busy +that I had no time to think about Mrs. Cody's furniture. + +On my return, when she asked us for it, I told her I couldn't bring it +with me on the train, and that moreover there were no stores in +Cheyenne where I could get furniture that would be good enough for her, +so I had sent to Dewey & Stone at Omaha for what she needed. + +I lost no time in getting over to the club, where I wrote to Dewey & +Stone for all the articles my wife required. In a week the furniture +arrived at Fort McPherson station. I got a couple of six-mule teams and +went after it quick. When it arrived at the house and was unpacked Mrs. +Cody was greatly delighted. + +About this time General Emory was very much annoyed by petty offenses +in the vicinity of the Post by civilians over whom he had no +jurisdiction. There was no justice of the peace near the Post, and he +wanted some kind of an officer with authority to attend to these +troublesome persons. One day he told me that I would make an excellent +justice. + +"You compliment me too highly, General," I replied. "I don't know any +more about law than a Government mule knows about bookkeeping." "That +doesn't make any difference," he said. "I know you will make a good +squire. You accompany Mr. Woodin and Mr. Snell to North Platte in my +private ambulance. They will go on your bond, and you will be appointed +a justice of the peace." + +A number of officers from the Post went to North Platte for this +occasion. After I was duly sworn in, there was a celebration. I arrived +home at three o'clock in the morning, Mrs. Cody still being in +ignorance of my newly acquired honor. I was awakened by hearing her +arguing with a man at the door who was asking for the squire. She was +assuring him that no squire was on the premises. + +"Doesn't Buffalo Bill live here?" asked the man. + +"Yes," admitted Mrs. Cody, "but what has that got to do with it?" + +By this time I had dressed, and I went to the door. I informed my wife, +to her amazement, that I was really a squire, and turned to the visitor +to learn his business. + +He was a poor man, he said, on his way to Colorado. The night before a +large bunch of horses was being driven past his camp, and one of his +two animals was driven off with the herd. Mounting the other, he +followed and demanded the horse, but the boss of the herd refused to +give it up. He wanted a writ of replevin. + +I asked Mrs. Cody if she could write a writ of replevin and she said +she had never heard of such a thing. I hadn't either. + +I asked the man in, and Mrs. Cody got breakfast for us. He refused the +drink I set out for him. I felt that I needed a good deal of bracing in +this writ of replevin business, so I drank his as well as mine. + +Then I buckled on my revolver, took down my old Lucretia rifle, and, +patting her gently, said: "You will have to be constable for me today." + +To my wife and children, who were anxiously watching these proceedings, +I said: + +"Don't be alarmed. I am a judge now, and I am going into action. Come +on, my friend," I said to the stranger, "get on your horse." + +"Why," he protested, "you have no papers to serve on the man, and you +have no constable." + +"Don't worry," I said. "I'll soon show you that I am the whole court." + +I mounted Joe, and we galloped along about ten miles when we overtook +the herd of horses. I found the boss, riding a big gray horse ahead of +the herd. I ordered him to round up the herd. + +"By what authority!" he demanded. "Are you a constable?" + +I said I was not only a constable, but the whole court, and one of his +men at the same time whispered to him: "Be careful, that is Buffalo +Bill!" At this time, as well as for years past, I had been chief United +States detective for the army as well as scout and guide. I felt that +with the offices of justice and constable added to these titles I had +all the power necessary to take one horse. + +The herd boss evidently thought so, too. After asking if my name were +Cody, and being told that it was, he said: + +"Well, there is no need of having a fuss over one horse." + +"No," said I, "a horse doesn't mean much to you, but it amounts to a +good deal to this poor immigrant." + +"Well," said the herd boss, "how do you propose to settle it?" + +"I am going to take you and your whole outfit to Fort McPherson. There +I am going to try you and give you the limit--six months and a +five-hundred-dollar fine." + +"I can't afford to go back to the Fort," he pleaded, "let's settle it +right here. What will you take to call it off?" + +"One hundred and fifty dollars," I said, "and quick!" + +Reaching down into his pocket, he pulled out a wallet filled with bills +and counted out a hundred and fifty dollars. By this time the man who +had lost the horse had caught his animal in the herd. He was standing, +holding it, near by. + +"Partner," I said to him, "take your horse and go back home." + +"Now, boss," I said to the other man, "let me give you a little advice. +Be careful when a stranger gets into your herd and the owner overtakes +you and demands it. You may run into more trouble than I have given +you, for you ought to know by this time that horse-stealing is a +hanging offense." + +He said: "I didn't care a blank about your being justice of the peace +and constable combined, but when I found out you were Buffalo Bill it +was time to lay down my hand." + +"All right, old fellow," I said, "good-by." + +As he rode off he called: "It was worth a hundred and fifty dollars +just to get a good look at you," and the other men agreed. + +By the time I got back to the fort, guard-mount was over, and a number +of officers were in the club. When they learned how I had disposed of +my first case, they told the general, who was very much pleased. + +"I want it noised about among the outside civilians how you handle your +court," he said. The story soon became known all over the surrounding +country. Even the ladies of the Post heard of it, and told my wife and +sisters, to whom I had never mentioned it. They looked upon it as a +great joke. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Early in the month of September, 1874, word was received at Fort +McPherson that General Sheridan and a party of friends were coming to +the Post to have a grand hunt in the vicinity. They further proposed to +explore the country from Fort McPherson to Fort Hays in Kansas. They +arrived in a special car at North Platte, eighteen miles distant, on +the morning of September 22. + +In the party besides General Sheridan were James Gordon Bennett, of +_The New York Herald_, Leonard Lawrence Jerome, Carroll Livingston, +Major J.G. Heckscher, General Fitzhugh, General H.E. Davies, Captain M. +Edward Rogers, Colonel J. Schuyler Crosby, Samuel Johnson, General +Anson Stager, of the Western Union, Charles Wilson, editor of _The +Chicago Journal_, Quartermaster-General Rucker, and Dr. Asch, of +General Sheridan's staff. + +They were met at the station by General Emory and Major Brown, with a +cavalry company as escort and a sufficient number of vehicles to carry +the distinguished visitors and their baggage. + +At the Fort they found the garrison, under the command of General Carr, +on parade awaiting their arrival. + +A train of sixteen wagons was provided to carry the baggage supplies +and forage for the hunting trip. Besides these there were three or four +horse-ambulances in which the guns were carried, and in which members +of the party might ride when they became weary of the saddle. I +accompanied the expedition at the request of General Sheridan. He +introduced me to everybody and gave me a good send-off. As it was a +high-toned outfit I was to accompany, I determined to put on a little +style myself. I dressed in a new suit of light buckskin, trimmed along +the seams with fringe of the same material. I put on a crimson shirt, +elaborately decorated on the bosom, and selected a big sombrero for my +head. Then, mounting a showy horse which was a gallant stepper, I rode +down to the fort, rifle in hand. + +The expedition was soon under way. First in line rode General Sheridan, +followed by his guests; then the orderlies. Then came the ambulances, +in one of which were carried five greyhounds, brought along to course +antelopes and rabbits. + +With the ambulance marched a pair of Indian ponies belonging to +Lieutenant Hayes, captured during an Indian fight. These were harnessed +to a light wagon, which General Sheridan occasionally used. These +little animals, thirteen hands high, showed more vigor and endurance +than any we brought with us. + +During our first night in camp the members of the party asked me +hundreds of questions about buffaloes and buffalo hunting. The entire +evening was spent in talk about buffaloes, together with stories of the +Plains, the chase, and the war, which was then fresh in the minds of +all of us. We closed the evening by christening the camp, Camp Brown, +in honor of the gallant officer who was in command of the escort. + +We breakfasted at four the next morning and at six we were in the +saddle. Everyone was eager to see the buffaloes which I had promised +would be met with during the day. After a march of five miles the +advance guard which I commanded sighted six of these animals grazing +about two miles away. + +Acting upon my suggestion, Lawrence Jerome, Livingston, Heckscher, +Fitzhugh, Rogers, and Crosby, with myself as guide, rode through a +convenient cañon to a point beyond the herd, and to windward of them; +the rest of the party made a detour of nearly five miles, keeping +behind the crest of a hill. + +We charged down on the buffaloes at full gallop, and just then the +other party emerged from their concealment and witnessed the exciting +chase. + +The buffaloes started away in a line, single file; Fitzhugh, after a +lively gallop, led us all. Soon he came alongside the rear buffalo, at +which he fired. The animal faltered, and with another shot Fitzhugh +brought him to the ground. Crosby dashed past and leveled another of +the herd, while Livingston dropped a third. Those who were not directly +engaged in the hunt now came up and congratulated the buffalo killers. +Fitzhugh was hailed as the winner of the Buffalo Cup. There was general +sympathy for Heckscher, whose horse had fallen and rolled over him, +thus putting him out of the race. + +The hunt being over, the column moved forward through a prairie-dog +town, several miles in extent. These animals are found throughout the +Plains, living together in a sort of society. Their numberless burrows +in their towns join each other and the greatest care is necessary in +riding among them, since the ground is so undermined as easily to give +way under the weight of a horse. + +Around the entrance to each burrow earth is piled to the height of at +least a foot. On these little elevations the prairie-dogs sit on their +haunches, chattering to each other and observing whatever passes on the +Plains. + +They will permit a person to approach very closely, but when they have +viewed him they dive into their holes with wonderful celerity. They are +difficult to kill. If hit they usually succeed in getting underground +before they can be recovered. + +Rattlesnakes and little owls are found in great numbers in the +prairie-dog towns, living in the same burrows. We killed and cooked a +few of the prairie-dogs, and found them very palatable. + +A short distance beyond the prairie-dog town we found a settlement of +five white men. They Proved to be the two Clifford brothers, Arthur +Ruff, Dick Seymour, and John Nelson. To the last I have already +referred. Each of these men had a squaw for a wife and numerous +half-breed children. They lived in tents of buffalo skins. They owned a +herd of horses and a few cattle, and had cultivated a small piece of +land. Their principal occupation was hunting, and they had numbers of +buffalo hides, which they had tanned in the Indian fashion. + +Upon reaching Pleasant Valley on Medicine Creek the party divided into +two detachments, one hunting along the bank of the creek for elk and +deer, the other remaining with the main body of the escort. + +The elk hunters met with no success whatever, but the others found +plenty of buffaloes and nearly everybody killed one before the day was +done. Lawrence Jerome made an excellent shot. He was riding in an +ambulance, and killed a buffalo that attempted to cross the line of +march. Upon crossing the Republican River on the morning of the +twenty-sixth we came upon an immense number of buffaloes scattered over +the country in every direction. All had an opportunity to hunt. The +wagons and troops moved slowly along toward the next camp while the +hunters rode off in twos and threes. Each hunter was rewarded with +abundant success. + +Lawrence Jerome met with the only mishap. He was riding Buckskin Joe, +which I had lent him, and, dismounting to get a steady shot, +thoughtlessly let go of the bridle. + +The horse decided to do a little hunting on his own account. When last +seen that day he was ahead of the buffaloes, and gaining, while his +late rider was left to his own reflections. Three days later Joe, +saddled and bridled, turned up at Fort McPherson. + +We pitched our camp for the night in a charming spot on the bank of +Beaver Creek. The game was so abundant that we remained there the next +day. This stopping-place was called Camp Cody, in honor of the reader's +humble servant. The next day was spent in hunting jack-rabbits, +coyotes, elk, antelope, and wild turkeys. + +That we had a splendid dinner may be seen from the following + + BILL OF FARE + + Soup + Buffalo Tail + + Fish + Broiled Cisco; Fried Dace + + Entrées + Salmi of Prairie Dog; Stewed Rabbit; Filet of Buffalo aux + Champignons + + Vegetables + Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas + + Dessert + Tapioca Pudding + + Wines + Champagne Frappé, Champagne au Naturel, Claret, Whisky, Brandy, Ale + + Coffee + +I considered this a fairly good meal for a hunting party. Everybody did +justice to it. + +The excursionists reached Fort Hays on the morning of October second. +There we pitched our tents for the last time. That same afternoon +General Sheridan and his guests took the train for the East. They +expressed themselves as highly pleased with the hunt, as well as with +the way they had been guided and escorted. + +General Davies afterward wrote the story of this hunt in a volume of +sixty-eight pages, called "Ten Days on the Plains." In this chapter I +have taken the liberty of condensing frequently from this volume, and +in some cases have used the general's exact language. I ought to insert +several lines of quotations marks, to be pretty generally distributed +through the foregoing account. + +After the departure of General Sheridan's party we returned to Fort +McPherson, and found General Carr about to start on a twenty days' +scout. His object was more to take some friends on a hunt than to look +for Indians. His guests were a couple of Englishmen and Mr. McCarthy of +New York, the latter a relative of General Emory. The command consisted +of three companies of the Fifth Cavalry, one company of Pawnee Scouts, +and twenty-five wagons. Of course I was called to accompany the +expedition. + +One day, after we had been out for some little time, I arranged with +Major North to play a joke on Mr. McCarthy. I took him out on a hunt +about eight miles from the camp, informing Major North about what time +we should reach there. He had agreed that he would appear in the +vicinity with his Indians, who were to throw their blankets around them +and come dashing down upon us, firing and whooping in the true Indian +style. + +This program was faithfully carried out. I had been talking about +Indians to McCarthy, and he had become considerably excited, when just +as we turned a bend in the creek we saw a band of them not half a mile +away. They instantly started after us on the gallop, yelling and +shooting. + +"McCarthy," said I, "shall we run or fight?" + +He did not wait to reply. Wheeling his horse, he started at full speed +down the creek. He lost his gun and dropped his hat, but never once did +he look back to see if he were pursued. I tried to stop him by shouting +that the Indians were Pawnees and our friends. He did not hear me, but +kept straight on, never stopping his horse till he reached the camp. + +I knew he would tell General Carr that the Indians had jumped him, and +that the general would at once start out with troops. So as soon as the +Pawnees rode up, I told them to remain there while I rode after my +friend. + +When I had reached camp, he had given the alarm, and the general had +ordered out two companies of cavalry to go in pursuit of the Indians. + +I told the general the Indians were only Pawnees, and that a joke had +been put up on McCarthy. I neglected to tell him who had put up the +joke. He was fond of a joke himself, and did not get very angry. I had +picked up McCarthy's hat, which I returned to him. It was some time +before it was discovered who was at the bottom of the affair. + +It was while I was stationed at Fort McPherson, where Brevet-Major-General +W.H. Emory was in command, that I acted as guide for Lord Flynn, an +English nobleman who had come over for a hunt on the Plains. I had been +recommended to him by General Sheridan. + +Flynn had served in India with the British army. He was a fine +sportsman and a splendid shot, and secured many heads and skins while +he was with me. Money meant little to him. He insisted on paying all +the bills, spending his money lavishly on both officers and men when he +was at the Post. + +Once, when we ran out of liquid refreshments while on the hunt, we rode +thirty miles to a saloon, only to find it closed. Lord Flynn inquired +the price of the place, found it to be $500 and bought it. When we +left, after having had all we needed to drink, he gave it--house, bar, +stock, and all--to George Dillard, who had come along with the party as +a sort of official bartender. + +Sir George Watts-Garland also made a hunt with us. He was an excellent +hunter and a thorough gentleman, but he lacked the personality that +made Lord Flynn one of the most popular visitors who ever came to the +Post. + +Early in January, 1872, General Forsythe and Dr. Asch, of General +Sheridan's staff, came to Fort McPherson to make preparations for a +grand buffalo hunt to be conducted for the Grand Duke Alexis. General +Sheridan was desirous of giving the Russian nobleman the hunt of his +life. He wanted everything ready when the Grand Duke arrived, so that +he need lose no time at the Post. + +By way of giving their distinguished guest a real taste of the Plains, +the two officers asked me to visit the camp of the Sioux chief, Spotted +Tail, and ask him to bring a hundred of his warriors to the spot on Red +Willow Creek, which, at my suggestion, had been selected as the Grand +Duke's camp. + +Spotted Tail had permission from the Government to hunt buffalo, a +privilege that could not be granted to Indians indiscriminately, as it +involved the right to carry and use firearms. You couldn't always be +sure just what kind of game an Indian might select when you gave him a +rifle. It might be buffalo, or it might be a white man. But Spotted +Tail was safe and sane. Hence the trust that was reposed in him. + +Forsythe and Asch, after accompanying me to the site I had found for +the camp, returned to the Post, while I set out to confer with Mr. +Spotted Tail. The weather was very cold, and the journey was by no +means a delightful one. I was obliged to camp out with only my +saddle-blankets to protect me from the weather, and only my vigilance +to protect me from the Indians. Spotted Tail himself was friendly, but +some of his young men were decidedly hostile. My activities as a scout +had made me many enemies among the Sioux, and it is not their nature +easily to forget old grudges. + +At the close of the first day I made camp on a tributary of Frenchman's +Fork, and built a little fire. The night was bitter cold, and I was so +busy keeping warm that I got very little sleep. The next afternoon I +began to notice fresh horse tracks and the carcasses of recently killed +buffaloes. I knew that I was nearing an Indian camp. It was not policy +to ride boldly in among the Indians, as some of them might be inclined +to shoot me first and discover later that I was a friend of Spotted +Tail. So I hid my horse in a low ravine and crawled up a hill, from +whose summit I obtained a good view of the country. + +When night fell, I rode into camp unobserved. As I entered the camp I +wrapped my blanket, Indian fashion, about my head, so that the redskins +would not at once recognize me as a white man. Then I hunted about till +I found Spotted Tail's lodge. The old chief was stretched lazily out on +a pile of robes as I looked in. He knew who I was and invited me to +enter. + +In the lodge I found Todd Randall, an old white frontiersman, who was +Spotted Tail's friend and agent, and who had lived a great many years +with the Indians. Randall, who spoke the Sioux jargon perfectly, did +the interpreting, and through him I readily communicated to the chief +the object of my visit. + +I said that the warriors and chiefs would greatly please General +Sheridan if they would meet him in about ten sleeps at the old +Government crossing at the Red Willow. I said that a great chief from +far across the water was coming to visit them, and that he was +especially anxious to meet the greatest of the Indian chiefs. + +Spotted Tail replied that he would be very glad to go. He added that on +the morrow he would call his men together and select from them those +who were to accompany him. He told me I had acted very wisely in coming +first to him, as it was known to him that some of his young men did not +like me, and he knew that they had hasty tempers. He expressed himself +as pleased that they had not met me outside the village, and I assured +him that I was equally pleased that this was so. + +The chief then called his squaw, who got me something to eat, and I +passed the remainder of the night in his lodge. Having informed the old +man that this was no ordinary occasion, and that he would be expected +to do the job up right, I returned to the Post. + +When the day set for the Grand Duke's arrival came there was a brave +array at the station to meet him. Captain Hays and myself had five or +six ambulances to carry his party, Captain Egan was on hand with a +company of cavalry and twenty extra saddle-horses, and the whole +population of the place was gathered to see the great man from Russia. + +The train came in, and from it stepped General Sheridan. A fine figure +of a man was towering above him. This was the visitor. + +I was presented to the Grand Duke as Buffalo Bill, the man who would +have charge of the hunt. I immediately ordered up the saddle-horse I +had selected for the nobleman, also a fine horse for General Sheridan. +Both men decided to ride for a few miles before they took seats in the +ambulances. + +When the whole party was mounted they started south, Texas Jack acting +as guide until such time as I could overtake them. The Grand Duke was +very much interested in the whole proceeding, particularly in the +Indians. It was noticed that he cast frequent and admiring glances at a +handsome red-skinned maiden who accompanied old Spotted Tail's +daughter. When we made camp my titled guest plied me with questions +about buffaloes and how to kill them. He wanted to know whether a gun +or a pistol was the proper weapon and whether I would be sure to supply +him with a horse that was trained in buffalo hunting. + +I told him that I would give him Buckskin Joe, the best buffalo horse +in the country, and that all he would need to do would be to mount the +animal and fire away every time he saw a buffalo. + +At nine o'clock in the morning we were all galloping over the prairies +in search of big game. I waited till everyone was ready, and then led +the party over a little knoll that hid the herd from view. In a few +minutes we were among the buffaloes. + +Alexis first chose to use his pistol. He sent six shots in rapid +succession after one bull, at a distance of only twenty feet, but he +fired wildly, and did no damage whatever. I rode up to his side, and, +his pistol having been emptied, gave him mine. He seized it and fired +six more shots, but not a buffalo fell. + +I saw that he was pretty sure to come home empty-handed if he continued +this sort of pistol practice. So I gave him my old "Lucretia" and told +him to urge his horse close to the buffaloes, and not to shoot till I +gave him the word. At the same time I gave Buckskin Joe a cut with my +whip which sent him at a furious gallop to within ten feet of one of +the biggest bulls in the herd. + +"Now is your time," I shouted to Alexis. He fired, and down went the +buffalo. Then, to my amazement, he dropped his gun, waved his hat in +the air, and began talking to members of his suite in his native +tongue, which I of course was totally unable to understand. Old +Buckskin Joe was standing behind the horse that I was riding, +apparently quite as much astonished as I was at this singular conduct +of a man he had accepted in good faith as a buffalo hunter. + +There was no more hunting for the Grand Duke just then. The pride of +his achievement had paralyzed any further activity as a Nimrod in him. +Presently General Sheridan came riding up, and the ambulances were +gathered round. Soon corks were popping and champagne was flowing in +honor of the Grand Duke Alexis and his first buffalo. + +Many of the newspapers which printed accounts of the hunt said that I +had shot the buffalo for the Grand Duke. Others asserted that I held +the buffalo while the Grand Duke shot him. But the facts are just as I +have related them. + +It was evident to all of us that there could be little more sport for +that day. At the request of General Sheridan I guided the Russians back +to camp. Several of the others in the party decided to indulge in a +little hunt on their own account, and presently we saw them galloping +madly over the prairie in all directions, with terrified buffaloes +flying before them. + +As we were crossing a stream on our way back to camp we ran into a +small band that had been frightened by some of these hunters. They came +sweeping across our path, not more than thirty feet away, and as they +passed Alexis raised his pistol and fired generally into the herd. A +buffalo cow fell. + +It was either an extraordinary shot or a "scratch," probably the +latter. The Duke was as much astonished as any of us at the result, but +we gave him three rousing cheers, and when the ambulance came up we had +a second round of champagne in honor of the prowess of our +distinguished fellow hunter. I began to hope that he would keep right +on killing buffaloes all the afternoon, for it was apparent that every +time he dropped an animal a basket of champagne was to be opened. And +in those days on the Plains champagne was not a drink that could be +indulged in very often. + +I took care of the hides and heads of the buffaloes the Grand Duke had +shot, as he wanted them all preserved as souvenirs of his hunt, which +he was now enjoying immensely. I also cut the choice meat from the cow +that he had killed and brought it into camp. At supper he had the +pleasure of dining on buffalo meat which he himself had provided. + +Eight buffaloes were killed by Alexis during the three days we remained +in camp. He spent most of his time in the saddle, and soon became +really accomplished. After he had satisfied himself as to his own +ability as a buffalo killer he expressed a desire to see how the +Indians hunted them. He had never seen bows and arrows used in the +pursuit of game. Spotted Tail, who had joined the hunt according to his +promise, picked out some of his best hunters, and when Alexis joined +them directed them to surround a herd. They were armed with bows and +arrows and lances. + +I told the Grand Duke to follow one particularly skillful brave whose +name was Two Lance, who had a reputation for being able to drive an +arrow clear through the body of a bull. The Indian proved equal to his +fame. He hauled alongside of an animal, and, bending his powerful bow, +let fly an arrow, which passed directly through the bulky carcass of a +galloping brute, who fell dead instantly. The arrow, at the Grand +Duke's request, was given to him as a souvenir which he doubtless often +exhibited as proof of his story when some of his European friends +proved a little bit skeptical of his yarns of the Western Plains. + +When the visitor had had enough of buffalo hunting, orders were given +to return to the railroad. The conveyance provided for Alexis and +General Sheridan was an old-fashioned Irish dogcart, drawn by four +spirited cavalry horses. The driver was old Bill Reed, an +overland-stage driver, and our wagon-master. The Grand Duke vastly +admired the manner in which he handled the reins. + +On the way over, General Sheridan told his guest that I too was a +stage-driver, and Alexis expressed a desire to see me drive. + +"Cody," called the general, "come back here and exchange places with +Reed. The Grand Duke wants you to drive for a while." + +In a few minutes I had the reins, and we were racing across the +prairie. We jogged along steadily enough, despite a pretty rapid pace, +and this did not suit General Sheridan at all. + +"Shake 'em up a little, Bill," he told me as we were approaching +Medicine Creek. "Show us some old-time stage-driving." + +I gave the horses a sounding crack with the whip, and they jumped into +their work with a real interest. The load was light and their pace +increased with every second. + +Soon they were fairly flying over the ground, and I had all I could do +to maintain any control over them. At last we reached a steep hill, or +divide, the further side of which sloped down to the creek. There was +no brake on the wagon, and the four horses were not in the least +inclined to hold back, appearing to be wholly unconcerned as to what +might happen. + +It was impossible to restrain them. My work was cut out for me in +keeping them on the track. So I let them set their own pace down the +hill. The wagon bounded and rebounded from the bumps in the road, and +my two distinguished passengers had to keep very busy holding their +seats. + +However, when they saw that the horses were being kept in the road they +assumed an appearance of enjoying themselves. I was unable to slacken +the pace of the horses until they dashed into the camp where we were to +obtain a relay. There I succeeded in checking them. + +[Illustration: STAGE-COACH DRIVING WAS FULL OF HAIR-RAISING +ADVENTURES] + +The Grand Duke and the general said they had got a lot of enjoyment out +of the ride, but I noticed that thereafter they were perfectly willing +to travel at an easier pace. + +When we arrived at North Platte, the Grand Duke invited me into his +car, and there, over a few bottles of champagne, we went over all the +details of the hunt. He said the trip was one which he would never +forget and professed himself as wholly unable to thank me for my part +in it. + +As I was leaving the car one of his suite approached me, and, extending +a big roll of greenbacks, begged me to accept it as a slight token of +the Grand Duke's appreciation of my services. + +I told him I could take nothing for what I had done. He then handed me +a small jewel box, which I slipped into my pocket without examining, +and asked if I would not also accept the magnificent fur overcoat which +Alexis had worn on the hunt. + +I had frequently admired this coat, which was made of many fine Russian +furs. I was glad to receive it as a remembrance from one of the most +agreeable men I had ever guided on a hunting expedition. + +After leaving us Alexis telegraphed to the most famous of New York +jewelers and had made for me a wonderful set of sleeve-links and a +scarf-pin, studded with diamonds and rubies, each piece in the form of +a buffalo head, as large as a silver half-dollar. + +Reporters who accompanied the expedition telegraphed the story of this +order to their New York newspapers. When later I arrived in New York, +after this present had been given me, some of the papers said that +Buffalo Bill had come to New York to buy a shirt on which to wear the +jewelry given him by the Grand Duke Alexis. + +Shortly after this, General Ord, who had accompanied the hunting party, +rode over with me to Fort McPherson. On the way he asked me how I would +like to have a commission in the regular army. General Sheridan, he +said, had suggested that I ought to have a commission, and the matter +could be arranged if I desired it. + +I thanked the general, and asked him to thank General Sheridan. But +though a commission was a tempting prize, I preferred to remain in the +position I was holding. He said that if at any time I felt that I +wanted a commission, I only needed to ask for it, and it would be given +to me. + +All I looked forward to was the life of the Plains. It was enough for +me to be in the saddle, trusting each day to find some new adventure. +Army life would mean a great deal of routine, and routine was something +I could not endure. + +So, giving up forever any hope of wearing an officer's shoulder-straps, +I was about to turn back to the prairies to see what new opportunities +for excitement offered, when a strange new call came to me. + +General J.J. Reynolds, who had just arrived at Fort McPherson with the +Third Cavalry, called me into the office one day and told me that he +had a letter, railroad tickets, and five hundred dollars for me. +Furthermore he informed me that a thirty days' leave of absence was +awaiting me whenever I wanted to take it. + +All this was the doing of the "Millionaires' Hunting Party," headed by +James Gordon Bennett and the Jeromes, which I had guided the year +before. + +I was, in short, invited to visit my former charges in New York, and +provided by them with money and mileage, and leisure for the trip. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Of course going to New York was a very serious business, and not to be +undertaken lightly. The first thing I needed was clothes, and at my +direction the Post tailor constructed what I thought was the handsomest +suit in the world. Then I proceeded to buy a necktie, so that I could +wear the present which had come in the little box from the Grand +Duke--a handsome scarf-pin. The Grand Ducal overcoat and a new Stetson, +added to the wardrobe I already possessed, completed my outfit. Almost +everything I had was on my back, but just the same I borrowed a little +trunk of my sister, so as to impress New York with the fact that I had +as many clothes as any visitor from the West. + +At the last minute I decided to take along my buckskin suit. Something +told me that some of the people I had met in New York might want to +know just how a scout looked in his business clothes. Mrs. Cody was +much astonished because I did not ask for my brace of pistols, which +had accompanied me everywhere I had gone up to that time. + +She had great confidence in these weapons, which more than once had +saved my life. She wanted to know what in the world I would do without +them if I met any bad men in New York. I told her that I supposed there +were policemen in New York whose business it was to take care of such +people. Anyway, I was going to chance it. + +On my arrival at Omaha I was met by a number of friends who had heard +of my expected descent on New York. They drove me at once to the United +States Court, where my old friend, Judge Dundee, was on the bench. The +minute I entered the courtroom the judge rapped loudly with his gavel +and said: + +"This court is adjourned while Cody is in town." He joined the party, +and we moved on to the Paxton Hotel, where a banquet was arranged in my +honor. + +I left for Chicago the next day. On arriving there, I was met at the +depot by Colonel M.V. Sheridan, brother of General Philip Sheridan, my +old friend and fellow townsman. "Mike" Sheridan, with his brother, the +general, was living in a beautiful house on Michigan Avenue. There I +met a number of the old officers with whom I had served on the Plains. + +I was still wearing the wonderful overcoat that had been given me by +the Grand Duke Alexis, and it was a source of continuous admiration +among the officers, who pronounced it the most magnificent garment of +its kind in America. + +The splendor of the general's Michigan Avenue mansion was new to me; +never before had I seen such vast rooms and such wonderful furnishings. +It was necessary to show me how the gas was turned on and off, and how +the water flowed in the bathroom. I moved around the place in a daze +until "Mike," taking pity on me, escorted me to a barroom, where I was +more at home. As we were partaking of a cocktail, a number of reporters +from the Chicago papers came in. They had been told of my visit and +plied me with questions. In the papers the next morning I found that I +had had adventures that up to that time I had never heard of. The next +evening I had my first adventure in high society, and it proved more +terrifying to me than any Indian fight I had ever taken part in. +Finding I had no proper raiment for a big ball, which was to be given +in my honor, "Mike" Sheridan took me to the clothing department of +Marshall Field's, where I was fitted with an evening suit. + +The general's valet assisted me into these garments that evening. My +long brown hair still flowed down over my shoulders and I was +determined to go to the barber's and have it sheared before I made a +public appearance, but General Sheridan would not hear of this. He +insisted that I crown my long locks with a plug hat, but here I was +adamant. I would go to the party in my Stetson or I would not go to the +party at all. + +The ball was held at the Riverside Hotel, which was then one of the +fashionable hostelries of Chicago. When I was escorted in, I was told +to give the colored boy my hat and coat--to this I violently objected. +I prized the coat beyond all my earthly possessions and intended to +take no chances with it. I was finally persuaded that the boy was a +responsible employee of the hotel and reluctantly gave him the garment. +Then I suffered myself to be led into the ballroom. Here I met a bevy +of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Fearing every minute that +I would burst my new and tight evening clothes, I bowed to them all +around--but very stiffly. To the general's request that I join in the +next dance I entered a firm refusal. I knew no dances but square +dances, so they got up an old-fashioned quadrille for me and I managed +somehow to go through it. As soon as it was over, I hurriedly escorted +my fair partner to her seat, then I quickly made my way to the barroom. +The man behind the bar appreciated my plight. He stowed me away in a +corner behind the icebox and in that corner I remained for the rest of +the evening. + +Several times the general and his friends came down to "moisten up," +and each time I heard them wondering aloud what had become of me. When +the music stopped and the party broke up I emerged from my +hiding-place. The next morning I reported to the general and explained +to him that I was going back to the sagebrush. If New York were like +Chicago, I wanted to be excused. But he insisted that I continue my +trip. + +At eleven o'clock the next morning he thrust me into a Pullman car, +which was in charge of Mr. Angel, an official of the Pullman Car +Company, and was taking a private party to the East. + +Two of my millionaire hunting companions, J.B. Heckscher and Colonel +Schuyler Crosby, met me at the station and drove me to the Union Club. +That night I was told to put on my evening clothes and accompany them +to a theater. Heckscher was very much disturbed when he saw the Chicago +clawhammer that had been purchased for me. + +"It will do for tonight," he said, "but tomorrow I'll send you to my +tailor and have him make you some clothes fit for a gentleman to wear." + +We saw Edwin Booth in a Shakespearean play. I was told that all my +wealthy hunting friends would join me at breakfast the next morning. I +was up at seven o'clock and waiting for them. The hours dragged slowly +by and no guests arrived. I was nearly famished, but did not dare eat +until the company should be assembled. About eleven o'clock, when I was +practically starved, Mr. Heckscher turned up. I asked him what time +they usually had breakfast in New York and he said about half-past +twelve or any time therafter up to three. + +At one, the gentlemen all made their appearance and were somewhat +astonished at the amount of breakfast I stowed away, until they were +told that I had been fasting since seven o'clock that morning. + +During my visit to New York, I was taken by Mr. James Gordon Bennett to +Niblo's Garden, where I saw "The Black Crook." We witnessed the +performance from a private box and my breath was fairly taken away when +the curtain went up on the fifth act. Needless to say, that was the +first time I had ever witnessed a musical show and I thought it the +most wonderful spectacle I had ever gazed upon. + +The remainder of my visit in New York was spent in a series of dinners +and theater parties. I was entertained in the house of each gentleman +who had been with me on the hunt. I had the time of my life. + +After I had had about all the high life I could stand for the time +being I set out for Westchester, Pa., to find the only relative I knew +in the East. My mother was born in Germantown. Her sister had married +one Henry R. Guss, of Westchester. + +I found on reaching Westchester that my relative was one of its most +important citizens, having the Civil War title of general. I found his +home with no trouble, and he was very delighted to see me. An old lady, +who was a member of his household, he introduced to me as my +grandmother. His first wife, my Aunt Eliza, was dead, and he had +married a second time. He also introduced me to his son, Captain George +Guss, who had been in the army with him during the Civil War. + +It was not until we had talked of old family connections for an hour or +more that they discovered that I was Buffalo Bill; then they simply +flooded me with questions. + +To make sure that I would return for a second visit, the young people +of the family accompanied me back to New York. I was due for a dinner +that evening, so I gave them a card to Mr. Palmer, of Niblo's Garden, +and they all went to see "The Black Crook." + +When I reached the club I was given a telegram from General Sheridan +telling me to hasten to Chicago. He wanted me to hurry on to Fort +McPherson and guide the Third Cavalry, under General Reynolds, on a +military expedition. The Indians had been committing serious +devastations and it was necessary to suppress them summarily. At the +dinner, which was given by Mr. Bennett, I told my New York friends that +I would have to leave for the West the next day. When the party broke +up I went directly to the Albemarle Hotel and told my cousins that we +would have to start early the next morning for Westchester. There I +would remain twenty-four hours. + +When we reached Westchester, my uncle informed me that they had +arranged a fox hunt for the next morning, and that all the people in +the town and vicinity would be present. They wanted to see a real scout +and plainsman in the saddle. + +Early next morning many ladies and gentlemen, splendidly mounted, +appeared in front of my uncle's residence. At that time Westchester +possessed the best pack of fox hounds in America. Captain Trainer, +master of the hounds, provided me with a spirited horse which had on a +little sheepskin saddle of a kind on which I had never ridden. I was +familiar neither with the horse, the saddle, the hounds, nor +fox-hunting, and was extremely nervous. I would have backed out if I +could, but I couldn't, so I mounted the horse and we all started on the +chase. + +We galloped easily along for perhaps a mile and I was beginning to +think fox-hunting a very tame sport indeed when suddenly the hounds +started off on a trail, all barking at once. The master of the hounds +and several of the other riders struck off across country on the trail, +taking fences and stone walls at full gallop. + +I noticed that my uncle and several elderly gentlemen stuck to the road +and kept at a more moderate gait. The eyes of the spectators were all +on me. I don't know what they expected me to do, but at any rate they +were disappointed. To their manifest disgust I stayed with the people +on the road. + +Shortly we came to a tavern and I went in and nerved myself with a +stiff drink, also I had a bottle filled with liquid courage, which I +took along with me. Just by way of making a second fiasco impossible I +took three more drinks while I was in the bar, then I galloped away and +soon overtook the hunters. + +The first trail of the hounds had proved false. Two miles further on +they struck a true trail and away they went at full cry. I had now got +used to the saddle and the gait of my horse. I also had prepared myself +in the tavern for any course of action that might offer. + +The M.F.H. began taking stone walls and hedges and I took every one +that he did. Across the country we went and nothing stopped or daunted +me until the quarry was brought to earth. I was in at the death and was +given the honor of keeping the brush. + +At two o'clock that afternoon I took my departure for the West. Mr. +Frank Thompson, of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who had ridden my famous +buffalo horse, Buckskin Joe, on the great hunt, sent me to Chicago in +his own private car. + +At the station in Chicago I was met with orders from General Sheridan +to continue straight ahead to Fort McPherson as quickly as possible. +The expedition was waiting for me. + +At Omaha a party of my friends took me off the train and entertained me +until the departure of the next train. They had heard of my evening +clothes and insisted on my arraying myself therein for their benefit. +My trunk was taken to the Paxton Hotel and I put on the clawhammer and +all that went with it. About fifty of my Omaha friends accompanied me +to the train; in my silk hat and evening dress I was an imposing +spectacle. But I expected to change into my Plains clothes as soon as I +got into the car. However, these plans were sadly upset. Both my +friends and I had forgotten my trunk, which in the hour of my greatest +need was still reposing in a room in the Paxton Hotel, while in clothes +fit only for a banquet I was speeding over the Plains to a possible +Indian fight. + +At Fort McPherson, my old friend, "Buffalo Chips," was waiting for me. +He had been left behind by General Reynolds to tell me to overtake the +command as soon as possible. He had brought out old Buckskin Joe for me +to ride. + +The expedition was already well on its way north into the Loup country +and had camped at Pawnee Springs, about eight miles from McPherson +Station, the night before. + +Poor old Buffalo Chips almost fell dead when he saw how I was dressed. +The hat especially filled him with amazement and rage, but there was +nothing else to do. I had to go as I was or go not at all. + +The champagne with which my Omaha friends had filled my stateroom I +gave to the boys at the station. I did not have to urge them to accept +it. They laughed a good deal at my stovepipe hat and evening dress, but +because of the champagne they let me off without as much guying as I +would otherwise have received. + +Jumping on our horses, we struck out on the trail of the soldiers. It +was about one o'clock when we overtook them. As we neared the rear +guard, I pulled off my overcoat and strapped it behind my saddle. I +also put my hair up under my stovepipe hat and galloped past the +command, to all appearances fresh from a New York ballroom. + +"Look at the dude! Look at the dude!" they shouted as I rode among +them. Paying no attention to them, I galloped up and overtook General +Reynolds. Saluting him, I said: + +"General, I have come to report for duty." + +"Who in thunder are you?" he demanded, looking at me without a sign of +recognition in his eye. + +"Why, general," I said, "I am to be your guide on this expedition." + +He looked at me a second time, and a grin spread over his face. + +"Can it be possible that you are Cody?" he asked. I told him that I was +Cody. + +"Let down your hair," he commanded. I took off my hat, and my hair fell +over my shoulders. A loud yell went up from both officers and enlisted +men, as the word went up and down the line that the dude they had been +bedeviling was none other than Buffalo Bill. + +Texas Jack and the scouts who were ahead had heard the noise and came +galloping back. + +"Welcome back, old chief!" shouted Jack, and the scouts gathered around +me, shaking my hand and congratulating me on my safe return from the +dangers and the perils of the East. + +The general asked me how far it was to the Loup Fork. I said it was +about eight miles and offered to proceed there ahead of the command and +select a good sheltered camp. This I did. The adjutant accompanying the +detachment helped me and laid out the camping spot, and when the +command pulled in they disposed themselves for the night in a beautiful +grove of timber where there was plenty of firewood and good grass for +the horses and mules. Soon the tents were up and big fires were +crackling all around. + +I accepted with thanks General Reynolds's invitation to mess with him +on the trip. After dinner, before a big log fire, which was being built +in front of the general's tent, the officers came up to meet me. Among +those to whom I was introduced were Colonel Anthony Mills, Major +Curtiss, Major Alexander Moore, Captain Jerry Russell, Lieutenant +Charles Thompson, Quartermaster Lieutenant Johnson, Adjutant Captain +Minehold, and Lieutenant Lawson. After this reception, I went down to +visit the scouts in camp. There the boys dug me up all kinds of +clothes, and clothes of the Western kind I very sadly needed. + +White had brought along an old buckskin suit. When I had got this on +and an old Stetson on my head, and had my favorite pair of guns +strapped to me and my dear old "Lucretia Borgia" was within reach, I +felt that Buffalo Bill was himself again. + +The general informed me that evening that Indians had been reported on +the Dismal River. At breakfast the next morning he said that a large +war party had been committing devastations up and down the flat. His +scouts had discovered their trail going north and had informed him that +they would probably make camp on the Dismal. There they were sure to be +joined by other Indians. He asked my opinion as to what had best be +done. + +I told him it was about twenty-five miles from the present tent to the +Dismal River. I said I had better go on, taking White with me, and try +to locate them. + +"I've heard of this man White," said the general. "They tell me that he +is your shadow and he follows you every place you go." I said that this +was true and that I had all I could do to keep him from following me to +New York. "It would break his heart," I said, "if I were to leave him +behind now." I added that Texas Jack knew the country thoroughly and +that he could guide the command to a point on the Dismal River where I +could meet them that night. The general said: + +"I have been fighting the Apaches in Arizona, but I find these Sioux +are an entirely different crowd. I know little about them and I will +follow your suggestions. You start now and I will have the command +following you in an hour and a half." + +I told White to get our horses at once and also to tell Texas Jack to +report to me. When the latter reported I told him the general wanted +him to guide the command to the course of the Dismal. When he got +there, if he didn't hear from me in the meantime, he was to select a +good camp. + +White and I set out, riding carefully and looking for the trail. We had +traveled about ten miles when I found it. The Indians were headed +toward the Dismal. Presently another trail joined the first one, and +then we had to begin extremely careful scouting. + +I didn't follow the Indian trail, but bordered the left and struck the +river about five miles above the Fork. There we turned down-stream. +Soon on the opposite side we saw a party of Indians surrounding a herd +of elk. I didn't approach them closely, neither did I follow down the +stream any further. We kept parallel with the course of the river, and +soon stopped at the foot of a high sandhill. From here I knew I could +get a view of the whole country. + +I told White to remain there until I came back, and, jumping off old +Joe, I cautiously climbed the hill. + +From behind a big soapweed--a plant sometimes called Spanish Dagger--I +got a view of the Dismal River, for several miles. I immediately +discovered smoke arising from a bunch of timber about three miles below +me. Grazing around the timber were several hundred head of horses. Here +I knew the Indian camp to be located. + +I slipped down the hill, and, running to old Joe, mounted, telling +White at the same time that I had located the camp. Then we began +circling the sandhill until we got two or three miles away, keeping out +of sight of the Indians all the time. When we felt we were safe we made +a straight sweep to meet the command. I found the scouts first and told +Texas Jack to hold up the soldiers, keeping them out of sight until he +heard from me. + +I went on until I met General Reynolds at the head of the column. He +baited the troop on my approach; taking him to one side, I told him +what I had discovered. He said: + +"As you know the country and the location of the Indian camp, tell me +how you would proceed." + +I suggested that he leave one company as an escort for the wagon-train +and let them follow slowly. I would leave one guide to show them the +way. Then I would take the rest of the cavalry and push on as rapidly +as possible to within a few miles of the camp. That done, I would +divide the command, sending one portion across the river to the right, +five miles below the Indians, and another one to bear left toward the +village. Still another detachment was to be kept in readiness to move +straight for the camp. This, however, was not to be done until the +flanking column had time to get around and across the river. + +It was then two o'clock. By four o'clock the flanking columns would be +in their proper positions to move on and the charge could begin. I said +I would go with the right-hand column and send Texas Jack with the +left-hand column. I would leave White with the main detachment. I +impressed on the general the necessity of keeping in the ravine of the +sandhills so as to be out of sight of the Indians. + +I said that, notwithstanding all the caution that we could take, we +were likely to run into a party of hunters, who would immediately +inform the camp of our presence. In case of discovery, I said, it would +be necessary to make our charge at once. + +General Reynolds called his officers together and gave them my +suggestions as their instructions. In a very few minutes everything was +moving. I accompanied Colonel Mills. His column had crossed the Dismal +and was about two miles to the north of it when I saw a party of +Indians chasing elk. + +I knew that sooner or later--probably sooner--these Indians would see +me. I told Colonel Mills he had better send the scout back to General +Reynolds and make all haste to charge the village. We had no way of +sending word to Major Curtiss, who led the other flanking column, and +we had to trust to luck that he would hear the firing when it started. + +Colonel Mills kept his troops on the lowest ground I could pick out, +but we made our way steadily toward the village. + +Inside of half an hour we heard firing up the river from where we were. +Colonel Mills at once ordered his troops to charge. Luckily it collided +with the Indians' herd of horses, which were surrounded, thus depriving +most of the braves of their mounts. + +Men were left to guard the animals, and, taking the rest of the +company, we charged the village, reaching it a little after the arrival +of General Reynolds. The attack was not as much a surprise as we had +hoped for. Some of the Indian hunters had spied the soldiers and +notified the camp, but General Reynolds, coming from the south, had +driven all the Indians on foot and all the squaws and children toward +the sandhills on the north. Mills came pretty near finding more Indians +than he was looking for. Their force largely outnumbered ours when we +collided, but Major Curtiss came charging down from the north just at +this instant. His arrival was such a complete surprise that the Indians +gave up and began waving the white flag. Then all firing ceased. + +On rounding them up we found that we had captured about two hundred and +fifty warriors, women, and children, most of whom were from the Spotted +Tail Agency. + +The general had the Indians instantly disarmed. Most of their tepees +were up and they were ordered to go into them and remain there. We +placed a sufficient guard around the whole camp so that none could +escape. On the arrival of the wagon-train, for which a scout had been +sent, the command went into camp. + +Taking me aside, General Reynolds said: + +"I want you to send one of your fastest men back to Fort McPherson. I +am sending dispatches to General Ord, asking for instructions." + +I selected White to make this trip, and he was ready for duty in five +minutes. + +We were then sixty-five miles from Fort McPherson Station. I told White +that the matter was urgent and that he must get to that telegraph +office as soon as possible. At ten o'clock the next morning he rode +into our camp with a telegram to General Reynolds. The general was +ordered to disarm all the Indians and send them under guard of a +company of cavalry to the Spotted Tail Agency. + +General Reynolds was very much delighted with the success of the +expedition. On his arrival at the Fort he received congratulations from +General Ord and from General Sheridan. General Sheridan asked in his +telegram if Cody had gone along. The general wired back that Cody had +gone along and also wrote a letter telling General Sheridan how he had +reported in evening dress. + +Of course the papers were soon full of this raid. Al Sorenson of the +Omaha _Bee_, who had seen my evening clothes and silk hat in Omaha, +wrote an extremely graphic story of my arrival on the Plains. I soon +found that the officers and men in the Third Cavalry knew all about the +incident. + +During the spring of '72, the Indians were rather quiet. We did a +little scouting, however, just to keep watch on them. One day, in the +fall of that year, I returned from a scouting expedition, and as I +passed the store there were a lot of men crowded in front of it. All of +them saluted me with "How do you do, Honorable!" I rode straight to the +general's private office. He also stood at attention and said: + +"Good morning, Honorable." + +"What does all this 'Honorable' mean, General?" I demanded. He said: +"Of course, you have been off on a scout and you have not heard, but +while you were gone you were nominated and elected to represent the +twenty-sixth district of Nebraska in the Legislature." I said: + +"That is highly complimentary, and I appreciate it, but I am no +politician and I shall have to tender my resignation," and tender it I +did. + +My refusal to serve as a lawmaker was unqualified. I knew nothing about +politics. I believe that I made a fairly good justice of the peace, but +that was because of no familiarity with the written law. I merely +applied the principles of fair-dealing to my cases and did as I would +have been done by. The Golden Rule was the only statute I applied. + +I inquired how to free myself formally from the new honors that had +been thrust upon me, and soon another man was serving in my stead--and +quite welcome he was to the pay and credit that might have been mine. + +I returned back to the Plains for employment, but there was nothing to +do. The Indians, for a wonder, were quiet. There was little stirring in +the military posts. I could have continued to serve in one of them if I +had chosen, and the way was still open to study for a commission as an +officer. But army life without excitement was not interesting for me, +and when Ned Buntline offered me a chance to come East and try my +fortunes as an actor I accepted. + +I accepted with misgivings, naturally. Hunting Indians across a stage +differed from following them across the Plains. I knew the wild western +Indian and his ways. I was totally unacquainted with the tame stage +Indian, and the thought of a great gaping audience looking at me across +the footlights made me shudder. + +But when my old "pards," Wild Bill and Texas Jack, consented to try +their luck with me in the new enterprise I felt better. Together we +made the trip to New York, and played for a time in the hodgepodge +drama written for us by Ned Buntline himself. + +Before any of us would consent to be roped and tied by Thespis we +insisted on a proviso that we be freed whenever duty called us to the +Plains. + +The first season was fairly prosperous, and so was the second. The +third year I organized a "show" of my own, with real Indians in it--the +first, I believe, who ever performed on a stage. I made money and began +to get accustomed to the new life, but in 1876 the call for which I had +been listening came. + +The Sioux War was just breaking out. I closed the show earlier than +usual and returned to the West. Colonel Mills had written me several +times to say that General Crook wanted me to accompany his command. +When I left Chicago I had expected to catch up with Crook at the Powder +River, but I learned en route that my old command, the gallant Fifth +Cavalry, was on its way from Arizona to join him, and that General +Carr, my former commander, was at its head. + +Carr wanted me as his guide and chief of scouts, and had written to +army headquarters in Chicago to learn where I could be reached. + +As soon as this news came to me I gave up the idea of overtaking Crook. +I hastened to Cheyenne, where the Fifth Cavalry had already arrived, +and was met at the depot there by Lieutenant Charles King, adjutant of +the regiment, who had been sent by General Carr from Fort D.A. Russell. +In later years, as General Charles King, this officer became a widely +popular author, and wrote some of the best novels and stories of Indian +life that I have ever read. + +As I accompanied the lieutenant back to the fort, we passed soldiers +who recognized me and shouted greetings. When we entered the Post a +great shout of "Here's Buffalo Bill!" arose from the men on the parade +ground. It was like old times, and I felt a thrill of happiness to be +back among my friends, and bound for one of the regular old-time +campaigns. The following morning the command pulled out for Fort +Laramie. We found General Sheridan there ahead of us, and mighty glad +was I to see that brave and able commander once more. Sheridan was +accompanied by General Frye and General Forsythe, and all were en route +for the Red Cloud Agency, near the center of the Sioux trouble, which +was then reaching really alarming proportions. The command was to +remain at Laramie for a few days; so, at General Sheridan's request, I +accompanied him on his journey. We were able to accomplish little in +the way of peace overtures. + +The Indians had lately committed many serious depredations along the +Black Hills trail. Gold had been discovered there in many new places, +and the miners, many of them tenderfoots, and unused to the ways of the +red man, had come into frequent conflict with their new neighbors. +Massacres, some of them very flagrant, had resulted and most of the +treaties our Government had made with the Indians had been ruthlessly +broken. + +On my return from the agency, the Fifth Cavalry was sent out to scout +the country between there and the Black Hills. We operated along the +south fork of the Cheyenne and about the foot of the Black Hills for +two weeks, and had several small engagements with roving bands of +Indians during that time. + +All these bands were ugly and belligerent, and it was plain from the +spirit they showed that there had been a general understanding among +all the redskins thereabout that the time had come to drive the white +man from the country. + +Brevet-General Wesley Merritt, who had lately received his promotion to +the colonelcy of the Fifth Cavalry, now took command of the regiment. I +regretted that the command had been taken from General Carr. I was fond +of him personally, and it was under him that the regiment made its fine +reputation as a fighting organization. I soon became well acquainted +with General Merritt, however, and found him to be a brave man and an +excellent officer. + +The regiment did continuous and hard scouting. We soon believed we had +driven all the hostile Indians out of that part of the country. In +fact, we were starting back to Fort Laramie, regarding the business at +hand as finished, when a scout arrived at our camp and reported the +massacre of General Custer and his whole force on the Little Big Horn. + +This massacre occurred June 25, 1876, and its details are known, or +ought to be known, by every schoolboy. Custer was a brave, dashing, +headlong soldier, whose only fault was recklessness. + +He had been warned many times never to expose a small command to a +superior force of Indians, and never to underestimate the ability and +generalship of the Sioux. He had unbounded confidence, however, in +himself and his men, and I believe that not until he was struck down +did he ever doubt that he would be able to cut his way out of the wall +of warriors about him and turn defeat into a glorious and conspicuous +victory. + +The news of the massacre, which was the most terrible that ever +overtook a command of our soldiers, was a profound shock to all of us. +We knew at once that we would all have work to do, and settled grimly +into the preparations for it. + +Colonel Stanton, who was with the Fifth Cavalry on this scout, had been +sent to the Red Cloud Agency two days before. That night a message came +from him that eight hundred warriors had left the agency to join +Sitting Bull on the Little Big Horn. Notwithstanding instructions to +proceed immediately by way of Fort Fetterman to join Crook, General +Merritt took the responsibility of endeavoring to intercept the +Cheyennes and thereby performed a very important service. + +For this job the general selected five hundred men and horses. In two +hours we were making a forced march back to War Bonnet Creek. Our +intention was to reach the Indian trail running to the north across +this watercourse before the Cheyennes could get there. We arrived the +next night. + +At daylight the next morning, July 17, I proceeded ahead on a scout. I +found that the Indians had not yet crossed the creek. On my way back to +the command I discovered a large party of Indians. I got close enough +to observe them, and they proved to be Cheyennes, coming from the +south. With this information. I hurried back to report. + +The cavalrymen were ordered to mount their horses quietly and remain +out of sight, while General Merritt, accompanied by two or three aides +and myself, went on a little tour of observation to a neighboring hill. +From the summit of this we saw the Indians approaching almost directly +toward us. As we stood watching, fifteen or twenty of them wheeled and +dashed off to the west, from which direction we had come the night +before. + +Searching the country to see what it was which had caused this +unexpected maneuver, we observed two mounted soldiers approaching us on +the trail. Obviously they were bearing dispatches from the command of +General Merritt. + +It was clear that the Indians who had left their main body were intent +on intercepting and murdering these two men. General Merritt greatly +feared that they would accomplish this purpose. How to aid them was a +problem. If soldiers were sent to their assistance, the Indians would +observe the rescuers, and come to the right conclusion that a body of +troops was lying in wait for them. This of course would turn them back, +and the object of our expedition would be defeated. + +The commander asked me if I had any suggestions. + +"General," I replied, "why not wait until the scouts get a little +nearer? When they are about to charge on the two men, I will take +fifteen soldiers, dash down and cut them off from their main body. That +will prevent them from going back to report, and the others will fall +into our trap." + +The general at once saw the possibilities of the scheme. "If you can do +that, Cody, go ahead," he said. + +I at once rushed back to the command and jumped on my horse. + +With fifteen of the best men I could pick in a hurry I returned to the +point of observation. I placed myself and my men at the order of +General Merritt, and asked him to give me the word at the proper time. + +He was diligently studying the country before him with his +field-glasses. When he thought the Indians were as close to the +unsuspecting scouts as was safe, he sang out: + +"Go on now, Cody, and be quick about it. They are going to charge on +the couriers." + +The two soldiers were not more than a hundred yards from us. The +Indians, now making ready to swoop down, were a hundred yards further +on. + +We tore over the bluffs and advanced at a gallop. They saw us and gave +battle. A running fight lasted for several minutes, during which we +drove them back a fairly safe distance and killed three of their +number. + +The main body of the Cheyennes had now come into plain sight, and the +men who escaped from us rode back toward it. The main force halted when +its leaders beheld the skirmish, and seemed for a time at a loss as to +what was best to do. + +We turned toward General Merritt, and when we had made about half the +distance the Indians we had been chasing suddenly turned toward us and +another lively skirmish took place. + +One of the Indians, who was elaborately decorated with all the +ornaments usually worn by a great chief when he engaged in a fight, saw +me and sang out: + +"I know you, Pa-ho-has-ka! Come and fight with me!" + +The name he used was one by which I had long been known by the Indians. +It meant Long-Yellow-Hair. + +The chief was riding his horse to and fro in front of his men, in order +to banter me. I concluded to accept his challenge. I turned and +galloped toward him for fifty yards, and he rode toward me about the +same distance. Both of us rode at full speed. When we were only thirty +yards apart I raised my rifle and fired. His horse dropped dead under +him, and he rolled over on the ground to clear himself of the carcass. + +Almost at the same instant my own horse stepped into a hole and fell +heavily. The fall hurt me but little, and almost instantly I was on my +feet. This was no time to lie down and nurse slight injuries. The chief +and I were now both on our feet, not twenty paces apart. We fired at +each other at the same instant. My usual luck held. His bullet whizzed +harmlessly past my head, while mine struck him full in the breast. + +He reeled and fell, but I took no chances. He had barely touched the +ground, when I was upon him, knife in hand, and to make sure of him +drove the steel into his heart. + +This whole affair, from beginning to end, occupied but little time. The +Indians, seeing that I was a little distance from my pony, now came +charging down upon me from the hill, in the hope of cutting me off. + +General Merritt had witnessed the duel, and, realizing the danger I was +in, ordered Colonel Mason with Company K to hurry to my rescue. This +order came none too soon. Had it been given one minute later two +hundred Indians would have been upon me, and this present narration +would have had to be made by some one else. As the soldiers came up I +swung the war-bonnet high in the air and shouted: "The first scalp for +Custer!" + +It was by this time clear to General Merritt that he could not ambush +the Indians. So he ordered a general charge. For a time they made a +stubborn resistance, but no eight hundred Indians, or twice that +number, for that matter, could make a successful stand against such +veteran and fearless fighters as the Fifth Cavalry. They soon came to +that conclusion themselves and began a running retreat for the Red +Cloud Agency. + +For thirty-five miles, over the roughest kind of ground, we drove them +before us. Soon they were forced to abandon their spare horses and all +the equipment they had brought along. Despite the imminent risk of +encountering thousands of other Indians at the Agency, we drove our +late adversaries directly into it. No one in our command had any +assurance that the Indians gathered there had not gone on the warpath, +but little difference that made to us. The Fifth Cavalry, on the +warpath itself, would stop at nothing. It was dark when we entered the +reservation. All about us we could see the huddling forms of +Indians--thousands of them--enough, in fact, to have consummated +another Custer massacre. But they showed no disposition to fight. + +While at the Agency I learned that the Indian I had killed in the +morning was none other than Yellow Hand, a son of old Cut Nose, who was +a leading chief of the Cheyennes. The old man learned from the members +of Yellow Hand's party that I had killed his son, and sent a white +interpreter to me offering four mules in exchange for the young chief's +war-bonnet. This request I was obliged to refuse, as I wanted it as a +trophy of the first expedition to avenge the death of Custer and his +men. + +The next morning we started to join the command of General Crook, which +was encamped at the foot of Cloud Peak in the Big Horn Mountains. They +had decided to await the arrival of the Fifth Cavalry before proceeding +against the Sioux, who were somewhere near the head of the Big Horn +River, in a country that was as nearly inaccessible as any of the +Western fastnesses. By making rapid marches we reached Crook's camp on +Goose Creek about the third of August. + +At this camp I met many of my old friends, among them being Colonel +Royal, who had just received his promotion to a lieutenant-colonelcy. +Royal introduced me to General Crook, whom I had never met before, but +with whose reputation as an Indian fighter I was of course familiar, as +was everybody in the West. The general's chief guide was Frank Grouard, +a half-breed, who had lived six years with Sitting Bull himself, and +who was thoroughly familiar with the Sioux and their country. + +After one day in camp the whole command pulled out for Tongue River, +leaving the wagons behind. Our supplies were carried by a big +pack-train. Down the Tongue we marched for two days of hard going, +thence westerly to the Rosebud River. Here we struck the main Indian +trail leading down-stream. From the size of this trail, which was not +more than four days old, we estimated that at least seven thousand +Indians, one of the biggest Indian armies ever gathered together, must +have gone that way. It was here that we were overtaken by Captain Jack +Crawford, widely known East and West as "The Poet Scout." Crawford had +just heard of the Custer massacre, and had written a very creditable +poem upon receipt of the news. His pen was always ready, and he made +many epics of the West, many of which are still popular throughout the +country. + +Jack was a tenderfoot at that time, having lately come to that country. +But he had abundant pluck and courage. He had just brought dispatches +to Crook from Fort Fetterman, riding more than three hundred miles +through a country literally alive with hostile Indians. These +dispatches notified Crook that General Terry was to operate with a +large command south of the Yellowstone, and that the two commands would +probably consolidate somewhere on the Rosebud. On learning that I was +with Crook, Crawford at once hunted me up, and gave me a letter from +General Sheridan, announcing his appointment as a scout. He also +informed me that he had brought me a present from General Jones, of +Cheyenne. + +"What kind of a present?" I inquired, seeing no indication of any +package about Jack. + +"A bottle of whisky!" he almost shouted. + +I clapped my hand over his mouth. News that whisky was in the camp was +likely to cause a raid by a large number of very dry scouts and soldier +men. Only when Jack and I had assured ourselves that we were absolutely +alone did I dare dip into his saddle pockets and pull forth the +treasure. I will say in passing that I don't believe there is another +scout in the West that would have brought a full bottle of whisky three +hundred miles. But Jack was "bone dry." As Crawford refused to join me, +and I was never a lone drinker, I invited General Carr over to sample +the bottle. We were just about to have a little drink for two when +into camp rode young Lathrop, the reporter for the Associated Press to +whom we had given the name of Death Rattler. Death Rattler appeared to +have scented the whisky from afar, for he had no visible errand with +us. We were glad to have him, however, as he was a good fellow, and +certainly knew how to appreciate a drink. + +For two or three days the command pushed on, but we did not seem to +gain much on the Indians. They apparently knew exactly where we were +and how fast we were going, and they moved just as fast as we did. + +On the fourth day of our pursuit I rode about ten miles ahead of the +command till I came to a hill which gave a fine view of the surrounding +country. Mounting this, I searched the hills with my field-glasses. +Soon I saw a great column of smoke rising about ten miles down the +creek. As this cloud drifted aside in the keen wind, I could see a +column of men marching beneath it. These I at first believed to be the +Indians we were after, but closer study revealed them as General +Terry's soldiers. + +I forthwith dispatched a scout who was with me to take this news to +Crook. But he had no more than gone when I discovered a band of Indians +on the opposite side of the creek and another party of them directly in +front of me. For a few minutes I fancied that I had made a mistake, and +that the men I had seen under the dust were really Indians after all. + +But very shortly I saw a body of soldiers forming a skirmish line. Then +I knew that Terry's men were there, and that the Indians I had seen +were Terry's scouts. These Indians had mistaken me for an Indian, and, +believing that I was the leader of a big party, shouted excitedly: "The +Sioux are coming." That is why the general threw out the skirmish line +I had observed. + +General Terry, on coming into the Post, ordered the Seventh Cavalry to +form a line of battle across the Rosebud; he also brought up his +artillery and had the guns unlimbered for action, doubtless dreading +another Custer massacre. + +These maneuvers I witnessed from my hill with considerable amusement, +thinking the command must be badly frightened. After I had enjoyed the +situation to my heart's content I galloped toward the skirmish line, +waving my hat. When I was within a hundred yards of the troops, Colonel +Wier of the Seventh Cavalry rode out to meet me. He recognized me at +once, and convoyed me inside the line, shouting to the soldiers: + +"Boys, here's Buffalo Bill!" Thereupon three rousing cheers ran all the +way down the line. + +Colonel Wier presented me to General Terry. The latter questioned me +closely and was glad to learn that the alarm had been a false one. I +found that I was not entitled alone to the credit of having frightened +the whole Seventh Cavalry. The Indian scouts had also seen far behind +me the dust raised by Crook's troops, and were fully satisfied that a +very large force of Sioux was in the vicinity and moving to the attack. + +At General Terry's request I accompanied him as he rode forward to meet +Crook. That night both commands went into camp on the Rosebud. General +Terry had his wagon-train with him, so the camp had everything to make +life as comfortable as it can be on an Indian trail. + +The officers had large wall-tents, with portable beds to stow inside +them, and there were large hospital tents to be used as dining-rooms. +Terry's camp looked very comfortable and homelike. It presented a sharp +contrast to the camp of Crook, who had for his headquarters only one +small fly-tent, and whose cooking utensils consisted of a quart cup in +which he brewed his own coffee, and a sharp stick on which he broiled +his bacon. When I compared these two camps I concluded that Crook was a +real Indian fighter. He had plainly learned that to follow Indians a +soldier must not be hampered by any great weight of luggage or +equipment. + +That evening General Terry ordered General Miles, with the Fifth +Infantry, to return by a forced march to the Yellowstone, and to +proceed by steamboat down that stream to the mouth of the Powder River, +where the Indians could be intercepted in case they made an attempt to +cross the stream. The regiment made a forced march that night of +thirty-five miles, which was splendid traveling for an infantry +regiment through a mountainous country. + +Generals Crook and Terry spent the evening and the next day in council. +The following morning both commands moved out on the Indian trail. +Although Terry was the senior officer, he did not assume command of +both expeditions. Crook was left in command of his own troops, though +the two forces operated together. We crossed the Tongue River and moved +on to the Powder, proceeding down that stream to a point twenty miles +from its junction with the Yellowstone. There the Indian trail turned +to the southeast, in the direction of the Black Hills. + +The two commands were now nearly out of supplies. The trail was +abandoned, and the troops kept on down the Powder River to its +confluence with the Yellowstone. There we remained for several days. + +General Nelson A. Miles, who was at the head of the Fifth Infantry, and +who had been scouting in the vicinity, reported that no Indians had as +yet crossed the Yellowstone. Several steamboats soon arrived with large +quantities of supplies, and the soldiers, who had been a little too +close to famine to please them, were once more provided with full +stomachs on which they could fight comfortably, should the need for +fighting arise. + +One evening while we were in camp on the Yellowstone at the mouth of +the Powder River I was informed that Louis Richard, a half-breed scout, +and myself, had been selected to accompany General Miles on a +reconnaisance. We were to take the steamer _Far West_ down the +Yellowstone as far as Glendive Creek. We were to ride in the +pilot-house and keep a sharp look-out for Indians on both banks of the +river. The idea of scouting from a steamboat was to me an altogether +novel one, and I was immensely pleased at the prospect. + +At daylight the next morning we reported on the steamer to General +Miles, who had with him four or five companies of his regiment. We were +somewhat surprised when he asked us why we had not brought our horses. +We were at a loss to see how we could employ horses in the pilothouse +of a river steamboat. He said that we might need them before we got +back, so we sent for them and had them brought on board. + +In a few minutes we were looking down the river, the swift current +enabling the little steamer to make a speed of twenty miles an hour. + +The commander of the _Far West_ was Captain Grant March, a fine chap of +whom I had often heard. For many years he was one of the most famous +swift-water river captains in the country. It was on his steamer that +the wounded from the battle of the Little Big Horn had been transported +to Fort Abraham Lincoln, on the Missouri River. On that trip he made +the fastest steamboat time on record. He was an excellent pilot, and +handled his boat in those swift and dangerous waters with remarkable +dexterity. + +With Richard and me at our station in the pilothouse the little steamer +went flying down-stream past islands, around bends, and over sandbars +at a rate that was exhilarating, but sometimes a little disquieting to +men who had done most of their navigating on the deck of a Western +pony. Presently, far away inland, I thought I could see horses grazing, +and reported this belief to General Miles. The general pointed out a +large tree on the bank, and asked the captain if he could land the boat +there. + +"I can not only land her there; I can make her climb the tree if you +think it would be any use," returned March. + +He brought the boat skillfully alongside the tree, and let it go at +that, as the general could see no particular advantage in sending the +steamboat up the tree. + +Richard and I were ordered to take our horses and push out as rapidly +as possible to see if there were any Indians in the vicinity. +Meanwhile, General Miles kept his soldiers in readiness to march +instantly if we reported any work for them to do. + +As we rode off, Captain March, sang out: + +"Boys, if there was only a heavy dew on the grass, I could send the old +craft right along after you." + +It was a false alarm, however. The objects I had seen proved to be +Indian graves, with only good Indians in them. On arriving at Glendive +Creek we found that Colonel Rice and his company of the Fifth Infantry +which had been sent on ahead by General Miles had built a good little +fort with their trowel bayonets. Colonel Rice was the inventor of this +weapon, and it proved very useful in Indian warfare. It is just as +deadly in a charge as the regular bayonet, and can also be used almost +as effectively as a shovel for digging rifle-pits and throwing up +intrenchments. + +The _Far West_ was to remain at Glendive overnight. General Miles +wanted a scout to go at once with messages for General Terry, and I was +selected for the job. That night I rode seventy-five miles through the +Bad Lands of the Yellowstone. I reached General Terry's camp the next +morning, after having nearly broken my neck a dozen times or more. + +Anyone who has seen that country in the daytime knows that it is not +exactly the kind of a place one would pick out for pleasure riding. +Imagine riding at night, over such a country, filled with almost every +imaginable obstacle to travel, and without any real roads, and you can +understand the sort of a ride I had that night. I was mighty glad to +see the dawn break, and to be able to pick my way a little more +securely, although I could not increase the pace at which I had driven +my horse through the long, dark night. + +There was no present prospect of carrying this out, however. After I +had taken lunch, General Terry asked me if I would carry some +dispatches to General Whistler, and I replied that I would be glad to +do so. Captain Smith, Terry's aide-de-camp, offered me his horse, and I +was glad to accept the animal, as my own was pretty well spent. He +proved to be a fine mount. I rode him forty miles that night in four +hours, reaching General Whistler's steamboat at four in the morning. +When Whistler had read the dispatches I handed him he said: + +"Cody, I want to send information to General Terry concerning the +Indians that have been skirmishing around here all day. I have been +trying to induce some member in my command to carry them, but no one +wants to go." + +"Get your dispatches ready, general," I replied, "and I'll take them." + +He went into his quarters and came out presently with a package, which +he handed me. I mounted the same horse which had brought me, and at +eight o'clock that evening reached Terry's headquarters, just as his +force was about to march. + +As soon as Terry had read the dispatches he halted his command, which +was already under way. Then he rode on ahead to overtake General Crook, +with whom he held a council. At General Terry's urgent request I +accompanied him on a scout for Dry Fork, on the Missouri. We marched +three days, a little to the east of north. When we reached the buffalo +range we discovered some fresh Indian signs. The redskins had been +killing buffalo, and the evidences of their work were very plain. Terry +now called on me to carry dispatches to Colonel Rice, who was still +encamped at the mouth of Glendive Creek on the Yellowstone. This was +about eighty miles distant. + +Night had set in with a storm. A drizzling rain was falling, which made +the going slippery, and made the blackness of the Western Plains still +blacker. I was entirely unacquainted with the section of the country +through which I was to ride. I therefore traveled all night and +remained in seclusion in the daytime. I had too many plans for the +future to risk a shot from a hostile redskin who might be hunting white +men along my way. + +At daylight I unsaddled my mount and made a hearty breakfast of bacon +and hardtack. Then I lighted my pipe, and, making a pillow of my +saddle, lay down to rest. + +The smoke and the fatigue of the night's journey soon made me drowsy, +and before I knew it I was fast asleep. Suddenly I was awakened by a +loud rumbling noise. I seized my gun instantly, and sprang toward my +horse, which I had picketed in a hidden spot in the brush near by where +he would be out of sight of any passing Indians. + +Climbing a steep hill, I looked cautiously over the country from which +the noise appeared to come. There before me was a great herd of +buffalo, moving at full gallop. Twenty Indians were behind it, riding +hard and firing into the herd as they rode. Others near by were cutting +up the carcasses of the animals that had already been killed. + +I saddled my horse and tied him near me. Then I crawled on my stomach +to the summit of the hill, and for two hours I lay there watching the +progress of the chase. + +When the Indians had killed all the buffalo they wanted they rode off +in the direction whence they had come. This happened to be the way that +I hoped to go on my own expedition. I made up my mind that their camp +was located somewhere between me and Glendive Creek. I was not at all +eager to have any communication with these gentlemen. Therefore, when I +resumed my journey at nightfall, I made a wide detour around the place +where I believed their camp would be. I avoided it successfully, +reaching Colonel Rice's camp just after daybreak. + +The colonel had been fighting Indians almost every day since he +encamped at this point. He was anxious that Terry should know of this +so that reënforcements might be sent, and the country cleared of the +redskins. Of course it fell to my lot to carry this word back to Terry. + +I undertook the mission willingly enough, for by this time I was pretty +well used to night riding through a country beset with perils, and +rather enjoyed it. + +The strain of my recent rides had told on me, but the excitement bore +me up. Indeed, when a man is engaged in work of this kind, the +exhilaration is such that he forgets all about the wear and tear on his +system, and not until all danger is over and he is safely resting in +camp does he begin to feel what he has been through. Then a good long +sleep usually puts him all right again. + +Many and many a time I have driven myself beyond what I believed was +the point of physical endurance, only to find that I was ready for +still further effort if the need should arise. The fact that I +continued in rugged health during all the time I was on the Plains, and +have had little illness throughout my life, seems to prove that living +and working outdoors, despite its hardships, is far better for a man +than any sedentary occupation can possibly be. + +I started back to overhaul General Terry, and on the third day out I +found him at the head of Deer Creek. He was on his way to Colonel +Rice's camp. He was headed in the right direction, but bearing too far +east. He asked me to guide his command in the right course, which I +did. On arriving at Glendive I bade good-by to the general and his +officers and took passage on the _Far West_, which was on her way down +the Missouri. At Bismarck I left the steamer, and proceeded by rail to +Rochester, New York. + +It has been a great pleasure to me to meet and know and serve with such +men as Crook and Miles. I had served long enough on the Plains to know +Indian fighters when I saw them, and I cannot close this chapter +without a tribute to both of these men. + +Miles had come to the West as a young man with a brilliant war record, +having risen to a major-general of volunteers at the age, I think, of +26 or 27. + +He took naturally to Indian fighting. He quickly divested himself of +all the tactics that were useless in this particular kind of warfare, +and learned as much about the Indians as any man ever knew. + +Years later, when I was giving my Wild West Show in Madison Square +Garden, General Miles visited it as my guest. + +The Indians came crowding around him, and followed him wherever he +went, although other army officers of high reputation accompanied him +on the visit. + +This Indian escort at last proved to be almost embarrassing, for the +general could not go to any part of the Garden without four or five of +the braves silently dogging his footsteps and drinking in his every +word. + +When this was called to my attention I called one of the old men aside +and asked him why he and his brothers followed Miles so eagerly. + +"Heap big chief!" was the reply. "Him lickum Injun chiefs. Him biggest +White Chief. Heap likum." Which was really a very high tribute, as +Indians are not given to extravagant praise. + +When we have met from time to time General Miles has been kind enough +to speak well of me and the work I have done on the Plains. I am very +glad to have this opportunity of returning the compliment. + +Crook was a man who lived and fought without any ostentation, but who +had high courage and used rare judgment. The fact that he had command +of the forces in the West had much to do with their successes in +subduing the hostile red man. Indeed, had not our army taught the +Indians that it was never safe, and usually extremely dangerous, to go +on the warpath against the Big White Chief, organizations might have +been formed which would have played sad havoc with our growing Western +civilization. + +I am and always have been a friend of the Indian. I have always +sympathized with him in his struggle to hold the country that was his +by right of birth. + +But I have always held that in such a country as America the march of +civilization was inevitable, and that sooner or later the men who lived +in roving tribes, making no real use of the resources of the country, +would be compelled to give way before the men who tilled the soil and +used the lands as the Creator intended they should be used. + +In my dealings with the Indians we always understood each other. In a +fight we did our best to kill each other. In times of peace we were +friends. I could always do more with the Indians than most white men, +and I think my success in getting so many of them to travel with my +organization was because I understood them and they understood me. + +Shrewd as were the generals who conducted the fight against the +Indians, I believe they could have done little without the services of +the men who all over the West served them in the capacity of scouts. + +The adventures of small scouting parties were at times even more +thrilling than the battles between the Indians and the troops. + +Among the ablest of the scouts I worked with in the West were Frank +Grouard and Baptiste Pourier. At one time in his childhood Grouard was +to all intents and purposes a Sioux Indian. He lived with the tribe, +hunted and fought with them, and wore the breech-clout as his only +summer garment. + +He met some hunters and trappers while living this life. Their language +recalled his childhood, and he presently deserted his red-skinned +friends and came back to his own race. + +His knowledge of the tongues of the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow Indians +and his marvelous proficiency in the universal sign language made him +an extremely desirable acquisition to the service. + +Grouard and "Big Bat" (Baptiste Pourier) were the two scouts that +guided Lieutenant Sibley, a young officer of experience and ability, on +a scout with about thirty officers and John Finnerty of the Chicago +_Times_, a newspaper man who was known all over the West. + +At eight o'clock at night they left their halting-place, Big Goose +Creek, and in the silent moonlight made a phantom promenade toward the +Little Big Horn. + +Presently they made out the presence of a war party ahead of them, and +one of the scouts of this outfit began riding around in a circle, which +meant that the enemy had been discovered. + +There were too many Indians to fight in the open, so Grouard led the +soldiers to a deep thicket where there were plenty of logs and fallen +timber out of which to make breastworks. + +The Indians repeatedly circled around them and often charged, but the +white men, facing a massacre like that of Custer's men, steadily held +them at bay by accurate shooting. + +Soon red reënforcements began to arrive. The Indians, feeling that they +had now a sufficient advantage, attempted another charge, as the result +of which they lost White Antelope, one of the bravest of their chiefs. + +This dampened their ardor, but they kept up an incessant firing that +rattled against the log breastworks like hailstones. + +Fearing that the Indians would soon start a fire and burn them out, +Sibley ordered a retreat. The two scouts were left behind to keep up a +desultory fire after night had fallen, in order to make the Indians +think the party was still in its breastworks. Then the other men in +single file struggled up the precipitous sides of the mountain above +them, marching, stumbling, climbing, and falling according to the +character of the ground they passed over. + +The men left behind finally followed on. The temperature fell below +zero, and the night was one of suffering and horror. At last they +gained a point in the mountains about twenty-five miles distant from +Crook's command. + +Halting in a sheltered cave, they got a little sleep and started out +just in time to escape observation by a large war-party which was +scouting in their direction. + +At night the jaded party, more dead than alive, forded Tongue River up +to their armpits. Two were so exhausted that it was not considered +advisable to permit them to plunge into the icy stream, and they were +left on the bank till help could be sent to them. + +Those that got across dragged themselves over the trail to Crook's +camp. The rocks had broken their boots, and with bleeding feet and many +a bullet wound they managed to get within sight of the camp, where two +men of the Second Cavalry found them and brought them in. + +Sibley's men threw themselves on the ground, too exhausted to go +another step. Hot food was brought them, and they soon were strong +enough to go to Camp Cloud Peak, to receive the hospitality and +sympathy of their comrades. The two men who had been left behind were +brought in and cared for. + +This expedition was one of the most perilous in the history of the +Plains, and the fact that there were any survivors is due to the skill, +coolness, and courage of the two scouts, Grouard and Pourier. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +My work on the Plains brought me many friends, among them being some of +the truest and staunchest that any man ever had. You who live your +lives in cities or among peaceful ways cannot always tell whether your +friends are the kind who would go through fire for you. But on the +Plains one's friends have an opportunity to prove their mettle. And I +found out that most of mine would as cheerfully risk their lives for me +as they would give me a light for my pipe when I asked it. + +Such a friend was old "Buffalo Chips," who certainly deserves a place +in these memoirs of mine. + +One morning while I was sitting on my porch at North Platte, playing +with my children, I saw a man limping on crutches from the direction of +the Post hospital. He was a middle-aged man, but had long, flowing +white hair, and the most deeply-pitted face I have ever beheld. + +Noticing that he seemed confused and in trouble, I sent the children +out to bring him to me. He came up haltingly, and in response to my +questioning told me that he had been rejected by the hospital because +he had been a Confederate soldier and it was against their rules to +accept any but Union veterans. + +I turned the stranger over to my sister, who prepared a meal for him +while I went over to the adjutant's office to see what could be done. I +met General Emory in the adjutant's office, and on my promise to pay +the ex-Confederate's bills, he gave me an order admitting him to the +hospital. Soon my new protégé, who said his name was Jim White, was +duly installed, and receiving the treatment of which he stood in sore +need. + +In a few weeks he had nearly recovered from the wound in his leg which +had necessitated the use of his crutches. Every day he came to my house +to play with the children and to care for my horses, a service for +which he gruffly refused to accept any pay. + +Now and then he would borrow one of my rifles for a little practice. I +soon discovered that he was a splendid shot, as well as an unusually +fine horseman. My surprise at these accomplishments was somewhat +lessened when he told me that he had spent his four years' war service +as one of General J.E.B. Stuart's scouts. Stuart had no other kind of +men in his command. + +For years, wherever I went, no matter how dangerous the errand, my new +friend went along. The first time he followed me I still remember +vividly. I had left the Post on a five days' scout, and was +particularly anxious that no one should know the direction I was to +take. + +When I was four or five miles from the Post I looked back and saw a +solitary horseman riding in my direction about a mile in my rear. When +I stopped he stopped. I rode on for a little way and looked around +again. He was exactly the same distance behind me, and pulled his horse +up when I halted. This maneuver I repeated several times, always with +the same result. Considerably disquieted by this mysterious pursuit, I +decided to discover the reason for it. I whipped up my horse and when I +had put a sandhill between myself and the man behind I made a quick +detour through a ravine, and came up in his rear. Then I boldly rode up +till I came abreast of him. + +He swung around when he heard me coming, and blushed like a girl when +he saw how I had tricked him. + +"Look here, White," I demanded, "what the devil are you following me in +this way for?" + +"Mrs. Cody said I could follow you if I wanted to," he said, "and, +well, I just followed you, that's all." + +That was all he would say. But I knew that he had come along to keep me +from getting hurt if I was attacked, and would rather die than admit +his real reason. So I told him to come along, and come along he did. + +There was no need for his services on that occasion, but a little later +he put me in debt to him for my life. He and I rode together into a +border town, where there were a few gentlemen in the horse-stealing +business who had reason to wish me moved along to some other sphere. I +left White to look after the horses as we reached the town, and went +into a hotel to get a nip, for which I felt a very great need. White +noticed a couple of rough-looking chaps behind the barn as he put the +horses away and quietly slipped to a window where he could overhear +their conversation. + +"We'll go in while he is taking a drink," one of them was saying, "and +shoot him from behind. He'll never have a chance." + +Without a word to me, White hurried into the hotel and got behind the +door. Presently the two men entered, both with drawn revolvers. But +before they could raise them White covered them with his own weapon and +commanded them sternly to throw up their hands, an order with which +they instantly complied after one look at his face. + +I wheeled at the order, and recognized his two captives as the men I +was looking for, a pair of horse-thieves and murderers whom I had been +sent to apprehend. My revolvers were put into instant requisition, and +I kept them covered while White removed the guns with which they had +expected to put me out of their way. + +With White's help I conducted these gentlemen forty miles back to the +sheriff's office, and they walked every step of the way. Each of them +got ten years in the penitentiary as soon as they could be tried. They +either forgave me or forgot me when they got out, for I never heard of +either of them again. + +In the campaign of 1876 I secured employment for White as a scout. He +was with me when Terry and Crook's commands separated on the +Yellowstone. By this time he had come to copy my gait, my dress, my +speech, and even my fashion of wearing my hair down on my shoulders, +though mine at that time was brown, and his was white as the driven +snow. + +We were making a raid on an Indian village, which was peopled with very +lively and very belligerent savages. I had given White an old red-lined +coat, one which I had worn conspicuously in a number of battles, and +which the Indians had marked as a special target on that account. + +A party of Indians had been driven from among the lodges into a narrow +gorge, and some of the soldiers, among them Captain Charles King, had +gone after them. As they were proceeding cautiously, keeping tinder +cover as much as possible, King observed White creeping along the +opposite bluff, rifle in hand, looking for a chance at the savages +huddled below, and hoping to distract their fire so they would do as +little damage as possible to the soldiers who were closing in on them. + +White crawled along on all-fours till he reached a stunted tree on the +brim of the ravine. There he halted, brought his rifle to his shoulder +in readiness to aim and raised himself slowly to his feet. He was about +to fire, when one of the Indians in the hole below spotted the +red-lined coat. There was a crack, a puff of smoke, and White toppled +over, with a bullet through his heart. The coat had caught the +attention of the savages, and thus I had been the innocent means of my +friend's death; for, with the soldiers pressing them so hard, it is not +likely that any of the warriors would have wasted a shot had they not +thought they were getting Pa-ho-has-ka. For a long time the Indians +believed that I would be a menace to them no more. But they discovered +their mistake later, and I sent a good many of them to the Happy +Hunting-Grounds as a sort of tribute to my friend. + +Poor old White! A more faithful man never took a trail, nor a braver. +He was a credit to me, and to the name which General Sheridan had first +given him in derision, but which afterward became an honor, the name of +"Buffalo Chips." + +When Terry and Crook's commands joined on the Yellowstone both commands +went into camp together and guards were placed to prevent surprise. The +scene was typical of the Old West, but it would astonish anyone whose +whole idea of warfare has been gained by a visit to a modern military +post or training camp, or the vast camps where the reserve forces are +drilled and equipped for the great European war. + +Generals Crook, Merritt, and Carr were in rough hunting rigs, utterly +without any mark of their rank. Deerskin, buckskin, corduroy, canvas, +and rags indiscriminately covered the rest of the command, so that +unless you knew the men it was totally impossible to distinguish +between officers and enlisted men. However, every one in the commands +knew every one else, and there was no confusion. + +A great part of that night was spent in swapping stories of recent +experiences. All of them were thrilling, even to veteran campaigners +fresh from the trail. There was no need of drawing the long bow in +those days. The truth was plenty exciting enough to suit the most +exacting, and we sat about like schoolboys, drinking in each other's +tales, and telling our own in exchange. + +A story of a personal adventure and a hairbreadth escape in which +Lieutenant De Rudio figured was so typical of the fighting days of the +West that I want my readers to know it. I shall tell it, as nearly as I +can, just as it came to me around the flickering fire in that +picturesque border camp. + +De Rudio had just returned from his adventure, and he told it to us +between puffs of his pipe so realistically that I caught several of my +old friends of the Plains peering about into the darkness as if to make +sure that no lurking redskins were creeping up on them. + +In the fight of a few days before De Rudio was guarding a pony crossing +with eight men when one of them sang out: + +"Lieutenant, get your horse, quick. Reno (the commander of the outfit) +is retreating!" No trumpet had sounded, however, and no orders had been +given, so the lieutenant hesitated to retire. His men left in a hurry, +but he remained, quietly waiting for the call. + +Presently, looking behind him, he saw thirty or forty Indians coming +full gallop. He wheeled and started to get into safer quarters. As lie +did so they cut loose with a volley. He leaned low on his horse as they +shot, and the bullets sang harmlessly over his head. + +Before him was a fringe of thick underbrush along the river, and into +this he forced his unwilling horse. The bullets followed and clipped +the twigs about him like scissors. At last he gained the creek, forded, +and mounted the bank on the other side. Here, instead of safety, he +found hundreds of Indians, all busily shooting at the soldiers, who +were retreating discreetly in the face of a greatly superior force. He +was entirely cut off from retreat, unless he chose to make a bold dash +for his life right through the middle of the Indians. This he was about +to do, when a young Indian, who had observed him, sent a shot after +him, and his horse fell dead under him, rolling over and over, while he +managed to scramble to his feet. + +The shot had attracted the attention of all the Indians in that +immediate neighborhood, and there were plenty of them there for all +offensive purposes. De Rudio jumped down the creek bank and hid in an +excavation while a hail of bullets spattered the water ahead of him and +raised a dozen little clouds of dust at his feet. + +So heavy had this volley been that the Indians decided that the bullets +had done their work, and a wild yell broke from them. + +Suddenly the yell changed to another sort of outcry, and the firing +abruptly ceased. Peering out, De Rudio saw Captain Benteen's column +coming up over the hill. He began to hope that his rescue was at hand. +But in a few minutes the soldiers disappeared and the Indians all +started off after them. + +Just beyond the hill was the noise of a lively battle, and he made up +his mind that Reno's command had rallied, and that if he could join +them he might be saved. + +Working his way softly through the brush he was nearing the summit of +the slope when he heard his name whispered and saw three of his own +company in the brush. Two of them were mounted. The horse of the third +had been killed. + +The three men remained in the bushes, lying as low as they could and +making no sound. Looking out now and then, they could see an old Indian +woman going about, taking scalps and mutilating the bodies of the +soldiers who had been slain. Most of the warriors were occupied with +the battle, but now and then a warrior, suspicious that soldiers were +still lurking in the brush, would ride over in their direction and fire +a few shots that whistled uncomfortably close to their heads. + +Presently the firing on the hill ceased, and hundreds of Indians came +slowly back. But they were hard pressed by the soldiers, and the battle +was soon resumed, to break out intermittently through the entire night. + +In a quiet interval the two soldiers got their horses, and with their +companion and De Rudio holding to the animals' tails forded the river +and made a détour round the Indians. Several times they passed close to +Indians. Once or twice they were fired on and answered the fire, but +their luck was with them and they escaped bringing a general attack +down upon them. + +As they were making their way toward the edge of the clearing they saw +directly before them a party of men dressed in the ragged uniforms of +American cavalrymen, and all drew deep breaths of relief. Help seemed +now at hand. But just as they sprang forward to join their supposed +comrades a fiendish yell broke from the horsemen. In another instant +the four unfortunates were rushing to cover, with a dozen Indians, all +dressed in the clothing taken from dead soldiers, in hot pursuit. + +The Indians had been planning a characteristic piece of Sioux strategy. +As fast as it could be accomplished they had been stripping the +clothing from dead and wounded soldiers and garbing themselves in it +with the purpose of deceiving the outposts of Reno's command and +surprising the Americans as soon as day broke. Had it not been for the +accidental discovery of the ruse by De Rudio's party it might have +succeeded only too well. + +The lieutenant and his companions managed to get away safely and to +find shelter in the woods. But the Indians immediately fired the +underbrush and drove them further and further on. Then, just as they +had begun to despair of their lives, their pursuers, who had been +circling around the tangle of scrub growth, began singing a slow chant +and withdrew to the summit of the hill. + +There they remained in council a little time and then cantered away +single file. + +Fearing another trap, the white men remained for weary hours in their +hiding-place, but at last were compelled by thirst and hunger to come +out. + +No Indians were visible, nor did any appear as, worn out and +dispirited, they dragged themselves to the camp of the soldiers. In the +forty-eight hours since he had been cut off from his command De Rudio +had undergone all the horrors of Indian warfare and a hundred times had +given himself up for dead. + +Bullets had passed many times within a few inches of him. Half a dozen +times only a lucky chance had intervened between him and the horrible +death that Indians know so well how to inflict. Yet, save for the +bruises from his fall off his horse, and the abrasions of the brush +through which he had traveled, he had never received a scratch. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Of all the Indians I encountered in my years on the Plains the most +resourceful and intelligent, as well as the most dangerous, were the +Sioux. They had the courage of dare-devils combined with real strategy. +They mastered the white man's tactics as soon as they had an +opportunity to observe them. Incidentally they supplied all thinking +and observing white commanders with a great deal that was well worth +learning in the art of warfare. The Sioux fought to win, and in a +desperate encounter were absolutely reckless of life. + +But they also fought wisely, and up to the minute of closing in they +conserved their own lives with a vast amount of cleverness. The maxim +put into words by the old Confederate fox, Forrest: "Get there fastest +with the mostest," was always a fighting principle with the Sioux. + +They were a strong race of men, the braves tall, with finely shaped +heads and handsome features. They had poise and dignity and a great +deal of pride, and they seldom forgot either a friend or an enemy. + +The greatest of all the Sioux in my time, or in any time for that +matter, was that wonderful old fighting man, Sitting Bull, whose life +will some day be written by a historian who can really give him his +due. + +Sitting Bull it was who stirred the Indians to the uprising whose +climax was the massacre of the Little Big Horn and the destruction of +Custer's command. + +For months before this uprising he had been going to and fro among the +Sioux and their allies urging a revolt against the encroaching white +man. It was easy at that time for the Indians to secure rifles. The +Canadian-French traders to the north were only too glad to trade them +these weapons for the splendid supplies of furs which the Indians had +gathered. Many of these rifles were of excellent construction, and on a +number of occasions we discovered to our cost that they outranged the +army carbines with which we were equipped. + +After the Custer massacre the frontier became decidedly unsafe for +Sitting Bull and the chiefs who were associated with him, and he +quietly withdrew to Canada, where he was for the time being safe from +pursuit. + +There he stayed till his followers began leaving him and returning to +their reservations in the United States. Soon he had only a remnant of +his followers and his immediate family to keep him company. Warily he +began negotiating for immunity, and when he was fully assured that if +he would use his influence to quiet his people and keep them from the +warpath his life would be spared, he consented to return. + +He had been lonely and unhappy in Canada. An accomplished orator and a +man with a gift of leadership, he had pined for audiences to sway and +for men to do his bidding. He felt sure that these would be restored to +him once he came back among his people. As to his pledges, I have no +doubt that he fully intended to live up to them. He carried in his +head all the treaties that had been made between his people and the +white men, and could recite their minutest details, together with the +dates of their making and the names of the men who had signed for both +sides. + +But he was a stickler for the rights of his race, and he devoted far +more thought to the trend of events than did most of his red brothers. + +Here was his case, as he often presented it to me: + +"The White Man has taken most of our land. He has paid us nothing for +it. He has destroyed or driven away the game that was our meat. In 1868 +he arranged to build through the Indians' land a road on which ran iron +horses that ate wood and breathed fire and smoke. We agreed. This road +was only as wide as a man could stretch his arms. But the White Man had +taken from the Indians the land for twenty miles on both sides of it. +This land he had sold for money to people in the East. It was taken +from the Indians. But the Indians got nothing for it. + +"The iron horse brought from the East men and women and children, who +took the land from the Indians and drove out the game. They built +fires, and the fires spread and burned the prairie grass on which the +buffalo fed. Also it destroyed the pasturage for the ponies of the +Indians. Soon the friends of the first White Men came and took more +land. Then cities arose and always the White Man's lands were extended +and the Indians pushed farther and farther away from the country that +the Great Father had given them and that had always been theirs. + +"When treaties were broken and the Indians trespassed on the rights of +the White Man, my chiefs and I were always here to adjust the White +Man's wrongs. + +"When treaties were broken and the Indians' rights were infringed, no +one could find the white chiefs. They were somewhere back toward the +rising sun. There was no one to give us justice. New chiefs of the +White Men came to supplant the old chiefs. They knew nothing of our +wrongs and laughed at us. + +"When the Sioux left Minnesota and went beyond the Big Muddy the white +chiefs promised them they would never again be disturbed. Then they +followed us across the river, and when we asked for lands they gave us +each a prairie chicken's flight four ways (a hundred and sixty acres); +this they gave us, who once had all the land there was, and whose habit +is to roam as far as a horse can carry us and then continue our journey +till we have had our fill of wandering. + +"We are not as many as the White Man. But we know that this land is our +land. And while we live and can fight, we will fight for it. If the +White Man does not want us to fight, why does he take our land? If we +come and build our lodges on the White Man's land, the White Man drives +us away or kills us. Have we not the same right as the White Man?" + +The forfeiture of the Black Hills and unwise reduction of rations kept +alive the Indian discontent. When, in 1889, Congress passed a law +dividing the Sioux reservation into many smaller ones so as to isolate +the different tribes of the Dakota nation a treaty was offered them. +This provided payment for the ponies captured or destroyed in the war +of 1876 and certain other concessions, in return for which the Indians +were to cede about half their land, or eleven million acres, which was +to be opened up for settlement. + +The treaty was submitted to the Indians for a vote. They came in from +the woods and the plains to vote on it, and it was carried by a very +narrow majority, many of the Indians insisting that they had been +coerced by their necessities into casting favorable ballots. + +Congress delayed and postponed the fulfillment of the promised +conditions, and the Indian unrest increased as the months went by. Even +after the land had been taken over and settled up, Congress did not +pass the appropriation that was necessary before the Indians could get +their money. + +Sitting Bull was appealed to for aid, and once more began employing his +powerful gift of oratory in the interest of armed resistance against +the white man. + +Just at this time a legend whose origin was beyond all power to fathom +became current among the red men of the north. + +From one tribe to another spread the tidings that a Messiah was to come +back to earth to use his miraculous power in the interest of the +Indian. The whites were to be driven from the land of the red man. The +old days of the West were to be restored. The ranges were to be +re-stocked with elk, antelope, deer, and buffalo. + +Soon a fever of fanaticism had infected every tribe. Not alone were the +Sioux the victims of this amazing delusion, but every tribe on the +continent shared in it. + +There was to be a universal brotherhood of red men. Old enmities were +forgotten. Former foes became fast friends. The Yaquis in Mexico sent +out word that they would be ready for the great Armageddon when it +came. As far north as Alaska there were ghost dances and barbaric +festivities to celebrate the coming restoration of the Indian to the +lands of his inheritance. + +And as the Indians danced, they talked and sang and thought of war, +while their hatred of the white man broke violently forth. + +Very much disquieted at the news of what was going on the War +Department sent out word to stop the dancing and singing. Stop it! You +could as easily have stopped the eruption of Mount Lassen! Among the +other beliefs that spread among the Indians was one that all the sick +would be healed and be able to go into battle, and that young and old, +squaws and braves alike, would be given shirts which would turn the +soldiers' bullets like armor-plate. + +Every redskin believed that he could not be injured. None of them had +any fear of battle, or any suspicions that he could be injured in the +course of the great holy war that was to come. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +In November, 1890, I was returning from Europe with my Wild West +Company. When the New York pilot came aboard he brought a big packet of +papers. That was before the days of wireless, and we had had no tidings +of what was going on in the world since we had left the other side. + +As he came up the ladder he recognized me, and shouted: "Colonel, +there's a big Indian war started! I guess you'll be needed out there." + +I seized the papers and eagerly read the details of the threatened +outbreak. I was not surprised when, on arriving at Quarantine, I was +handed a telegram from General Miles. + +I was requested to come to Chicago as soon as possible, and to +telegraph the time of my arrival. Canceling all New York engagements, I +caught the first train for the West, and in thirty-six hours reported +to General Miles in his headquarters. + +He briefly described to me what had been happening and went over with +me the maps of the Western States where the Indians were getting ready +for war. He said that it was his understanding that the Bad Lands of +North Dakota had been selected as the battle-ground by the Indians, and +asked me to give him all the information I possessed about that country +and its accessibility for troops. + +Miles was about to leave for the Pine Ridge Agency, and take command of +the campaign to put down the Indians. + +I was thoroughly familiar with the Bad Lands, and spent an hour or more +in discussing the coming campaign with the general. We both agreed that +the Indians had selected a particularly good country for their +uprising, and an especially good season, as in winter, with the hills +covered with snow, and blizzards of almost daily occurrence, it would +be far harder to hunt them out than in summer, when the troops could +travel easily. + +Miles said that Sitting Bull had his camp somewhere within forty or +fifty miles of the Standing Rock Agency, and was haranguing the Indians +thereabout, spreading the Messiah talk and getting them to join him. He +asked me if I could go immediately to Standing Rock and Fort Yates, and +thence to Sitting Bull's camp. + +He knew that I was an old friend of the chief, and he believed that if +any one could induce the old fox to abandon his plans for a general war +I could. If I could not dissuade him from the warpath the general was +of the opinion that I might be able to delay him in taking it, so that +troops could be sent into the country in time to prevent a horrible +massacre of the defenseless white settlers, who were already in terror +of their lives. + +I knew that this would be the most dangerous undertaking of my career. +I was sure that if I could reach Sitting Bull he would at least listen +to me. But in the present inflamed state of the Indian mind it would be +next to impossible to get to his camp alive. + +Nevertheless I was quite ready to take the risk. I knew what fearful +damage could be done by a sudden uprising of fanatical and infuriated +Indians, and any danger to me personally was as nothing to the +importance of preventing such, a thing, if possible. + +Having no standing as an army officer or as a Government agent, it was +necessary for me to be supplied with some sort of credentials, in order +to secure the assistance I should need on my mission. When I informed +General Miles of this he took one of his visiting-cards from a case and +wrote the following on the back of it: + + To COMMANDING OFFICERS OF UNITED STATES TROOPS: + + Furnish Colonel William F. Cody with any assistance or escort that + he may ask for. + + NELSON A. MILES. + +I took the next train for Mandan, N.D., which was the station nearest +the Standing Rock Agency. There I hired a livery team and driver for +the ride of sixty-five miles to the Agency. I had considerable +difficulty in securing a driver, as the report had gone abroad that all +the Indians were on the warpath, and few of the settlers cared to risk +their scalps on such a venture. But I went higher and higher in my +offers, till at last a liveryman figured that a hundred dollars was +sufficient reward for the risk, and, hitching up his team, told me to +come along. + +After an intensely cold drive we reached the Agency, where I hurried +into the trader's store to thaw out by his stove. I had hardly arrived +before the trader came in and told me that Major McLaughlin, the Indian +agent, wanted to see me. News travels very fast in the Indian country, +especially in war times. Someone about the Post who had seen me driving +in had hurried to headquarters to inform the agent that Buffalo Bill +had arrived by way of reënforcements. + +As soon as I got my chilled blood into circulation I went to the +major's quarters, and informed him of the purpose of my visit. We were +old friends, and he was very glad to see me, but he was much concerned +on learning what I intended to do. + +"That is impossible!" he said. "The Sioux are threatening a great war. +At this very moment we do not know when the Indians here at the Agency +may rise. We can take care of our own situation, for we have four +troops of cavalry here, but we cannot permit you to go to Sitting +Bull's camp. Not only would you be killed before you got halfway there, +but your presence in the country would precipitate hostilities for +which we are not in the least prepared. I'm sorry, Cody, but it can't +be done." + +More fully to persuade me of the truth of what he said he took me to +the quarters of Colonel Brown, the commander of the troops at the +Agency, and asked him to talk to me. Brown listened to my statement of +what I proposed and shook his head. + +"I've heard of you, Cody, and of your nerve, but this is more than even +you can do. Sitting Bull's camp is forty miles away, and the country +between here and there is swarming with Indians all ready to go on the +warpath, and wholly beyond the sway of reason. I cannot permit you to +make this attempt." + +"Do you hear, Cody?" said McLaughlin. "The only thing for you to do is +to stay all night with us and then return to the railroad. Even that +will be risky enough, even for you." "But go you must," added Brown. +"The Agency is under martial law, and I cannot permit you to remain any +longer than tomorrow morning." + +There was no arguing with these men. So I resorted to my credentials. +Taking General Miles's card from my pocket, I laid it before Colonel +Brown. + +"What does this mean?" he demanded, and passed the card to McLaughlin. + +"It looks like orders," said McLaughlin. + +"Yes," said Brown, "and I can't disobey them." + +Just then Captain Fatchett, an old friend of mine, came into the +quarters, and Brown turned me over to him for entertainment until I +should formulate my plans for my visit to Sitting Bull. I had never +served with the Eighth Cavalry to which the companies at the Post +belonged, but I had many friends among the officers, and spent a very +pleasant afternoon and evening talking over old times, and getting +information about the present situation. + +After guard-mount the next morning I told Colonel Brown that I did not +think I would require an escort for my visit, as the presence of a +number of armed men in the Indian country would be sure to start the +trouble it was our purpose to avoid, or to delay as long as possible. +The man who had driven me over was anxious to return at once, so I +asked for a light spring-wagon and a team of mules. + +"Wait an hour or two," said the colonel, "and I'll send the +quartermaster to you." + +I waited, and he employed the time, as I afterward learned, in +telegraphing to General Miles, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, +to the Secretary of the Interior, and to President Harrison. He +informed all of them that I was there, insisting on going to Sitting +Bull's camp, and that such an errand would not only result in my death, +but would precipitate the outbreak then brewing, and for which he was +not at all prepared. He besought all of them to instruct me to return +to Mandan. + +While he waited for replies to his dispatches I hunted about the camp +for someone who knew just where Sitting Bull was located and how to get +there. I also wanted a first-class interpreter, as I would have matters +to discuss with Sitting Bull beyond his mastery of English or mine of +Sioux to express. At last I found a man who agreed to go with me as +guide for five hundred dollars, which I promised him without a protest. +Then I went over to the post-trader's store and bought all manner of +presents which I knew would be acceptable to Sitting Bull, his squaw, +and his children. + +When I returned to Colonel Brown's quarters he endeavored once more to +put me off. But I would not be put off. I informed him that I had +explicit orders from General Miles as to my mission, and that if he +interfered with me he was violating the orders of his commanding +officer and running into very serious trouble. + +At last he reluctantly sent for the quartermaster, and ordered him to +have a span of good mules hitched to a light spring-wagon. + +The wagon was driven to the post-trader's store, where I found my guide +and interpreter, and loaded aboard the presents I had bought for the +old warrior. With plenty of robes to keep out the intense cold, we +started out on our journey, a little apprehensive, but fully determined +to go through with it. Five or six miles from the Post we met three men +in a wagon driving toward the Agency. They told us that Sitting Bull's +camp had been lately moved, and that it was now further down the river. +I knew that if the old man was really on the warpath he would be moving +up the river, not down, so I felt considerably reassured. + +When we had proceeded a few miles further we heard a yell behind us, +and, looking back, saw a rider approaching at full speed. This proved +to be one of Major McLaughlin's Indian scouts. He bore a telegram +reading: + + COLONEL WILLIAM F. CODY, Fort Yates, N.D.: + + The order for the detention of Sitting Bull has been rescinded. + You are hereby ordered to return to Chicago and report to General + Miles. + + BENJAMIN HARRISON, President. + +That ended my mission to Sitting Bull. I still believe I could have got +safely through the country, though there were plenty of chances that I +would be killed or wounded in the attempt. + +I returned to the Post, turned back my presents at a loss to myself, +and paid the interpreter fifty dollars for his day's work. He was very +glad to have the fifty and a whole skin, for he could not figure how +the five hundred would be of much help to him if he had been stretched +out on the Plains with an Indian bullet through him. + +I was supplied with conveyance back to Mandan by Colonel Brown and took +my departure the next morning. Afterward, in Indianapolis, President +Harrison informed me that he had allowed himself to be persuaded +against my mission in opposition to his own judgment, and said he was +very sorry that he had not allowed me to proceed. + +It developed afterward that the people who had moved the President to +interfere consisted of a party of philanthropists who advanced the +argument that my visit would precipitate a war in which Sitting Bull +would be killed, and it was to spare the life of this man that I was +stopped! + +The result of the President's order was that the Ghost Dance War +followed very shortly, and with it came the death of Sitting Bull. + +I found that General Miles knew exactly why I had been turned back from +my trip to Sitting Bull. But he was a soldier, and made no criticism of +the order of a superior. General Miles was glad to hear that I had been +made a brigadier-general, but he was still more pleased with the fact +that I knew so many Indians at the Agency. + +"You can get around among them," he said, "and learn their intentions +better than any other man I know." + +I remained with General Miles until the final surrender of the North +American Indians to the United States Government after three hundred +years of warfare. + +This surrender was made to Miles, then lieutenant-general of the army, +and it was eminently fitting that a man who had so ably conducted the +fight of the white race against them and had dealt with them so justly +and honorably should have received their surrender. + +With that event ended one of the most picturesque phases of Western +life--Indian fighting. It was with that that I was identified from my +youth to my middle age, and in the time I spent on the Plains, Indian +warfare reached its greatest severity and its highest development. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +In the preceding chapters I have sketched briefly some of the most +interesting of my adventures on the Plains. It has been necessary to +omit much that I would like to have told. For twenty years my life was +one of almost continuous excitement, and to tell the whole story would +require many volumes. + +It was because of my great interest in the West, and my belief that its +development would be assisted by the interest I could awaken in others, +that I decided to bring the West to the East through the medium of the +Wild West Show. How greatly I was to succeed in this venture I had no +idea when it first occurred to me. As I have told you, I had already +appeared in a small Western show, and was the first man to bring +Indians to the East and exhibit them. But the theater was too small to +give any real impression of what Western life was like. Only in an +arena where horses could be ridden at full gallop, where lassos could +be thrown, and pistols and guns fired without frightening the audience +half to death, could such a thing be attempted. + +After getting together a remarkable collection of Indians, cowboys, +Indian ponies, stage-coach drivers, and other typical denizens of my +own country under canvas I found myself almost immediately prosperous. + +We showed in the principal cities of the country, and everywhere the +novelty of the exhibition drew great crowds. As owner and principal +actor in the enterprise I met the leading citizens of the United States +socially, and never lost an opportunity to "talk up" the Western +country, which I believed to have a wonderful future. I worked hard on +the program of the entertainment, taking care to make it realistic in +every detail. The wigwam village, the Indian war-dance, the chant of +the Great Spirit as it was sung on the Plains, the rise and fall of the +famous tribes, were all pictured accurately. + +It was not an easy thing to do. Sometimes I had to send men on journeys +of more than a hundred miles to get the right kind of war-bonnets, or +to make correct copies of the tepees peculiar to a particular tribe. It +was my effort, in depicting the West, to depict it as it was. I was +much gratified in after years to find that scientists who had carefully +studied the Indians, their traditions and habits, gave me credit for +making very valuable contributions to the sum of human knowledge of the +American native. + +The first presentation of my show was given in May, 1883, at Omaha, +which I had then chosen as my home. From there we made our first summer +tour, visiting practically every important city in the country. + +For my grand entrance I made a spectacle which comprised the most +picturesque features of Western life. Sioux, Arapahoes, Brulés, and +Cheyennes in war-paint and feathers led the van, shrieking their +war-whoops and waving the weapons with which they were armed in a +manner to inspire both terror and admiration in the tenderfoot +audience. + +Next came cowboys and soldiers, all clad exactly as they were when +engaged in their campaigns against the Indians, and lumbering along in +the rear were the old stage-coaches which carried the settlers to the +West in the days before the railroad made the journey easy and +pleasant. + +I am sure the people enjoyed this spectacle, for they flocked in crowds +to see it. I know I enjoyed it. There was never a day when, looking +back over the red and white men in my cavalcade, I did not know the +thrill of the trail, and feel a little sorry that my Western adventures +would thereafter have to be lived in spectacles. + +Without desiring to dim the glory of any individual I can truthfully +state that the expression "rough riders," which afterward became so +famous, was my own coinage. As I rode out at the front of my parade I +would bow to the audience, circled about on the circus benches, and +shout at the top of my voice: + +"Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce you to the rough riders +of the world!" + +For three years we toured the United States with great success. One day +an Englishman, whose name I never learned, came to see me after the +show. + +"That is a wonderful performance," he told me. "Here in America it +meets with great appreciation, but you have no idea what a sensation it +would be in the Old World, where such things are unheard of." + +That set me to thinking. In a few days, after spending hours together +considering the matter, I had made up my mind that Europe should have +an opportunity to study America as nearly at first-hand as possible +through the medium of my entertainment. + +Details were soon arranged. In March, 1886, I chartered the steamer +_State of Nebraska_, loaded my Indians, cowboys, horses, and +stage-coaches on board, and set sail for another continent. + +It was a strange voyage. The Indians had never been to sea before, and +had never dreamed that such an expanse of water existed on the planet. +They would stand at the rail, after the first days of seasickness were +over, gazing out across the waves, and trying to descry something that +looked like land, or a tree, or anything that seemed familiar and like +home. Then they would shake their heads disconsolately and go below, to +brood and muse and be an extremely unhappy and forlorn lot of savages. +The joy that seized them when at last they came in sight of land, and +were assured that we did not intend to keep on sailing till we fell +over the edge of the earth, was something worth looking at. + +At Gravesend we sighted a tug flying the American colors, and when the +band on board responded to our cheers with "The Star-Spangled Banner" +even the Indians tried to sing. Our band replied with "Yankee Doodle," +and as we moved toward port there was more noise on board than I had +ever heard in any battle on the Plains. + +When the landing was made the members of the party were sent in special +coaches to London. Crowds stared at us from every station. The guards +on the train were a little afraid of the solemn and surly-looking +Indians, but they were a friendly and jovial crowd, and when they had +recovered from their own fright at the strange surroundings they were +soon on good terms with the Britishers. + +Major John M. Burke, who was my lifetime associate in the show +business, had made all arrangements for housing the big troupe. We went +to work at our leisure with our preparations to astonish the British +public, and succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. The big London +amphitheater, a third of a mile in circumference, was just the place +for such an exhibition. The artist's brush was employed on lavish scale +to reproduce the scenery of the Western Plains. I was busy for many +days with preparations, and when our spectacle was finally given it was +received with such a burst of enthusiasm as I had never witnessed +anywhere. + +The show began, after the grand entry, with the hour of dawn on the +Plains. Wild animals were scattered about. Within their tents were the +Indians sleeping. As the dawn deepened the Indians came out of their +tents and went through one of their solemn and impressive war-dances. +While this was going on the British audience held its breath. You could +have heard a whisper in almost any part of the arena. + +Then in came a courier to announce the neighborhood of a hostile tribe. +Instantly there was a wild scramble for mounts and weapons. The enemy +rushed in, and for ten minutes there was a sham battle which filled the +place with noise and confusion. This battle was copied as exactly as it +could be copied from one of the scrimmages in which I had taken part in +my first days as a scout. Then we gave them a buffalo hunt, in which I +had a hand, and did a little fancy shooting. As a finish there was a +Wild Western cyclone, and a whole Indian village was blown out of +existence for the delectation of the English audience. + +The initial performance was given before the Prince and Princess of +Wales, afterward King Edward and his Queen, and their suite. At the +close of the program the Prince and Princess, at their own request, +were introduced to all the leading members of the company, including +many of the Indians. When the cowgirls of the show were presented to +the Princess they stepped forward and offered their hands, which were +taken and well shaken in true democratic fashion. + +Red Shirt, the most important chief in the outfit, was highly pleased +when he learned that a princess was to visit him in his camp. He had +the Indian gift of oratory, and he replied to her greeting with a long +and eloquent speech, in which his gestures, if not his words, expressed +plainly the honor he felt in receiving so distinguished a lady. The +fact that he referred to Alexandria as a squaw did not seem to mar her +enjoyment. + +That the Prince was really pleased with the exhibition was shown by the +fact that he made an immediate report of it to his mother. Shortly +thereafter I received a command from Queen Victoria to appear before +her. + +This troubled me a good deal--not that I was not more than eager to +obey this flattering command, but that I was totally at a loss how to +take my show to any of the great residences occupied by Her Majesty. + +Finally, after many cautious inquiries, I discovered that she would be +willing to visit the show if a special box was prepared for her. This +we did to the best of our ability. The box was placed upon a dais +covered with crimson velvet and handsomely decorated. When the Queen +arrived I met her at the door of the box, with my sombrero in my hand +and welcomed her to "the Wild West of America." + +One of the first acts in the performance was to carry the flag to the +front. This was done by a soldier. Walking around the arena, he offered +the Stars and Stripes as an emblem of the friendship of America to all +the world. On this occasion he carried the flag directly to the royal +box, and dipped it three times before the Queen. + +Absolute silence fell over the great throng. Then the Queen rose and +saluted the flag with a bow, her suite following her example. There was +a wild cheer from everyone in the show, Indians included, and soon all +the audience was on its feet, cheering and waving flags and +handkerchiefs. + +This gave us a fine start and we never put on a better performance. +When it was all over Her Majesty sent for me, and paid me many +compliments as well as to my country and the West. I found her a most +gracious and charming woman, with none of the haughtiness which I had +supposed was inseparable from a person of such exalted rank. My +subsequent experiences with royalty convinced me that there is more +real democracy among the rulers of the countries of Europe than you +will find among the petty officials of a village. + +It was interesting to watch old Red Shirt when he was presented to the +Queen. He clearly felt that this was a ceremony between one ruler and +another, and the dignity with which he went through the introduction +was wonderful to behold. One would have thought to watch him that most +of his life was spent in introductions to kings and queens, and that he +was really a little bored with the effort required to go through with +them. A second command from the Queen resulted in an exhibition before +a number of her royal guests, including the Kings of Saxony, Denmark, +and Greece, the Queen of the Belgians, and the Crown Prince of Austria. + +The Deadwood coach, one of the features of the show, was of particular +interest to my royal guests. This was a coach with a history. It was +built in Concord, N.H., and sent by water to San Francisco to run over +a route infested with road-agents. A number of times it was held up and +robbed. Finally, both driver and passengers were killed and the coach +abandoned on the trail. It remained for a long time a derelict, but was +afterward brought into San Francisco by an old stage-driver and placed +on the Overland trail. + +As it worked its way East over the Overland route its old luck held +steadily. Again were driver and passengers massacred; again it was +abandoned. At last, when it was "hoodooed" all over the West and no +independent driver or company would have anything to do with it I +discovered it, bought it, and used it for my show. + +One of the incidents of my program, as all who have seen it will +remember, was an Indian attack on this coach. The royal visitors wanted +a real taste of Western life--insisted on it, in fact, and the Kings of +Denmark, Greece, Saxony, and the Crown Prince of Austria climbed to the +box with me. + +I had secretly instructed the Indians to throw a little real energy +into their pursuit of the coach, and they followed my instructions +rather more completely than I expected. The coach was surrounded by a +demoniac band of shooting and shouting Indians. Blank cartridges were +discharged at perilously close proximity to the rulers of four great +nations. Looking around to quiet my followers, I saw that the guests of +the occasion were a trifle pale, but they were all of them game, and +came out of the affair far less scared than were the absolutely +terrified members of the royal suites, who sat in their boxes and wrung +their hands in wild alarm. + +In recognition of this performance the Prince of Wales sent me a +souvenir consisting of a feathered crest, outlined in diamonds, with +the words "Ich dien" worked in jewels underneath. A note in the +Prince's own hand expressed the pleasure of his guests in the +entertainment I had provided for them. + +After a tour of the principal cities we returned to America, proud of +our success, and well rewarded in purse for our effort. + +The welcome to America was almost as elaborate as that from England. I +quote from the description of it printed in the New York _World_: + + The harbor probably has never witnessed a more picturesque scene + than that of yesterday, when the _Persian Monarch_ steamed up from + Quarantine. Buffalo Bill stood on the captain's bridge, his tall + and striking figure clearly outlined, and his long hair waving in + the wind; the gaily painted and blanketed Indians leaned over the + ship's rail; the flags of all nations fluttered from the masts and + connecting cables. The cowboy band played "Yankee Doodle" with a + vim and enthusiasm which faintly indicated the joy felt by + everybody connected with the "Wild West" over the sight of home. + +Shortly after my arrival I was much pleased by the receipt of the +following letter: + + FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL, NEW YORK. + COLONEL WM. F. CODY: + + _Dear Sir_--In common with all your countrymen, I want to let you + know that I am not only gratified but proud of your management and + success. So far as I can make out, you have been modest, graceful, + and dignified in all you have done to illustrate the history of + civilization on this continent during the past century. I am + especially pleased with the compliment paid you by the Prince of + Wales, who rode with you in the Deadwood coach while it was + attacked by Indians and rescued by cowboys. Such things did occur + in our days, but they never will again. + + As nearly as I can estimate, there were in 1865 about nine and + one-half million of buffaloes on the Plains between the Missouri + River and the Rocky Mountains; all are now gone, killed for their + meat, their skins, and their bones. This seems like desecration, + cruelty, and murder, yet they have been replaced by twice as many + cattle. At that date there were about 165,000 Pawnees, Sioux, + Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, who depended upon these buffaloes for + their yearly food. They, too, have gone, but they have been + replaced by twice or thrice as many white men and women, who have + made the earth to blossom as the rose, and who can be counted, + taxed, and governed by the laws of Nature and civilization. This + change has been salutary, and will go on to the end. You have + caught one epoch of this country's history, and have illustrated it + in the very heart of the modern world--London--and I want you to + feel that on this side of the water we appreciate it. + + This drama must end; days, years, and centuries follow fast; even + the drama of civilization must have an end. All I aim to accomplish + on this sheet of paper is to assure you that I fully recognize your + work. The presence of the Queen, the beautiful Princess of Wales, + the Prince, and the British public are marks of favor which reflect + back on America sparks of light which illuminate many a house and + cabin in the land where once you guided me honestly and faithfully, + in 1865-66, from Fort Riley to Kearney, in Kansas and Nebraska. + + Sincerely your friend, + + W.T. SHERMAN. + +Our next descent on Europe was made in the steamer _Persian Monarch_, +which was again chartered. This time our destination was France. The +Parisians received the show with as much favor as had the Londoners. + +Everything American became the fad during our stay. Fashionable young +men bought American and Mexican saddles for their rides in the Bois. +Cowboy hats appeared everywhere on the street. There was a great cry +for stories of the Plains and all the books that could be found that +dealt with the West were translated into the French language. Relics +from the Plains and mountains, bows, moccasins, and Indian baskets, +sold like hot cakes in the souvenir stores. + +While in the city I accepted an invitation from Rosa Bonheur to visit +her at her superb château. In return I extended her the freedom of the +show, and she made many studies from life of the fine animals I had +brought over with me. She also painted a portrait of me on my favorite +horse--a picture which I immediately sent home to my wife. + +Our sojourn in Rome was lively with incident. The Prince of Simonetta, +who visited the show, declared that he had some wild horses in his +stable which no cowboy could ride. The challenge was promptly taken up +by some of the dare-devils in my party. That the horses might not run +amuck and injure anyone, special booths were erected in the show arena, +where the trial was to be made. + +The greatest enthusiasm was manifested by the Romans in the +performance, and it was clear to me that most of them looked eagerly +forward to the mortal injury of some of the members of my company. The +Latin delight in sports like those of the old Roman arena had by no +means died out. + +When the horses were loosed in the ring they sprang into the air, +snorted, kicked up their heels, and plainly defied any of the cowboys +to do so much as to lay a hand on them. But in less time than I can +tell it the plainsmen had sent their lassos hurtling through the air, +and the horses discovered that they had met their masters. The +audience, always strong for the winners, forgot their disappointment in +the absence of fatalities, and howled with delight as the cowboys, one +after another, mounted the fractious horses and trotted them +submissively about the arena. We closed this tour of Europe, which was +successful to the end, with a second visit to England. + +I have now come to the end of my story. It is a story of "The Great +West that Was," a West that is gone forever. + +All my interests are still with the West--the modern West. I have a +number of homes there, the one I love best being in the wonderful Big +Horn Valley, which I hope one day to see one of the garden spots of the +world. + +In concluding, I want to express the hope that the dealings of this +Government of ours with the Indians will always be just and fair. They +were the inheritors of the land that we live in. They were not capable +of developing it, or of really appreciating its possibilities, but they +owned it when the White Man came, and the White Man took it away from +them. It was natural that they should resist. It was natural that they +employed the only means of warfare known to them against those whom +they regarded as usurpers. It was our business, as scouts, to be +continually on the warpath against them when they committed +depredations. But no scout ever hated the Indians in general. + +There have been times when the Government policy toward the Indians has +been unwise and unjust. That time, I trust, has passed forever. There +are still many thousand Indians in the country, most of them engaged in +agricultural pursuits. Indian blood has added a certain rugged strength +to the characters of many of our Western citizens. At least two United +States Senators are part Indian, and proud of it. + +The Indian makes a good citizen, a good farmer, a good soldier. He is a +real American, and all those of us who have come to share with him the +great land that was his heritage should do their share toward seeing +that he is dealt with justly and fairly, and that his rights and +liberties are never infringed by the scheming politician or the +short-sighted administration of law. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Autobiography of Buffalo Bill +(Colonel W. F. Cody), by Buffalo Bill (William Frederick Cody) + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12740 *** |