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+Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Buffalo Bill, by Col. William F. Cody
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Adventures of Buffalo Bill
+
+Author: Col. William F. Cody
+
+Release Date: February 13, 2012 [EBook #38840]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HE SAW THE FEATHERED HEAD OF AN INDIAN POKE OVER THE BANK
+BEFORE HIM.]
+
+
+
+
+  The Adventures of
+  Buffalo Bill
+
+
+  BY COL. WILLIAM F. CODY
+  (BUFFALO BILL)
+
+
+  HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS
+  NEW YORK, EVANSTON, and LONDON
+
+
+
+
+_Harper's Young People's Series_
+
+New Large Type Edition
+
+Illustrated--Jackets Printed in Colors
+
+
+  TOBY TYLER. By James Otis
+  MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER. By James Otis
+  TIM AND TIP. By James Otis
+  RAISING THE PEARL. By James Otis
+  ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL. By W. F. Cody
+  DIDDIE, DUMPS, AND TOT. By Mrs. L. C. Pyrnelle
+  MUSIC AND MUSICIANS. By Lucy C. Lillie
+  THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB. By W. L. Alden
+  THE CRUISE OF THE "GHOST." By W. L. Alden
+  MORAL PIRATES. By W. L. Alden
+  A NEW ROBINSON CRUSOE. By W. L. Alden
+  THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY BROWN. By W. L. Alden
+  PRINCE LAZYBONES. By Mrs. W. J. Hays
+  THE FLAMINGO FEATHER. By Kirk Munroe
+  DERRICK STERLING. By Kirk Munroe
+  CHRYSTAL, JACK & CO. By Kirk Munroe
+  WAKULLA. By Kirk Munroe
+  THE ICE QUEEN. By Ernest Ingersoll
+  THE RED MUSTANG. By W. O. Stoddard
+  TALKING LEAVES. By W. O. Stoddard
+  TWO ARROWS. By W. O. Stoddard
+  THE HOUSEHOLD OF GLEN HOLLY. By Lucy C. Lillie
+  MILDRED'S BARGAIN. By Lucy C. Lillie
+  NAN. By Lucy C. Lillie
+  ROLF HOUSE. By Lucy C. Lillie
+
+
+
+
+  THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+
+  Copyright 1904
+  By Harper & Brothers
+  Printed in the U.S.A.
+
+  D-E
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                    PAGE
+  THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+      I. CROSSING THE PLAINS                           1
+
+     II. ROUNDING UP INDIANS                          29
+
+    III. PURSUING THE SIOUX                           51
+
+     IV. MY DUEL WITH YELLOW HAND                     76
+
+
+  THE LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+      I. THE LITTLE BOY OF THE PRAIRIE               101
+
+     II. LITTLE BILL AT SCHOOL AND AT THE TRAPS      118
+
+    III. THE PONY EXPRESS RIDER                      134
+
+     IV. "BILL CODY, THE SCOUT"                      151
+
+      V. THE INDIAN CAMPAIGNS WITH THE ARMY          160
+
+     VI. BUFFALO BILL AND HIS SHOW                   169
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  HE SAW THE FEATHERED HEAD OF AN INDIAN POKE
+  OVER THE BANK BEFORE HIM                        _Frontispiece_
+
+  I DISENTANGLED MYSELF AND JUMPED BEHIND
+  THE DEAD BODY OF MY HORSE                       _Facing p._ 46
+
+  IN THE DISTANCE I SAW A LARGE HERD OF
+  BUFFALOES WHICH WERE BEING CHASED AND
+  FIRED AT BY TWENTY OR THIRTY INDIANS                "       96
+
+  HE LOOKED UP AND SAW INDIANS IN WAR PAINT
+  STANDING INSIDE THE CAVE, GAZING AT HIM             "      128
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+With the death of William Frederick Cody, at Denver on January 10, 1917,
+there passed away the last of that intrepid band of pathfinders who gave
+their lives to the taming of the West, a gallant company of brave men
+steadfastly pushing back the frontier year by year and mile by mile, and
+ceasing from their labors only when the young and vigorous life of the
+Pacific States had been linked up for all time with the older civilization
+of the Atlantic seaboard.
+
+The fame of Colonel Cody, or Buffalo Bill as he was popularly called,
+recalls that of Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Kit Carson, but he cannot
+be said to rank with those earlier heroes in point of actual national
+service. He played no large part in the upbuilding of our Continental
+Empire. Yet he was made of the same stern stuff, and, on his more
+circumscribed stage, he was a gallant and picturesque figure, a true
+superman of the brave old days. When, in 1883, Cody gave up his roving
+life and organized the Wild West show it meant that the Wild West itself
+was gone for good and all. Together with Boone, Crockett, and Carson his
+life rounds out the century of continental occupation, counting from the
+year Boone crossed the mountains into Kentucky to the final completion of
+the Union Pacific Railway. Boone was born in Pennsylvania and died in
+Missouri; Crockett was born west of the Alleghanies, in Tennessee, and
+died in Texas; Carson and Cody were born west of the Mississippi, and died
+in Colorado.
+
+Perhaps the most picturesque period in Buffalo Bill's life was his service
+as a rider in the service of the famous Pony Express just before the Civil
+War. This was perhaps the most perilous job that a man could undertake,
+and young Cody was barely fifteen years old. Yet he had had previous
+experience in Indian fighting and at the age of eleven he had killed his
+first Indian. Shortly afterward the Civil War began and Cody enlisted in
+the Union Army, serving as a scout. When the fighting was over he
+returned to the Far West. The transcontinental railways were in process of
+construction, a romantic episode in American history fittingly depicted in
+the glowing pages of Zane Grey's _The U. P. Trail_. The builders of the
+Kansas Pacific Railroad wanted buffalo meat to feed their laborers and
+Cody undertook the contract. In eighteen months (1867-68) he killed 4,280
+buffaloes, and thereby earned his title of Buffalo Bill.
+
+In 1868 Cody rejoined the army as scout and guide, and quickly made a
+reputation as a man of infinite endurance and daring. He was attached to
+General Sheridan's headquarters at Hays City, Kansas; and soon after
+reporting for duty he learned that the commander wanted a dispatch sent to
+Fort Dodge, a distance of ninety-five miles. The Indians had recently
+killed two or three dispatch riders on this route, and none of the scouts
+was anxious to take on the job. Even a promised bonus of several hundred
+dollars found no takers. Cody volunteered and made the dangerous trip in
+safety. But at Fort Dodge he found that the commanding officer there was
+very anxious to send dispatches to Fort Larned, and again the regular
+scouts shunned the task. On went Buffalo Bill to Fort Larned, sixty-five
+miles farther. About half-way he stopped to water his mule and the animal
+got away from him. For thirty-five miles Cody trailed the obstinate brute
+on foot, never quite able to get within clutch of his bridle rein. At
+daybreak Fort Larned came in sight and the danger from roving Indians was
+over. "Now, Mr. Mule, it is my turn," exclaimed the exhausted and
+thoroughly infuriated scout, raising his gun to his shoulder. Like the
+majority of Government mules he was not easy to kill. He died hard, but he
+died.
+
+After a few hours' sleep it was necessary to begin the return journey, as
+answering dispatches had to be sent to General Sheridan. Again the ride
+was made in safety, and one of the greatest feats in all scout history had
+been accomplished. It should be explained that, previous to beginning the
+ride to Fort Dodge, Cody had been in the saddle for twenty hours, covering
+a distance of 140 miles. His grand total for a period of fifty-eight
+hours was 365 miles (including thirty-five miles on foot), an average of
+over six miles an hour.
+
+A little later Cody was appointed chief scout and guide for the Fifth
+Cavalry in a campaign against the hostile Sioux and Cheyennes, and he had
+many narrow escapes from the tight places into which his adventurous
+disposition was always leading him. He also served as chief scout for the
+Republican River Expedition of 1869.
+
+While living near Fort McPherson, Nebraska, in 1870, Cody was appointed
+justice of the peace by General Emory to take care of certain civilian
+offenders against the common law. Buffalo Bill protested that he knew
+nothing about law, but General Emory was insistent and Cody went over to
+North Platte and was sworn in. That very night he was aroused by a man who
+had a complaint to make. One of his horses had been stolen by the boss of
+a passing herd, and he wanted a writ of replevin. "I don't know what a
+replevin is," answered 'Squire Cody, as he took down his old Lucretia
+rifle and patted it gently, "but I guess this will do as well." In
+company with the complainant Cody galloped after the cavalcade and soon
+overtook the offender against the ethical code. At first the boss was
+defiant, but when he realized who the 'Squire was he quickly weakened. "I
+didn't care a blank about you being justice of the peace and constable
+combined," he explained, "but when I found out you were Buffalo Bill it
+was time to lay down my hand." The 'Squire read the fellow a lecture on
+the iniquity of horse stealing, collected a fine of one hundred and fifty
+dollars, reclaimed the animal, and declared that court was adjourned.
+
+In 1872 the Russian Grand Duke Alexis visited this country, and a Far West
+hunting expedition was arranged in his honor. Buffalo Bill acted as guide
+and chief huntsman. The Grand Duke, under Cody's tutelage, succeeded in
+bagging several handsome heads, and, in token of his appreciation, he
+presented to Buffalo Bill his almost priceless fur overcoat and a
+wonderful set of sleeve links and scarfpin studded with diamonds and
+rubies. In this same year Cody was elected a member of the Nebraska
+Legislature. Later on he resigned and went to Chicago, where he made his
+first appearance on the stage as an actor in a play written around himself
+and entitled, "The Scout of the Plains."
+
+In 1874 Cody acted as guide to a grand hunting party given by General
+Sheridan to a number of wealthy and distinguished Eastern men. Cody became
+a great favorite with everybody, and the next winter he went on to New
+York to visit his new friends. He wore his famous sombrero and his fringed
+hunting suit of buckskin everywhere, and they created a mild sensation on
+Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Then he went back to the West and tried the
+hum-drum life of a farmer and ranchman.
+
+The famous Wild West show was staged for the first time at Omaha on May
+17, 1883. It was a tremendous success from the start, and Colonel Cody was
+besieged with applications from all over the country. He went to England
+in 1887; royalty patronized this truly original and thrilling
+entertainment, and Buffalo Bill's fortune was made. In later years
+several successful European tours were undertaken.
+
+In November, 1911, Colonel Cody announced his retirement. He was then
+sixty-seven years old and reputed to be worth $3,000,000. He went to his
+ranch at Cody, Wyoming, and tried to settle down. But the old spirit of
+adventure lured him back to the sawdust arena. This time he was not so
+fortunate. He lost money on every hand, and finally the celebrated show
+went under the auctioneer's hammer. Friends came to his rescue, however,
+and bid in his famous white horse, Ishan, which the Colonel always rode at
+the head of his roughriders.
+
+The old scout had kept his courage, too, and he announced his intention of
+trying it again; he even joined a circus company as one of the regular
+troupe of performers. But his race was run, his day was done. Even his
+iron constitution had been weakened by the trials and privations of
+seventy-two years of strenuous life. He had lived up to the very last inch
+of his allotted span. He had played hard and he had fought hard and in the
+end he died hard, amazing even his experienced physicians by his
+extraordinary vitality. The doctors had told him that the end was near,
+but he only laughed and called for a pack of cards. "You can't kill the
+old scout," he said, smilingly. "Let's have a game of high-five." Yet even
+this undaunted spirit was forced to bow to mortal necessity, and a day or
+two later he relapsed into a state of unconsciousness from which he was
+never to emerge.
+
+His death attracted the notice of two continents. The newspapers printed
+columns of obituaries; the State of Colorado ordered a public funeral in
+his honor; it was the passing of a heroic figure in American annals. All
+in all, he must rank as the greatest of scouts and the most gallant of
+Indian fighters. He never knew fear. His life was in danger hundreds of
+times, and yet he always had the better of his adversary. He lived a free
+life among wild surroundings, but he was always to be found on the side of
+law and order. He was a dead shot, a splendid horseman, and an absolutely
+fearless fighter. The men who knew him best, including many well-known
+officers of the army, all united in praising the bravery, honesty, and
+modesty of this true product of the old wild West. His place can never be
+filled; he was a relic of the days that are gone, never to return.
+
+
+
+
+THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+CROSSING THE PLAINS
+
+
+In the early settlement of Kansas common-school advantages were denied us,
+and to provide a means for educating the few boys and girls in the
+neighborhood of my home, a subscription school was started in a small log
+cabin that was built on the bank of a creek that ran near our house. My
+mother took great interest in this school, and at her persuasion I
+returned home and became enrolled as a pupil, where I made satisfactory
+progress until, as the result of a quarrel with a schoolmate, I left the
+town and started across the plains with one of Russell, Majors & Waddell's
+freight trains.
+
+The trip proved a most enjoyable one to me, although no incidents worthy
+of note occurred on the way. On my return from Fort Kearny I was paid off
+the same as the rest of the employés. The remainder of the summer and fall
+I spent in herding cattle and working for Russell, Majors & Waddell.
+
+In May, 1857, I started for Salt Lake City with a herd of beef cattle, in
+charge of Frank and Bill McCarthy, for General Albert Sidney Johnston's
+army, which was then being sent across the plains to fight the Mormons.
+
+Nothing occurred to interrupt our journey until we reached Plum Creek, on
+the South Platte River, thirty-five miles west of old Fort Kearny. We had
+made a morning drive, and had camped for dinner. The wagon masters and a
+majority of the men had gone to sleep under the mess wagons. The cattle
+were being guarded by three men, and the cook was preparing dinner. No one
+had any idea that Indians were anywhere near us. The first warning we had
+that they were infesting that part of the country was the firing of shots
+and the whoops and yells from a party of them, who, catching us napping,
+gave us a most unwelcome surprise. All the men jumped to their feet and
+seized their guns. They saw with astonishment the cattle running in every
+direction, they having been stampeded by the Indians, who had shot and
+killed the three men who were on day herd duty, and the redmen were now
+charging down upon the rest of us.
+
+The McCarthy boys, at the proper moment, gave orders to fire upon the
+advancing enemy. The volley checked them, although they returned the
+compliment, and shot one of our party through the leg. Frank McCarthy then
+sang out, "Boys, make a break for the slough yonder, and we can then have
+the bank for a breastwork."
+
+We made a run for the slough, which was only a short distance off, and
+succeeded in safely reaching it, bringing with us the wounded man. The
+bank proved to be a very effective breastwork, affording us good
+protection. We had been there but a short time when Frank McCarthy, seeing
+that the longer we were corralled the worse it would be for us, said,
+
+"Well, boys, we'll try to make our way back to Fort Kearny by wading in
+the river and keeping the bank for a breastwork."
+
+We all agreed that this was the best plan, and we accordingly proceeded
+down the river several miles in this way, managing to keep the Indians at
+a safe distance with our guns, until the slough made a junction with the
+main Platte River. From there down we found the river at times quite deep,
+and in order to carry the wounded man along with us, we constructed a raft
+of poles for his accommodation, and in this way he was transported.
+
+Occasionally the water would be too deep for us to wade, and we were
+obliged to put our weapons on the raft and swim. The Indians followed us
+pretty closely, and were continually watching for an opportunity to get a
+good range and give us a raking fire. Covering ourselves by keeping well
+under the bank, we pushed ahead as rapidly as possible, and made pretty
+good progress, the night finding us still on the way and our enemies yet
+on our track.
+
+I, being the youngest and smallest of the party, became somewhat tired,
+and, without noticing it, I had fallen behind the others for some little
+distance. It was about ten o'clock, and we were keeping very quiet and
+hugging close to the bank, when I happened to look up to the moonlit sky
+and saw the plumed head of an Indian peeping over the bank. Instead of
+hurrying ahead and alarming the men in a quiet way, I instantly aimed my
+gun at his head and fired. The report rang out sharp and loud on the night
+air, and was immediately followed by an Indian whoop, and the next moment
+about six feet of dead Indian came tumbling into the river. I was not only
+overcome with astonishment, but was badly scared, as I could hardly
+realize what I had done. I expected to see the whole force of Indians come
+down upon us. While I was standing thus bewildered, the men, who had heard
+the shot and the war whoop, and had seen the Indian take a tumble, came
+rushing back.
+
+"Who fired that shot?" cried Frank McCarthy.
+
+"I did," replied I, rather proudly, as my confidence returned, and I saw
+the men coming up.
+
+"Yes, and little Billy has killed an Indian stone dead--too dead to skin,"
+said one of the men, who had approached nearer than the rest, and had
+almost stumbled upon the Indian. From that time forward I became a hero
+and an Indian-killer. This was, of course, the first Indian I had ever
+shot, and as I was not then more than eleven years of age, my exploit
+created quite a sensation.
+
+The other Indians, upon learning what had happened to their advance, fired
+several shots without effect, but which hastened our retreat down the
+river. We reached Fort Kearny just as the reveille was being sounded,
+bringing the wounded man with us. After the peril through which we had
+passed, it was a relief to feel that once more I was safe after such a
+dangerous initiation.
+
+Frank McCarthy immediately reported to the commanding officer and informed
+him of all that had happened. The commandant at once ordered a company of
+cavalry and one of infantry to proceed to Plum Creek on a forced march,
+taking a howitzer with them--to endeavor to recapture the cattle from the
+Indians.
+
+The firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell had a division agent at Kearny, and
+this agent mounted us on mules so that we could accompany the troops. On
+reaching the place where the Indians had surprised us, we found the bodies
+of the three men, whom they had killed and scalped and literally cut into
+pieces. We of course buried the remains. We caught but few of the cattle,
+most of them having been driven off and stampeded with the buffaloes,
+there being numerous immense herds of the latter in that section of the
+country at the time. The Indians' trail was discovered running south
+toward the Republican River, and the troops followed it to the head of
+Plum Creek, and there abandoned it, returning to Fort Kearny without
+having seen a single redskin.
+
+The company's agent, seeing that there was no further use for us in that
+vicinity--as we had lost our cattle and mules--sent us back to Fort
+Leavenworth. The company, it is proper to state, did not have to stand the
+loss of the expedition, as the government held itself responsible for such
+depredations by the Indians.
+
+On the day that I got into Leavenworth, some time in July, I was
+interviewed for the first time in my life by a newspaper reporter, and the
+next morning I found my name in print as "the youngest Indian-slayer on
+the plains." I am candid enough to admit that I felt very much elated over
+this notoriety. Again and again I read with eager interest the long and
+sensational account of our adventure. My exploit was related in a very
+graphic manner, and for a long time afterward I was considerable of a
+hero.
+
+In the following summer, Russell, Majors & Waddell entered upon a contract
+with the government for General Albert Sidney Johnston's army that was
+sent against the Mormons. A large number of teams and teamsters were
+required for the purpose, and as the route was considered a dangerous one,
+men were not easily engaged for the service, though the pay was forty
+dollars a month in gold. An old wagon master named Lew Simpson, one of the
+best that ever commanded a bull train, was upon the point of starting with
+about ten wagons for the company, direct for Salt Lake, and as he had
+known me for some time as an ambitious youth, requested me to accompany
+him as an extra hand. My duties would be light, and, in fact, I would have
+nothing to do, unless some one of the drivers became sick, in which case I
+would be required to take his place. But even more seductive than this
+inducement was the promise that I should be provided with a mule of my own
+to ride, and be subject to the orders of no one save Simpson himself.
+
+As a matter of interest to the general reader, it may be well to give a
+brief description of a freight train. The wagons used in those days by
+Russell, Majors & Waddell were known as the "J. Murphy wagons," made at
+St. Louis especially for the plains business. They were very large and
+very strongly built, being capable of carrying seven thousand pounds of
+freight each. The wagon boxes were very commodious, being about as large
+as the rooms of an ordinary house, and were covered with two heavy canvas
+sheets to protect the merchandise from the rain. These wagons were
+generally sent out from Leavenworth, each loaded with six thousand pounds
+of freight, and each drawn by several yoke of oxen in charge of one
+driver. A train consisted of twenty-five wagons, all in charge of one man,
+who was known as the wagon master. The second man in command was the
+assistant wagon master. Then came the "extra hand," next the night herder,
+and lastly the cavayard driver, whose duty it was to drive the loose and
+lame cattle. There were thirty-one men all told in a train. The men did
+their own cooking, being divided into messes of seven. One man cooked,
+another brought wood and water, another stood guard, and so on, each
+having some duty to perform while getting meals. All were heavily armed
+with Colt's pistols and Mississippi yagers, and every one always had his
+weapons handy so as to be prepared for any emergency.
+
+The wagon master, in the language of the plains, was called the
+"bull-wagon boss"; the teamsters were known as "bull-whackers"; and the
+whole train was denominated a "bull outfit." Everything at that time was
+called an "outfit." The men of the plains were always full of a droll
+humor and exciting stories of their own experiences, and many an hour I
+spent in listening to the recitals of thrilling adventures and hairbreadth
+escapes.
+
+The trail to Salt Lake ran through Kansas northwestwardly, crossing the
+Big Blue River, then over the Big and Little Sandy, coming into Nebraska
+near the Big Sandy. The next stream of any importance was the Little Blue,
+along which the trail ran for sixty miles, then crossed a range of sand
+hills, and struck the Platte River ten miles below Fort Kearny; thence the
+course lay up the South Platte to the old Ash Hollow Crossing; thence
+eighteen miles across to the North Platte, near the mouth of the Blue
+Water, where General Harney had his great battle in 1855 with the Sioux
+and Cheyenne Indians. From this point the North Platte was followed,
+passing Courthouse Rock, Chimney Rock, and Scott's Bluffs, and then on to
+Fort Laramie, where the Laramie River was crossed. Still following the
+North Platte for some considerable distance, the trail crossed the river
+at old Richard's Bridge, and followed it up to the celebrated Red Buttes,
+crossing the Willow Creeks to the Sweet Water, thence past the Cold
+Springs, where, three feet under the sod, on the hottest day of summer,
+ice can be found; thence to the Hot Springs and the Rocky Ridge, and
+through the Rocky Mountains and Echo Canyon, and thence on to the great
+Salt Lake Valley.
+
+Nothing occurred on the trip to delay or give us any trouble whatever,
+until the train struck the South Platte River. One day we camped on the
+same ground where the Indians had surprised the cattle herd in charge of
+the McCarthy brothers. It was with difficulty that we discovered any
+traces of anybody ever having camped there before, the only landmark being
+the single grave, now covered with grass, in which we had buried the three
+men who had been killed. The country was alive with buffaloes, and having
+a day of rare sport, we captured ten or twelve head of cattle, they being
+a portion of the herd which had been stampeded by the Indians two months
+before. The next day we pulled out of the camp, and the train was strung
+out to a considerable length along the road which ran near the foot of the
+sand hills two miles from the river. Between the road and the river we saw
+a large herd of buffaloes grazing quietly, they having been down to the
+stream for a drink.
+
+Just at this time we observed a party of returning Californians coming
+from the West. They too noticed the buffalo herd, and in another moment
+they were dashing down upon them, urging their steeds to the greatest
+speed. The buffalo herd stampeded at once, and broke down the hills. So
+hotly were they pursued by the hunters that about five hundred of them
+rushed through our train pell-mell, frightening both men and oxen. Some of
+the wagons were turned clear around, and many of the terrified oxen
+attempted to run to the hills, with the heavy wagons attached to them.
+Others turned around so short that they broke the wagon tongues off.
+Nearly all the teams got entangled in their gearing, and became wild and
+unruly, so that the perplexed drivers were unable to manage them.
+
+The buffaloes, the cattle, and the drivers were soon running in every
+direction, and the excitement upset nearly everybody and everything. Many
+of the cattle broke their yokes and stampeded. One big buffalo bull became
+entangled in one of the heavy wagon chains, and it is a fact that in his
+desperate efforts to free himself he not only actually snapped the strong
+chain in two, but broke the ox yoke to which it was attached, and the last
+seen of him he was running toward the hills with it hanging from his
+horns. A dozen other equally remarkable incidents happened during the
+short time that the frantic buffaloes were playing havoc with our train,
+and when they got through and left us our outfit was badly crippled and
+scattered. This caused us to go into camp and spend a day in replacing the
+broken tongues and repairing other damages, and gathering up our scattered
+ox teams.
+
+The next day we rolled out of camp, and proceeded on our way toward the
+setting sun. Everything ran along smoothly with us from that point until
+we came within about eighteen miles of Green River, in the Rocky
+Mountains, where we camped at noon. At this place we had to drive our
+cattle about a mile and a half to a creek to water them. Simpson, his
+assistant George Wood, and myself, accompanied by the usual number of
+guards, drove the cattle over to the creek, and while on our way back to
+camp we suddenly observed a party of twenty horsemen rapidly approaching
+us. We were not yet in view of our wagons, as a rise of ground intervened,
+and therefore we could not signal the trainmen in case of any unexpected
+danger befalling us. We had no suspicion, however, that we were about to
+be trapped, as the strangers were white men. When they had come up to us,
+one of the party, who evidently was the leader, rode out in front, and
+said,
+
+"How are you, Mr. Simpson?"
+
+"You've got the best of me, sir," said Simpson, who did not know him.
+
+"Well, I rather think I have," coolly replied the stranger, whose words
+conveyed a double meaning, as we soon learned. We had all come to a halt
+by this time, and the strange horsemen had surrounded us. They were all
+armed with double-barreled shotguns, rifles, and revolvers. We also were
+armed with revolvers, but we had no idea of danger, and these men, much to
+our surprise, had "got the drop" on us, and had covered us with their
+weapons, so that we were completely at their mercy. The whole movement of
+corralling us was done so quietly and quickly that it was accomplished
+before we knew it.
+
+"I'll trouble you for your six-shooters, gentlemen," now said the leader.
+
+"I'll give 'em to you in a way you don't want," replied Simpson.
+
+The next moment three guns were leveled at Simpson. "If you make a move
+you are a dead man," said the leader.
+
+Simpson saw at a glance that he was taken at a great disadvantage, and
+thinking it advisable not to risk the lives of the party by any rash act
+on his part, he said, "I see now that you have the best of me; but who are
+you, anyhow?"
+
+"I am Joe Smith," was the reply.
+
+"What! the leader of the Danites?" asked Simpson.
+
+"You are correct," said Smith, for he it was.
+
+"Yes," said Simpson, "I know you now; you are a spying scoundrel."
+
+Simpson had good reason for calling him this, for only a short time before
+this Joe Smith had visited our train in the disguise of a teamster, and
+had remained with us two days. He suddenly disappeared, no one knowing
+where he had gone or why he had come among us. But it was all explained to
+us, now that he had returned with his Mormon Danites. After they had
+disarmed us, Simpson asked,
+
+"Well, Smith, what are you going to do with us?"
+
+"Ride back with us and I'll soon show you," said Smith.
+
+We had no idea of the surprise which awaited us. As we came upon the top
+of the ridge from which we could view our camp, we were astonished to see
+the remainder of the trainmen disarmed and stationed in a group, and
+surrounded by another squad of Danites, while other Mormons were
+searching our wagons for such articles as they wanted.
+
+"How is this?" inquired Simpson. "How did you surprise my camp without a
+struggle? I can't understand it?"
+
+"Easily enough," said Smith. "Your men were all asleep under the wagons,
+except the cooks, who saw us coming, and took us for returning
+Californians or emigrants, and paid no attention to us until we rode up
+and surrounded your train. With our arms covering the men, we woke them
+up, and told them all they had to do was to walk out and drop their
+pistols, which they saw was the best thing they could do under
+circumstances over which they had no control, and you can just bet they
+did it."
+
+"And what do you propose to do with us now?" asked Simpson.
+
+"I intend to burn your train," said he. "You are loaded with supplies and
+ammunition for Sidney Johnston, and as I have no way to convey the stuff
+to my own people, I'll see that it does not reach the United States
+troops."
+
+"Are you going to turn us adrift here?" asked Simpson, who was anxious to
+learn what was to become of himself and his men.
+
+"No; I am hardly as bad as that. I'll give you enough provisions to last
+you until you can reach Fort Bridger," replied Smith. "And as soon as your
+cooks can get the stuff out of the wagons you can start."
+
+"On foot?" was the laconic inquiry of Simpson.
+
+"Yes, sir," was the equally short reply.
+
+"Smith, that's too rough on us men. Put yourself in our place, and see how
+you would like it," said Simpson. "You can well afford to give us at least
+one wagon and six yokes of oxen to convey us and our clothing and
+provisions to Fort Bridger. You're a brute if you don't do this."
+
+"Well," said Smith, after consulting a minute or two with some of his
+company, "I'll do that much for you."
+
+The cattle and the wagon were brought up according to his orders, and the
+clothing and provisions were loaded on.
+
+"Now you can go," said Smith, after everything had been arranged.
+
+"Joe Smith, I think you are a mean coward to set us afloat in a hostile
+country without giving us our arms," said Simpson, who had once before
+asked for the weapons, and had had his request denied.
+
+Smith, after further consultation with his comrades, said: "Simpson, you
+are too brave a man to be turned adrift here without any means of defense.
+You shall have your revolvers and guns."
+
+Our weapons were accordingly handed over to Simpson, and we at once
+started for Fort Bridger, knowing that it would be useless to attempt the
+recapture of the train.
+
+When we had traveled about two miles we saw the smoke arising from our old
+camp. The Mormons, after taking what goods they wanted and could carry
+off, had set fire to the wagons, many of which were loaded with bacon,
+lard, hardtack, and other provisions, which made a very hot, fierce fire,
+and the smoke to roll up in dense clouds. Some of the wagons were loaded
+with ammunition, and it was not long before loud explosions followed in
+rapid succession. We waited and witnessed the burning of the train, and
+then pushed on to Fort Bridger. Arriving at this post, we learned that two
+other trains had been captured and destroyed in the same way by the
+Mormons. This made seventy-five wagonloads, or four hundred and fifty
+thousand pounds of supplies, mostly provisions, which never reached
+General Johnston's command, to which they had been consigned.
+
+After reaching the fort, it being far in November, we decided to spend the
+winter there, with about four hundred other employés of Russell, Majors &
+Waddell, rather than attempt a return, which would have exposed us to many
+dangers and the severity of the rapidly approaching winter. During this
+period of hibernation, however, the larders of the commissary became so
+depleted that we were placed on one-quarter rations, and at length, as a
+final resort, the poor, dreadfully emaciated mules and oxen were killed to
+afford sustenance for our famishing party.
+
+Fort Bridger being located in a prairie, all fuel there used had to be
+carried for a distance of nearly two miles, and after our mules and oxen
+were butchered, we had no other recourse than to carry the wood on our
+backs or haul it on sleds--a very tedious and laborious alternative.
+
+Starvation was beginning to lurk about the post when spring approached,
+and but for the timely arrival of a westward-bound train loaded with
+provisions for Johnston's army, some of our party must certainly have
+fallen victims to deadly hunger.
+
+The winter finally passed away, and early in the spring, as soon as we
+could travel, the civil employés of the government, with the teamsters and
+freighters, started for the Missouri River, the Johnston expedition having
+been abandoned.
+
+On the way up we stopped at Fort Laramie, and there met a supply train
+bound westward. Of course we all had a square meal once more, consisting
+of hardtack, bacon, coffee, and beans. I can honestly say that I thought
+it was the best meal that I had ever eaten; at least I relished it more
+than any other, and I think the rest of the party did the same.
+
+On leaving Fort Laramie, Simpson was made brigadier wagon master, and was
+put in charge of two large trains, with about four hundred extra men who
+were bound for Fort Leavenworth. When we came to Ash Hollow, instead of
+taking the usual trail over to the South Platte, Simpson concluded to
+follow the North Platte down to its junction with the South Platte. The
+two trains were traveling about fifteen miles apart, when one morning,
+while Simpson was with the rear train, he told his assistant wagon master
+George Wood and myself to saddle up our mules, as he wanted us to go with
+him and overtake the head train.
+
+We started off at about eleven o'clock, and had ridden about seven miles,
+when, while we were on a big plateau back of Cedar Bluffs, we suddenly
+discovered a band of Indians coming out of the head of the ravine half a
+mile distant, and charging down upon us at full speed. I thought that our
+end had come this time. Simpson, however, was equal to the occasion, for
+with wonderful promptness he jumped from his jaded mule, and in a trice
+shot his own animal and ours also, and ordered us to assist him to jerk
+their bodies into a triangle. This being quickly done, we got inside the
+barricade of mule-flesh, and were prepared to receive the Indians. We were
+each armed with a Mississippi yager and two revolvers, and as the Indians
+came swooping down on our improvised fort, we opened fire with such good
+effect that three fell dead at the first volley. This caused them to
+retreat out of range, as with two exceptions they were armed with bows and
+arrows, and therefore to approach near enough to do execution would expose
+at least several of them to certain death. Seeing that they could not take
+our little fortification or drive us from it, they circled around several
+times, shooting their arrows at us. One of these struck George Wood in the
+left shoulder, inflicting only a slight wound, however, and several lodged
+in the bodies of the dead mules; otherwise they did us no harm. The
+Indians finally galloped off to a safe distance, where our bullets could
+not reach them, and seemed to be holding a council. This was a lucky move
+for us, for it gave us an opportunity to reload our guns and pistols and
+prepare for the next charge of the enemy. During the brief cessation of
+hostilities Simpson extracted the arrow from Wood's shoulder, and put an
+immense quid of tobacco on the wound. Wood was then ready for business
+again.
+
+The Indians did not give us a very long rest, for with another desperate
+charge, as if to ride over us, they came dashing toward the mule
+barricade. We gave them a hot reception from our yagers and revolvers.
+They could not stand or understand the rapidly repeating fire of the
+revolver, and we checked them again. They circled around us once more, and
+gave us a few parting shots as they rode off, leaving behind them another
+dead Indian and a horse.
+
+For two hours afterward they did not seem to be doing anything but holding
+a council. We made good use of this time by digging up the ground inside
+the barricade with our knives, and throwing the loose earth around and
+over the mules, and we soon had a very respectable fortification. We were
+not troubled any more that day, but during the night the cunning rascals
+tried to burn us out by setting fire to the prairie. The buffalo grass
+was so short that the fire did not trouble us much, but the smoke
+concealed the Indians from our view, and they thought they could approach
+to us without being seen. We were aware of this, and kept a sharp lookout,
+being prepared all the time to receive them. They finally abandoned the
+idea of surprising us.
+
+Next morning, bright and early, they gave us one more grand charge, and
+again we "stood them off." They then rode away half a mile or so, and
+formed a circle around us. Each man dismounted and sat down, as if to wait
+and starve us out. They had evidently seen the advance train pass on the
+morning of the previous day, and believed that we belonged to that outfit,
+and were trying to overtake it. They had no idea that another train was on
+its way after us.
+
+Our hopes of escape from this unpleasant and perilous situation now
+depended upon the arrival of the rear train, and when we saw that the
+Indians were going to besiege us instead of renewing their attacks, we
+felt rather confident of receiving timely assistance. We had expected that
+the train would be along late in the afternoon of the previous day, and
+as the morning wore away we were somewhat anxious and uneasy at its
+nonarrival.
+
+At last, about ten o'clock, we began to hear in the distance the loud and
+sharp reports of the big bull-whips, which were handled with great
+dexterity by the teamsters, and cracked like rifle shots. These were
+welcome sounds to us, as were the notes of the bagpipes to the besieged
+garrison at Lucknow when the re-enforcements were coming up, and the
+pipers were heard playing "The Campbells are Coming." In a few moments we
+saw the head wagon coming slowly over the ridge which had concealed the
+train from our view, and soon the whole outfit made its appearance. The
+Indians observed the approaching train, and assembling in a group, they
+held a short consultation. They then charged upon us once more, for the
+last time, and as they turned and dashed away over the prairie, we sent
+our farewell shots rattling after them. The teamsters, seeing the Indians
+and hearing the shots, came rushing forward to our assistance, but by
+that time the redskins had almost disappeared from view. The teamsters
+eagerly asked us a hundred questions concerning our fight, admired our
+fort, and praised our pluck. Simpson's remarkable presence of mind in
+planning the defense was the general topic of conversation among all the
+men.
+
+When the teams came up we obtained some water and bandages with which to
+dress Wood's wound, which had become quite inflamed and painful, and we
+then put him into one of the wagons. Simpson and myself obtained a
+remount, bade good-by to our dead mules which had served us so well, and
+after collecting the ornaments and other plunder from the dead Indians, we
+left their bodies and bones to bleach on the prairie. The train moved on
+again, and we had no other adventures, except several exciting buffalo
+hunts on the South Platte near Plum Creek.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+ROUNDING UP INDIANS
+
+
+In October, 1867, General Sheridan organized an expedition to operate
+against the Indians who infested the Republican River region. "Cody," said
+he, "I have decided to appoint you as guide and chief of scouts with the
+command. How does that suit you?"
+
+"First rate, General, and thank you for the honor," I replied, as
+gracefully as I knew how.
+
+The Dog Soldier Indians were a band of Cheyennes and unruly, turbulent
+members of other tribes, who would not enter into any treaty, or keep a
+treaty if they made one, and who had always refused to go upon a
+reservation. They were a warlike body of well-built, daring, and restless
+braves, and were determined to hold possession of the country in the
+vicinity of the Republican and Solomon rivers. They were called "Dog
+Soldiers" because they were principally Cheyennes--a name derived from the
+French _chien_, a dog.
+
+On the 3d of October the Fifth Cavalry arrived at Fort Hays. General
+Sheridan, being anxious to punish the Indians who had lately fought
+General Forsyth, did not give the regiment much of a rest, and accordingly
+on the 5th of October it began its march for the 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 pretty well acquainted with Major
+Brown and Captain Sweetman, who invited me to mess with them on this
+expedition, and a jolly mess we had. There were other scouts in the
+command besides myself, and I particularly remember Tom Renahan, Hank
+Fields, and a character called "Nosey," on account of his long nose.
+
+The next day we marched thirty miles, and late in the afternoon we came
+into camp on the south fork of the Solomon. At this encampment Colonel
+Royal asked me to go out and kill some buffaloes for the boys.
+
+"All right, Colonel; send along a wagon or two to bring in the meat," I
+said.
+
+"I am not in the habit of sending out my wagons until I know that there is
+something to be hauled in; kill your buffaloes first, and then I'll send
+out the wagons," was the Colonel's reply. I said no more, but went out on
+a hunt, and after a short absence returned and asked the Colonel to send
+out his wagons over the hill for the half-dozen buffaloes I had killed.
+
+The following afternoon he again requested me to go out and get some fresh
+buffalo meat. I didn't ask him for any wagons this time, but rode out some
+distance, and coming up with a small herd I managed to get seven of them
+headed straight for the encampment, and instead of shooting them just
+then, I ran them at full speed right into the camp, and then killed them
+all, one after another, in rapid succession. Colonel Royal witnessed the
+whole proceeding, which puzzled him somewhat, as he could see no reason
+why I had not killed them on the prairie. He came up rather angrily, and
+demanded an explanation.
+
+"I can't allow any such business as this, Cody," said he. "What do you
+mean by it?"
+
+"I didn't care about asking for any wagons this time, Colonel, so I
+thought I would make the buffaloes furnish their own transportation," was
+my reply. The Colonel saw the point in a moment, and had no more to say on
+the subject.
+
+No Indians had been seen in the vicinity during the day, and Colonel
+Royal, having carefully posted his pickets, supposed everything was serene
+for the night. But before morning we were aroused from our slumbers by
+hearing shots fired, and immediately afterward one of the mounted pickets
+came galloping into camp, saying that there were Indians close at hand.
+The companies all fell into line, and were soon prepared and anxious to
+give the redskins battle; but as the men were yet new in the Indian
+country a great many of them were considerably excited. No Indians,
+however, made their appearance, and upon going to the picket-post where
+the picket said he had seen them none could be found, nor could any traces
+of them be discovered. The sentinel, who was an Irishman, insisted that
+there had certainly been redskins there.
+
+"But you must be mistaken," said Colonel Royal.
+
+"Upon me sowl, Colonel, I'm not. As shure ez me name's Pat Maloney, one of
+them redskins hit me on the head with a club, so he did," said Pat.
+
+And so when morning came the mystery was further investigated, and was
+easily solved. Elk tracks were found in the vicinity, and it was
+undoubtedly a herd of elks that had frightened Pat. As he had turned to
+run he had gone under a limb of a tree against which he hit his head, and
+supposed he had been struck by a club in the hands of an Indian. It was
+hard to convince Pat, however, of the truth.
+
+A three days' uninteresting march brought us to Beaver Creek, where we
+were camped, and from which point scouting parties were sent out in
+different directions. None of these, however, discovering Indians, they
+all returned to camp about the same time, finding it in a state of great
+excitement, it having been attacked a few hours previously by a party of
+Indians, who had succeeded in killing two men and in making off with sixty
+horses belonging to Company H.
+
+That evening the command started on the trail of these Indian horse
+thieves, Major Brown with two companies and three days' rations pushing
+ahead in advance of the main command. Being unsuccessful, however, in
+overtaking the Indians, and getting nearly out of provisions--it being our
+eighteenth day out--the entire command marched toward the nearest railway
+point, and camped on the Saline River, distant three miles from Buffalo
+Tank. While waiting for supplies we received a new commanding officer,
+Brevet Major General E. A. Carr, who was the senior major of the regiment,
+and who ranked Colonel Royal. He brought with him the celebrated Forsyth
+scouts, who were commanded by Lieutenant Pepoon, a regular army officer.
+
+The next morning, at an early hour, the command started out on a hunt for
+Indians. General Carr, having a pretty good idea where he would be most
+likely to find them, directed me to guide them by the nearest route to
+Elephant Rock on Beaver Creek. Upon arriving at the south fork of the
+Beaver on the second day's march, we discovered a large fresh Indian
+trail, which we hurriedly followed for a distance of eight miles, when
+suddenly we saw on the bluffs ahead of us quite a large number of Indians.
+
+General Carr ordered Lieutenant Pepoon's scouts and Company M to the
+front. This company was commanded by Lieutenant Schinosky, a Frenchman by
+birth and reckless by nature. Having advanced his company nearly a mile
+ahead of the main command, about four hundred Indians suddenly charged
+down upon him and gave him a lively little fight, until he was supported
+by our full force. The Indians kept increasing in numbers all the while,
+until it was estimated that we were fighting from eight hundred to one
+thousand of them. The engagement became quite general, and several were
+killed and wounded on each side. The Indians were evidently fighting to
+give their families and village a chance to get away. We had undoubtedly
+surprised them with a larger force than they had expected to see in that
+part of the country. We fought them until dark, all the time driving them
+before us. At night they annoyed us considerably by firing down into our
+camp from the higher hills, and several times the command was ordered to
+dislodge them from their position and drive them back.
+
+After having returned from one of these sallies, Major Brown, Captain
+Sweetman, Lieutenant Bache, and myself were taking supper together, when
+"whang!" came a bullet into Lieutenant Bache's plate, breaking a hole
+through it. The bullet came from the gun of one of the Indians, who had
+returned to the high bluff overlooking our camp. Major Brown declared it
+was a crack shot, because it broke the plate. We finished our supper
+without having any more such close calls.
+
+At daylight next morning we struck out on the trail, and soon came to the
+spot where the Indians had camped the day before. We could see that their
+village was a very large one, consisting of about five hundred lodges; and
+we pushed forward rapidly from this point on the trail which ran back
+toward Prairie Dog Creek. About two o'clock we came in sight of the
+retreating village, and soon the warriors turned back to give us battle.
+They set fire to the prairie grass in front of us and on all sides in
+order to delay us as much as possible. We kept up a running fight for the
+remainder of the afternoon, and the Indians repeatedly attempted to lead
+us off the track of their flying village; but their trail was easily
+followed, as they were continually dropping tepee-poles, camp-kettles,
+robes, furs, and all heavy articles belonging to them. They were evidently
+scattering, and it finally became difficult for us to keep on the main
+trail. When darkness set in we went into camp, it being useless to try to
+follow the Indians after nightfall.
+
+Next morning we were again on the trail. The Indians soon scattered in
+every direction, but we followed the main trail to the Republican River,
+where we made a cut-off, and then went north toward the Platte River. We
+found, however, that the Indians by traveling night and day had got a
+long start, and the General concluded that it was useless to follow them
+any farther.
+
+The General told me that the next day's march would be toward the
+headwaters of the Beaver, and asked me the distance. I replied that it was
+about twenty-five miles, and he said he would make it the next day.
+Getting an early start in the morning, we struck out across the prairie,
+my position as guide being ahead of the advance guard. About two o'clock
+General Carr overtook me, and asked me how far I supposed it was to water.
+I thought it was about eight miles, although we could see no sign or
+indication of any stream in front.
+
+"Pepoon's scouts say you are going in the wrong direction," said the
+General; "and in the way you are bearing it will be fifteen miles before
+you can strike any of the branches of the Beaver; and that when you do,
+you will find no water, for the Beavers are dry at this time of the year
+at that point."
+
+"General, I think the scouts are mistaken," said I, "for the Beaver has
+more water near its head than it has below; and at the place where we will
+strike the stream we will find immense beaver dams, large enough and
+strong enough to cross the whole command, if you wish."
+
+"Well, Cody, go ahead," said he; "I'll leave it to you; but remember that
+I don't want a dry camp."
+
+"No danger of that," said I; and then I rode on, leaving him to return to
+the command. As I had predicted, we found water seven or eight miles
+farther on, where we came upon a beautiful little stream, a tributary of
+the Beaver, hidden in the hills. We had no difficulty in selecting a good
+halting-place, and obtaining fresh spring water and grass. The General,
+upon learning from me that the stream--which was only eight or nine miles
+long--had no name, took out his map and located it, and named it Cody's
+Creek, which name it still bears.
+
+We pulled out early next morning for the Beaver, and when we were
+approaching the stream I rode on ahead of the advance guard in order to
+find the crossing. Just as I turned a bend of the creek, "bang!" went a
+shot, and down went my horse--myself with him. I disentangled myself, and
+jumped behind the dead body. Looking in the direction whence the shot had
+come I saw two Indians, and at once turned my gun loose on them, but in
+the excitement of the moment I missed my aim. They fired two or three more
+shots, and I returned the compliment, wounding one of their horses.
+
+On the opposite side of the creek, going over the hill, I observed a few
+lodges moving rapidly away, and also some mounted warriors, who could see
+me, and who kept blazing away with their guns. The two Indians who had
+fired at me, and had killed my horse, were retreating across the creek on
+a beaver dam. I sent a few shots after them to accelerate their speed, and
+also fired at the ones on the other side of the stream. I was undecided as
+to whether it was best to run back to the command on foot or hold my
+position. I knew that within a few minutes the troops would come up, and I
+therefore decided to hold my position. The Indians, seeing that I was
+alone, turned, and charged down the hill, and were about to recross the
+creek to corral me, when the advance guard of the command put in an
+appearance on the ridge, and dashed forward to my rescue. The redskins
+whirled and made off.
+
+When General Carr came up, he ordered Company I to go in pursuit of the
+band. I accompanied Lieutenant Brady, who commanded, and we had a running
+fight with the Indians, lasting several hours. We captured several head of
+their horses and most of their lodges. At night we returned to the
+command, which by this time had crossed the creek on the beaver dam.
+
+We scouted for several days along the river, and had two or three lively
+skirmishes. Finally our supplies began to run low, and General Carr gave
+orders to return to Fort Wallace, which we reached three days afterward,
+and where we remained several days.
+
+Very soon after, General Carr received orders from General Sheridan for a
+winter's campaign in the Canadian River country, instructing him to
+proceed at once to Fort Lyon, Colorado, and there to fit out for the
+expedition. Leaving Fort Wallace in November, 1868, we arrived at Fort
+Lyon in the latter part of the month without special incident, and at
+once began our preparations for invading the enemy's country. General
+Penrose had left his post three weeks previously with a command of some
+three hundred men. He had taken no wagons with him, and his supply train
+was composed only of pack mules. General Carr was ordered to follow with
+supplies on his trail and 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. We followed the trail very easily for the
+first three days, and then we were caught in Freeze-Out Canyon by a
+fearful snowstorm, which compelled us to go into camp for a day. The
+ground now being covered with snow, we found it would be impossible to
+follow Penrose's trail any farther, especially as he had left no sign to
+indicate the direction he was going. General Carr sent for me, and said
+that as it was very important that we should not lose the trail, he wished
+that I would take some scouts with me, and while the command remained in
+camp, push on as far as possible, and see if I could not discover some
+traces of Penrose or where he had camped at any time.
+
+Accompanied by four men, I started out in the blinding snowstorm, taking a
+southerly direction. We rode twenty-four miles, and upon reaching a
+tributary of the Cimarron, we scouted up and down the stream for a few
+miles, and finally found one of Penrose's old camps. It was now late in
+the afternoon, and as the command would come up the next day, it was not
+necessary for all of us to return with the information to General Carr. So
+riding down into a sheltered place in the bend of the creek, we built a
+fire and broiled some venison from a deer which we had shot during the
+day, and after eating a substantial meal, I left the four men there while
+I returned to bring up the troops.
+
+It was eleven o'clock at night when I got back to the camp. A light was
+still burning in the General's tent, he having remained awake, anxiously
+awaiting my return. He was glad to see me, and was overjoyed at the
+information I brought, for he had great fears concerning the safety of
+General Penrose.
+
+The command took up its march next day for the Cimarron, and had a hard
+tramp of it on account of the snow having drifted to a great depth in many
+of the ravines, and in some places the teamsters had to shovel their way
+through. We arrived at the Cimarron at sundown, and went into camp. Upon
+looking around next morning, we found that Penrose, having been
+unencumbered by wagons, had kept on the west side of the Cimarron, and the
+country was so rough that it was impossible for us to stay on his trail
+with our wagons; but knowing that we would certainly follow down the
+river, General Carr concluded to take the best wagon route along the
+stream, which I discovered to be on the east side. Before we could make
+any headway with our wagon train we had to leave the river and get out on
+the divide. We were very fortunate that day in finding a splendid road for
+some distance, until we were all at once brought to a standstill on a high
+tableland, overlooking a beautiful winding creek that lay far below us in
+the valley. The question that troubled us was how we were to get the
+wagons down. We were now in the foothills of the Rattoon Mountains, and
+the bluff we were on was very steep.
+
+"Cody, we're in a nice fix now," said General Carr.
+
+"Oh, that's nothing," was my reply.
+
+"But you can never take the train down," said he.
+
+"Never you mind the train, General. You say you are looking for a good
+camp. How does that beautiful spot down in the valley suit you?" I asked
+him.
+
+"That will do. I can easily descend with the cavalry, but how to get the
+wagons down there is a puzzler to me," said he.
+
+"By the time you are located in your camp, your wagons shall be there,"
+said I.
+
+"All right, Cody, I'll leave it to you, as you seem to want to be boss,"
+he replied, pleasantly. He at once ordered the command to dismount and
+lead the horses down the mountain side. The wagon train was a mile in the
+rear, and when it came up one of the drivers asked, "How are we going down
+there?"
+
+"Run down, slide down, or fall down; any way to get down," said I.
+
+"We can never do it; it's too steep; the wagons will run over the mules,"
+said another wagon master.
+
+"I guess not; the mules have got to keep out of the way," was my reply.
+
+I told Wilson, the chief wagon master, to bring on his mess wagon, which
+was at the head of the train, and I would try the experiment at least.
+Wilson drove the team and wagon to the brink of the hill, and following my
+directions he brought out some extra chains with which we locked the
+wheels on each side, and then rough-locked them. We now started the wagon
+down the hill. The wheel horses--or rather the wheel mules--were good on
+the hold back, and we got along finely until we nearly reached the bottom,
+when the wagon crowded the mules so hard that they started on a run and
+galloped down into the valley and to the place where General Carr had
+located his camp. Three other wagons immediately followed in the same way,
+and in half an hour every wagon was in camp, without the least accident
+having occurred. It was indeed an exciting sight to see the six mule teams
+come straight down the mountain and finally break into a full run. At
+times it looked as if the wagons would turn a somersault and land on the
+mules.
+
+[Illustration: I DISENTANGLED MYSELF AND JUMPED BEHIND THE DEAD BODY OF
+THE HORSE.]
+
+This proved to be a lucky march for us, as far as gaining on Penrose was
+concerned; for the route he had taken on the west side of the stream
+turned out to be a bad one, and we went with our immense wagon train as
+far in one day as Penrose had in seven. His command had marched on to a
+plateau or high tableland so steep that not even a pack mule could descend
+it, and he was obliged to retrace his steps a long way, thus losing three
+days' time, as we afterward learned.
+
+From this point on, for several days, we had no trouble in following
+Penrose's trail, which led us in a southeasterly direction toward the
+Canadian River. No Indians were seen, nor any signs of them found. 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, and upon looking closely at the spot, I saw a negro.
+
+"Sakes alive! Massa Bill, am dat you?" asked the man, whom I recognized as
+one of the colored soldiers of the Tenth Cavalry. I next heard him say to
+some one in the brush: "Come out o' heah. Dar's Massa Buffalo Bill." Then
+he sang out, "Massa Bill, is you got any hawdtack?"
+
+"Nary a hardtack; but the wagons will be along presently, and then you can
+get all you want," said I.
+
+"Dat's de best news I's heerd foah sixteen long days, Massa Bill," said
+he.
+
+"Where's your command? Where's General Penrose?" I asked.
+
+"I dun'no'," said the darky; "we got lost and we's been starvin' eber
+since."
+
+By this time two other negroes had emerged from their place of
+concealment. They had deserted Penrose's command--which was out of rations
+and nearly in a starving condition--and were trying to make their way back
+to Fort Lyon. General Carr concluded, from what they could tell him, that
+General Penrose was somewhere on Palladora Creek; but we could not learn
+anything definite, for they knew not where they were themselves.
+
+Having learned that General Penrose's troops were in such bad shape,
+General Carr 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
+accompanied this detachment, and on the third day out we found the
+half-famished soldiers camped on the Palladora. The camp presented a
+pitiful sight, indeed. For over two weeks the men had had only quarter
+rations, and were now nearly starved to death. Over two hundred horses and
+mules were lying dead, having died from fatigue and starvation. General
+Penrose, fearing that General Carr would not find him, had sent back a
+company of the Seventh Cavalry to Fort Lyon for supplies; but no word had
+as yet been heard from them. The rations which Major Brown brought to the
+command came none too soon, and were the means of saving many lives.
+
+General Carr, upon arriving with his force, took command of all the
+troops, he being the senior officer and ranking General Penrose. After
+selecting a good camp, he unloaded the wagons and sent them back to Fort
+Lyon for fresh 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, leaving the rest of the troops at the supply camp.
+
+For several days we scouted along the Canadian River, but found no signs
+of Indians. General Carr then went back to his camp, and soon afterward
+our wagon train came in from Fort Lyon with a fresh load of provisions. At
+length, our horses and mules having become sufficiently recruited to
+return, we returned to Fort Lyon, arriving there in March, 1869, where the
+command was to rest and recruit for thirty days before proceeding to the
+Department of the Platte, whither it had been ordered.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+PURSUING THE SIOUX
+
+
+When the Fifth Cavalry was ordered to the Department of the Platte, we
+moved from Fort Wallace down to Sheridan, and in a few days started on
+another expedition after the hostile Indians. The second day out, on
+reaching the North Fork of the Beaver and riding down the valley toward
+the stream, I suddenly discovered a large fresh Indian trail. On
+examination I found it to be scattered all over the valley on both sides
+of the creek, as if a very large village had recently passed that way.
+Judging from the size of the trail, I thought that there could not be less
+than four hundred lodges, or between twenty-five hundred and three
+thousand warriors, women, and children in the band. I galloped back to the
+command, distant about three miles, and reported the news to General Carr,
+who halted the regiment, and after consulting a few minutes, ordered me
+to select a ravine, or as low ground as possible, so that he could keep
+the troops out of sight until we could strike the creek.
+
+We went into camp on the Beaver, and the General ordered Lieutenant Ward
+to take twelve men and myself and follow up the trail for several miles,
+and find out how fast the Indians were traveling. I was soon convinced, by
+the many camps they had made, that they were traveling slowly, and hunting
+as they journeyed. We went down the Beaver on this scout about twelve
+miles, keeping our horses well concealed under the banks of the creek, so
+as not to be discovered.
+
+At this point, Lieutenant Ward and myself, leaving our horses behind us,
+crawled to the top of a high knoll, where we could have a good view for
+some miles distant down the stream. We peeped over the summit of the hill,
+and not over three miles away we could see a whole Indian village in plain
+sight, and thousands of ponies grazing around on the prairie. Looking over
+to our left, on the opposite side of the creek we observed two or three
+parties of Indians coming in, loaded down with buffalo meat.
+
+"This is no place for us, Lieutenant," said I; "I think we have important
+business at the camp to attend to as soon as possible."
+
+"I agree with you," said he, "and the quicker we get there the better it
+will be for us."
+
+We quickly descended the hill and joined the men below. Lieutenant Ward
+hurriedly wrote a note to General Carr, and handing it to a corporal,
+ordered him to make all possible haste back to the command and deliver the
+message. The man started off on a gallop, and Lieutenant Ward said, "We
+will march slowly back until we meet the troops, as I think the General
+will soon be here, for he will start immediately upon receiving my note."
+
+In a few minutes we heard two or three shots in the direction in which our
+dispatch courier had gone, and soon after we saw him come running around
+the bend of the creek, pursued by four or five Indians. The Lieutenant,
+with his squad of soldiers and myself, at once charged upon them, when
+they turned and ran across the stream.
+
+"This will not do," said Lieutenant Ward; "the whole Indian village will
+now know that soldiers are near by."
+
+"Lieutenant, give me that note, and I will take it to the General," said
+I.
+
+He gladly handed me the dispatch, and spurring my horse I dashed up the
+creek. After having ridden a short distance, I observed another party of
+Indians, also going to the village with meat; but instead of waiting for
+them to fire upon me, I gave them a shot at long range. Seeing one man
+firing at them so boldly, it surprised them, and they did not know what to
+make of it. While they were thus considering, I got between them and our
+camp. By this time they had recovered from their surprise, and cutting
+their buffalo meat loose from their horses, they came after me at the top
+of their speed; but as their steeds were tired out, it did not take me
+long to leave them far in the rear.
+
+I reached the command in less than an hour, delivered the dispatch to
+General Carr, and informed him of what I had seen. He instantly had the
+bugler sound "boots and saddles," and all the troops, with the exception
+of two companies which we left to guard the train, were soon galloping in
+the direction of the Indian camp.
+
+We had ridden about three miles, when we met Lieutenant Ward, who was
+coming slowly toward us. He reported that he had run into a party of
+Indian buffalo hunters, and had killed one of the number, and had had one
+of his horses wounded. We immediately pushed forward, and after marching
+about five miles came within sight of hundreds of mounted Indians
+advancing up the creek to meet us. They formed a complete line in front of
+us. General Carr, being desirous of striking their village, ordered the
+troops to charge, break through their line, and keep straight on. This
+movement would no doubt have been successfully accomplished had it not
+been for the rattle-brained and dare-devil French Lieutenant Schinosky,
+commanding Company B, who, misunderstanding General Carr's orders, charged
+upon some Indians at the left, while the rest of the command dashed
+through the enemy's line, and was keeping straight on, when it was
+observed that Schinosky and his company were surrounded by four or five
+hundred Indians. The General, to save the company, was obliged to sound a
+halt and charge back to the rescue. The company during this short fight
+had several men and quite a number of horses killed.
+
+All this took up valuable time, and night was coming on. The Indians were
+fighting desperately to keep us from reaching their village, which, being
+informed by couriers of what was taking place, was packing up and getting
+away. During that afternoon it was all that we could do to hold our own in
+fighting the mounted warriors, who were in our front and contesting every
+inch of the ground. The General had left word for our wagon train to
+follow up with its escort of two companies, but as it had not made its
+appearance, he entertained some fears that it had been surrounded, and to
+prevent the possible loss of the supply train we had to go back and look
+for it. About nine o'clock that evening we found it and went into camp for
+the night.
+
+Early the next day we broke camp and passed down the creek, but there was
+not an Indian to be seen. They had all disappeared and gone on with their
+village. Two miles farther we came to where a village had been located,
+and here we found nearly everything belonging to or pertaining to an
+Indian camp, which had been left in the great hurry to get away. These
+articles were all gathered up and burned. We then pushed out on the trail
+as fast as possible. It led us to the northeast toward the Republican; but
+as the Indians had a night the start of us, we entertained but little hope
+of overtaking them that day. Upon reaching the Republican in the afternoon
+the General called a halt, and as the trail was running more to the east,
+he concluded to send his wagon train on to Fort McPherson by the most
+direct route, while he would follow on the trail of the redskins.
+
+Next morning at daylight we again pulled out, and were evidently gaining
+rapidly on the Indians, for we could occasionally see them in the
+distance. About eleven o'clock that day, while Major Babcock was ahead of
+the main command with his company, and while we were crossing a deep
+ravine, we were surprised by about three hundred warriors, who commenced a
+lively fire upon us. Galloping out of the ravine on to the rough prairie,
+the men dismounted and returned the fire. We soon succeeded in driving the
+Indians before us and were so close to them at one time that they
+abandoned and threw away nearly all their lodges and camp equipage, and
+everything that had any considerable weight. They left behind them their
+played-out horses, and for miles we could see Indian furniture strewn
+along in every direction. The trail became divided, and the Indians
+scattered in small bodies all over the prairie. As night was approaching
+and our horses were about giving out, a halt was called. A company was
+detailed to collect all the Indian horses running loose over the country,
+and to burn the other Indian property.
+
+The command being nearly out of rations, I was sent to the nearest point,
+old Fort Kearny, about sixty miles distant, for supplies.
+
+Shortly after we reached Fort McPherson, which continued to be the
+headquarters of the Fifth Cavalry for some time, we fitted out for a new
+expedition to the Republican River country, and were re-enforced by three
+companies of the celebrated Pawnee Indian scouts, commanded by Major Frank
+North. General Carr recommended at this time to General Augur, who was in
+command of the department, that I be made chief of scouts in the
+Department of the Platte, and informed me that in this position I would
+receive higher wages than I had been getting in the Department of the
+Missouri. This appointment I had not asked for.
+
+I made the acquaintance of Major Frank North, and I found him and his
+officers perfect gentlemen, and we were all good friends from the very
+start. The Pawnee scouts had made quite a reputation for themselves, as
+they had performed brave and valuable services in fighting against the
+Sioux, whose bitter enemies they were; being thoroughly acquainted with
+the Republican and Beaver country, I was glad that they were to be with
+the expedition, and my expectation of the aid they would render was not
+disappointed.
+
+During our stay at Fort McPherson I made the acquaintance of Lieutenant
+George P. Belden, known as the "White Chief." I found him to be an
+intelligent, dashing fellow, a splendid rider, and an excellent shot. An
+hour after our introduction he challenged me for a rifle match, the
+preliminaries of which were soon arranged. We were to shoot ten shots each
+for fifty dollars, at two hundred yards, off-hand. Belden was to use a
+Henry rifle, while I was to shoot my old "Lucretia." This match I won, and
+then Belden proposed to shoot a one-hundred-yard match, as I was shooting
+over his distance. In this match Belden was victorious. We were now even,
+and we stopped right there.
+
+While we were at this post General Augur and several of his officers paid
+us a visit for the purpose of reviewing the command. The regiment turned
+out in fine style and showed themselves to be well-drilled soldiers,
+thoroughly understanding military tactics. The Pawnee scouts were also
+reviewed, and it was very amusing to see them in their full regular
+uniform. They had been furnished a regulation cavalry uniform, and on this
+parade some of them had their heavy overcoats on, others their large black
+hats, with all the brass accouterments attached; some of them were minus
+pantaloons, and only wore a breech-clout. Others wore regulation
+pantaloons, but no shirts, and were bareheaded; others again had the seat
+of the pantaloons cut out, leaving only leggings; but for all this they
+seemed to understand the drill remarkably well for Indians. The commands,
+of course, were given to them in their own language by Major North, who
+could talk it as well as any full-blooded Pawnee. The Indians were well
+mounted, and felt proud and elated because they had been made United
+States soldiers. Major North had for years complete control over these
+Indians, and could do more with them than any man living. That evening,
+after the parade was over, the officers and quite a number of ladies
+visited a grand Indian dance given by the Pawnees, and of all the Indians
+I have seen, their dances excel those of any other tribe.
+
+Next day the command started. When encamped, several days after, on the
+Republican River, near the mouth of the Beaver, we heard the whoops of
+Indians, followed by shots in the vicinity of the mule herd, which had
+been taken down to water. One of the herders came dashing into camp with
+an arrow sticking in him. My horse was close at hand, and mounting him
+bareback, I at once dashed off after the mule herd, which had been
+stampeded. I supposed certainly that I would be the first man on the
+ground, but I was mistaken, however, for the Pawnee Indians, unlike
+regular soldiers, had not waited to receive orders from their officers,
+but had jumped on their ponies without bridles or saddles, and placing
+ropes in their mouths, had dashed off in the direction whence the shots
+came, and had got there ahead of me. It proved to be a party of about
+fifty Sioux who had endeavored to stampede our mules, and it took them by
+surprise to see their inveterate enemies, the Pawnees, coming at full
+gallop at them. They were not aware that the Pawnees were with the
+command, and as they knew it would take regular soldiers some time to turn
+out, they thought they would have ample opportunity to secure the herd
+before the troops could give chase.
+
+We had a running fight of fifteen miles, and several of the enemy were
+killed. During this chase I was mounted on an excellent horse, which
+Colonel Royal had picked out for me, and for the first mile or two I was
+in advance of the Pawnees. Presently a Pawnee shot by me like an arrow,
+and I could not help admiring the horse he was riding. Seeing that he
+possessed rare running qualities, I determined to get possession of the
+animal in some way. It was a large buckskin or yellow horse, and I took a
+careful view of him, so that I would know him when I returned to camp.
+
+After the chase was over I rode up to Major North and inquired about the
+buckskin horse.
+
+"Oh yes," said the Major; "that is one of our favorite steeds."
+
+"What chance is there to trade for him?" I asked.
+
+"It is a government horse," said he, "and the Indian who is riding him is
+very much attached to the animal."
+
+"I have fallen in love with the horse myself," said I, "and I would like
+to know if you have any objections to my trading for him if I can arrange
+it satisfactorily with the Indians?"
+
+He replied, "None whatever, and I will help you to do it; you can give the
+Indian another horse in his place."
+
+A few days after this I persuaded the Indian, by making him several
+presents, to trade horses with me, and in this way I became the owner of
+the buckskin steed; not as my own property, however, but as a government
+horse that I could ride. I gave him the name of "Buckskin Joe," and he
+proved to be a fine buffalo hunter. In the winter of 1872, after I had
+left Fort McPherson, Buckskin Joe was condemned and sold at public sale,
+and was bought by Dave Perry, at North Platte, who in 1877 presented him
+to me, and I owned him until his death in 1879.
+
+The command scouted several days up the Beaver and Prairie Dog rivers,
+occasionally having running fights with way parties of Indians, but did
+not succeed in getting them into a general battle. At the end of twenty
+days we found ourselves back on the Republican.
+
+Hitherto the Pawnees had not taken much interest in me, but while at this
+camp I gained their respect and admiration by showing them how I killed
+buffaloes. Although the Pawnees were excellent buffalo hunters, for
+Indians, I have never seen one of them kill more than four or five in a
+single run. A number of them generally surround the herd and then dash in
+upon them, and in this way each one kills from one to four buffaloes. I
+had gone out in company with Major North and some of the officers, and saw
+them make a "surround." Twenty of the Pawnees circled a herd and succeeded
+in killing only thirty-two.
+
+While they were cutting up the animals another herd appeared in sight. The
+Indians were preparing to surround it, when I asked Major North to keep
+them back and let me show them what I could do. He accordingly informed
+the Indians of my wish, and they readily consented to let me have the
+opportunity. I had learned that Buckskin Joe was an excellent buffalo
+horse, and felt confident that I would astonish the natives. Galloping in
+among the buffaloes, I certainly did so by killing thirty-six in less than
+a half-mile run. At nearly every shot I killed a buffalo, stringing the
+dead animals out on the prairie, not over fifty feet apart. This manner of
+killing was greatly admired by the Indians, who called me a big chief, and
+from that time on I stood high in their estimation.
+
+On leaving camp the command took a westward course up the Republican, and
+Major North, with two companies of cavalry, under the command of Colonel
+Royal, made a scout to the north of the river. Shortly after we had gone
+into camp, on the Black Tail 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. At first we supposed them to be Sioux, and
+all was excitement for a few moments. We noticed, however, that our
+Pawnee Indians made no hostile demonstrations or preparations toward going
+out to fight them, but began singing and yelling themselves. Captain Lute
+North stepped up to General Carr and said: "General, those are our men who
+are coming, and they have had a fight. That is the way they act when they
+come back from a battle and have taken any scalps."
+
+The Pawnees came into camp on the run. Captain North, calling to one of
+them, a sergeant, soon found out that they had run across a party of Sioux
+who were following a large Indian trail. These Indians had evidently been
+in a fight, for two or three of them had been wounded, and they were
+conveying the injured persons on _travoix_. The Pawnees had "jumped" them,
+and had killed three or four after a sharp fight, in which much ammunition
+was expended.
+
+Next morning the command, at an early hour, started out to take up this
+Indian trail, which they followed for two days as rapidly as possible, it
+becoming evident from the many camp fires which we passed that we were
+gaining on the Indians. Wherever they had encamped we found the print of a
+woman's shoe, and we concluded that they had with them some white captive.
+This made us all the more anxious to overtake them, and General Carr
+selected all his best horses which could stand a long run, and gave orders
+for the wagon train to follow as fast as possible, while he pushed ahead
+on a forced march. At the same time I was ordered to pick out five or six
+of the best Pawnees and go in advance of the command, keeping ten or
+twelve miles ahead on the trail, so that when we overtook the Indians we
+could find out the location of their camp, and send word to the troops
+before they came in sight, thus affording ample time to arrange a plan for
+the capture of the village.
+
+After having gone about ten miles in advance of the regiment, we began to
+move very cautiously, as we were now evidently nearing the Indians. We
+looked carefully over the summits of the hills before exposing ourselves
+to plain view, and at last we discovered the village, encamped in the sand
+hills south of the South Platte River at Summit Springs. Here I left the
+Pawnee scouts to keep watch, while I went back and informed General Carr
+that the Indians were in sight.
+
+The General at once ordered his men to tighten their saddles and otherwise
+prepare for action. Soon all was excitement among the officers and
+soldiers, every one being anxious to charge the village. I now changed my
+horse for old Buckskin Joe, who had been led for me thus far, and was
+comparatively fresh. Acting on my suggestion, the General made a circuit
+to the north, believing that if the Indians had their scouts out they
+would naturally be watching in the direction whence they had come. When we
+had passed the Indians, and were between them and the Platte River, we
+turned toward the left and started toward the village.
+
+By this manoeuver we had avoided discovery by the Sioux scouts, and we
+were confident of giving them a complete surprise. Keeping the command
+wholly out of sight until we were within a mile of the Indians, the
+General halted the advance guard until all closed up, and then issued an
+order that when he sounded the charge the whole command was to rush into
+the village.
+
+As we halted on the top of the hill overlooking the camp of unsuspecting
+Indians, General Carr called out to his bugler, "Sound the charge!"
+
+The bugler for a moment became intensely excited, and actually forgot the
+notes. The General again sang out, "Sound the charge!" and yet the bugler
+was unable to obey the command. Quartermaster Hays--who had obtained
+permission to accompany the expedition--was riding near the General, and
+comprehending the dilemma of the man, rushed up to him, jerked the bugle
+from his hands, and sounded the charge himself in clear, distinct notes.
+As the troops rushed forward, he threw the bugle away, then drawing his
+pistols, was among the first men that entered the village.
+
+The Indians had just driven up their horses, and were preparing to make a
+move of the camp, when they saw the soldiers coming down upon them. A
+great many of them succeeded in jumping upon their ponies and, leaving
+everything behind them, advanced out of the village and prepared to meet
+the charge; but, upon second thought, they quickly concluded that it was
+useless to try to check us, and those who were mounted rapidly rode away,
+while the others on foot fled for safety to the neighboring hills. We went
+through their village, shooting right and left at everything we saw. The
+Pawnees, the regular soldiers, and officers were all mixed up together,
+and the Sioux were flying in every direction.
+
+The pursuit continued until darkness made it impossible to longer follow
+the Indians, who had scattered and were leading off in every direction
+like a brood of young quails. The expedition went into camp along the
+South Platte, much exhausted by so long a chase, and though very tired,
+every trooper seemed anxious for the morrow.
+
+It was nearly sunrise when "boots and saddles" was sounded, breakfast
+having been disposed of at break of day. The command started in a most
+seasonable time, but finding that the trail was all broken up, it was
+deemed advisable to separate into companies, each to follow a different
+trail.
+
+The company which I headed struck out toward the northwest, over a route
+indicating the march of about one hundred Indians, and followed this for
+nearly two days. At a short bend of the Platte a new trail was discovered
+leading into the one the company was following, and at this point it was
+evident that a junction had been made. Farther along evidences of a
+reunion of the entire village increased, and now it began to appear that
+further pursuit would be somewhat hazardous, owing to the largely
+increased force of Indians. But there were plenty of brave men in the
+company, and nearly all were anxious to meet the Indians, however great
+their numbers might be. This anxiety was appeased on the third day, when a
+party of about six hundred Sioux was discovered riding in close ranks near
+the Platte. The discovery was mutual, and there was immediate preparation
+for battle on both sides. Owing to the overwhelming force of Indians,
+extreme caution became necessary, and instead of advancing boldly, the
+soldiers sought advantageous ground. Seeing this, the Indians became
+convinced that there had been a division in General Carr's command, and
+that the company before them was a fragmentary part of the expedition.
+They therefore assumed the aggressive, charging us until we were compelled
+to retire to a ravine and act on the defensive. The attack was made with
+such caution that the soldiers fell back without undue haste, and had
+ample opportunity to secure their horses in the natural pit, which was a
+ravine that during wet seasons formed a branch of the Platte.
+
+After circling about the soldiers with a view of measuring their full
+strength, the Indians, comprehending how small was the number, made a
+desperate charge from two sides, getting so near us that several of the
+soldiers were badly wounded by arrows. But the Indians were received with
+such withering fire that they fell back in confusion, leaving twenty of
+their warriors on the ground. Another charge resulted like the first, with
+heavy loss to the redskins, which so discouraged them that they drew off
+and held a long council. After discussing the situation among themselves,
+they separated, one body making off as though they intended to leave; but
+I understood their motions too well to allow the soldiers to be deceived.
+
+The Indians that remained again began to ride in a circle around us, but
+maintained a safe distance out of rifle range. Seeing an especially
+well-mounted Indian riding at the head of a squad, passing around in the
+same circle more than a dozen times, I decided to take my chances for
+dismounting the chief (as he proved to be), and to accomplish this purpose
+I crawled on my hands and knees three hundred yards up the ravine,
+stopping at a point which I considered would be in range of the Indian
+when he should again make the circuit. My judgment proved correct, for
+soon the Indian was seen loping his pony through the grass, and as he
+slackened speed to cross the ravine I rose up and fired, the aim being so
+well taken that the chief tumbled to the ground, while his horse, after
+running a few hundred yards, approached the soldiers, one of whom ran out
+and caught hold of the long lariat attached to the bridle, and thus
+secured the animal. When I returned to the company, all of whom had
+witnessed my feat of killing an Indian at a range of fully four hundred
+yards, by general consent the horse of my victim was given to me.
+
+This Indian whom I killed proved to be Tall Bull, one of the most cunning
+and able chiefs the Sioux ever had, and his death so affected the Indians
+that they at once retreated without further attempt to dislodge us.
+
+Some days after this occurrence General Carr's command was brought
+together again and had an engagement with the Sioux, in which more than
+three hundred warriors and a large number of ponies were captured,
+together with several hundred squaws, among the latter being Tall Bull's
+widow, who told with pathetic interest how the Prairie Chief had killed
+her husband. But instead of being moved with hatred against me, as most
+civilized women would have been under like circumstances, she regarded me
+with special favor, and esteemed it quite an honor that her husband, a
+great warrior himself, should have met his death at my hands.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+MY DUEL WITH YELLOW HAND
+
+
+When the news of the terrible massacre of Custer was learned, preparations
+were immediately made to avenge his death. The whole Cheyenne and Sioux
+tribes were in revolt, and a lively, if not very dangerous, campaign was
+in prospective. Two days before receipt of the news of the massacre,
+Colonel Stanton, who was with the Fifth Cavalry, had been sent to Red
+Cloud agency, and on the evening of the receipt of news of the Custer
+fight a scout arrived in our camp with a message from the Colonel,
+informing General Merritt that eight hundred Cheyenne warriors had that
+day left Red Cloud agency to join Sitting Bull's hostile forces in the Big
+Horn country.
+
+Notwithstanding the instructions to proceed immediately to join General
+Crook by the way of Fort Fetterman, General Merritt took the
+responsibility of endeavoring to intercept the Cheyennes, and, as the
+sequel shows, he performed a very important service.
+
+He selected five hundred men and horses, and in two hours we were making a
+forced march back to Hat, or War-Bonnet Creek, the intention being to
+reach the main Indian trail running to the north across that creek before
+the Cheyennes could get there. We arrived there the next night, and at
+daylight the following morning, July 17, 1876, I went out on a scout, and
+found that the Indians had not yet crossed the creek. On my way back to
+the command I discovered a large party of Indians, which proved to be the
+Cheyennes, coming up from the south, and I hurried to the camp with this
+important information.
+
+The cavalrymen quietly mounted their horses and were ordered to remain out
+of sight, while General Merritt, accompanied by two or three aids and
+myself, went out on a little tour of observation to a neighboring hill,
+from the summit of which we saw that the Indians were approaching almost
+directly toward us. Presently fifteen or twenty of them dashed off to the
+west, in the direction from which we had come the night before; and upon
+closer observation with our field glasses we discovered two mounted
+soldiers, evidently carrying dispatches for us, pushing forward on our
+trail.
+
+The Indians were evidently trying to intercept these two men, and General
+Merritt feared that they would accomplish their object. He did not think
+it advisable to send out any soldiers to the assistance of the couriers,
+for fear that they would show to the Indians that there were troops in the
+vicinity who were waiting for them. I finally suggested that the best plan
+was to wait until the couriers came closer to the command, and then, just
+as the Indians were about to charge, to let me take the scouts and cut
+them off from the main body of the Cheyennes who were coming over the
+divide.
+
+"All right, Cody," said the General. "If you can do that, go ahead."
+
+I rushed back to the command, jumped on my horse, picked out fifteen men,
+and returned with them to the point of observation. I told General Merritt
+to give us the word to start out at the proper time, and presently he sang
+out:
+
+"Go in now, Cody, and be quick about it. They are going to charge on the
+couriers."
+
+The two messengers were not over four hundred yards from us, and the
+Indians were only about two hundred yards behind them. We instantly dashed
+over the bluffs, and advanced on a gallop toward the Indians. A running
+fight lasted several minutes, during which we drove the enemy some little
+distance and killed three of their number. The rest of them rode off
+toward the main body, which had come into plain sight and halted, upon
+seeing the skirmish that was going on. We were about half a mile from
+General Merritt, and the Indians whom we were chasing suddenly turned upon
+us, and another lively skirmish took place. One of the Indians, who was
+handsomely decorated with all the ornaments usually worn by a war chief
+when engaged in a fight, sang out to me, in his own tongue, "I know you,
+Pa-he-haska; if you want to fight, come ahead and fight me."
+
+The chief was riding his horse back and forth in front of his men as if to
+banter me, and I concluded to accept the challenge. I galloped toward him
+for fifty yards, and he advanced toward me about the same distance, both
+of us riding at full speed, and then, when we were only about thirty yards
+apart, I raised my rifle and fired; his horse fell to the ground, having
+been killed by a bullet. Almost at the same moment my own horse went down,
+he having stepped into a gopher hole. The fall did not hurt me much, and I
+instantly sprang to my feet. The Indian had also recovered himself, and we
+were now both on foot, and not more than twenty paces apart. We fired at
+each other simultaneously. My usual luck did not desert me on this
+occasion, for his bullet missed me, while mine struck him in the breast.
+He reeled and fell, but before he had fairly touched the ground I was upon
+him, knife in hand, and had driven the keen-edged weapon to its hilt in
+his heart. Jerking his war bonnet off, I scientifically scalped him in
+about five seconds.
+
+The whole affair from beginning to end occupied but little time, and the
+Indians, seeing that I was some little distance from my company, now came
+charging down upon me from a hill, in hopes 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. The order came none
+too soon, for had it been one minute later I would have had not less than
+two hundred Indians upon me. As the soldiers came up I swung the Indian
+chieftain's topknot and bonnet in the air and shouted, "the first scalp
+for Custer."
+
+General Merritt, seeing that he could not now ambush the Indians, ordered
+the whole regiment to charge upon them. They made a stubborn resistance
+for a little while, but it was no use for any eight hundred, or even
+sixteen hundred, Indians to try to check a charge of the gallant old Fifth
+Cavalry, and they soon came to that conclusion, and began a running
+retreat toward Red Cloud agency. For thirty-five miles we drove them,
+pushing them so hard that they were obliged to abandon their loose horses,
+their camp equipage, and everything else. We drove them into the agency,
+and followed in ourselves, notwithstanding the possibility of our having
+to encounter the thousands of Indians at that point. We were uncertain
+whether or not the agency Indians had determined to follow the example of
+the Cheyennes and strike out upon the warpath; but that made no difference
+with the Fifth Cavalry, for they would have fought them all if necessary.
+It was dark when we rode into the agency, where we found thousands of
+Indians collected together; but they manifested no disposition to fight.
+
+While at the agency I learned the name of the Indian chief whom I had
+killed that morning; it was Yellow Hand, a son of old Cut Nose, a leading
+chief of the Cheyennes. Cut Nose having learned that I had killed his son,
+sent a white interpreter to me with a message to the effect that he would
+give me four mules if I would turn over to him Yellow Hand's war-bonnet,
+guns, pistols, ornaments, and other paraphernalia which I had captured. I
+sent back word to the old gentleman that it would give me pleasure to
+accommodate him, but I could not do it this time.
+
+The next morning we started to join General Crook, who was camped near the
+foot of Cloud Peak in the Big Horn Mountains, awaiting the arrival of the
+Fifth Cavalry before proceeding against the Sioux, who were somewhere near
+the head of the Little Big Horn--as his scouts informed him. We made rapid
+marches, and reached General Crook's camp on Goose Creek about the 3d of
+August.
+
+At this camp I met many old friends, among whom was Colonel Royal, who had
+received his promotion to the lieutenant colonelcy of the Third Cavalry.
+He introduced me to General Crook, whom I had never met before, but of
+whom I had often heard. He also introduced me to the General's chief
+guide, Frank Grouard, a half-breed, who had lived six years with Sitting
+Bull, and knew the country thoroughly.
+
+We remained in this camp only one day, and the whole troop pulled out for
+the Tongue River, leaving our wagons behind, but taking with us a large
+pack train. We marched down the Tongue River for two days, thence in a
+westerly direction over to the Rosebud, where we struck the main Indian
+trail leading down this stream. From the size of the trail, which appeared
+to be about four days old, we estimated that there must have been in the
+neighborhood of seven thousand Indians in the war party.
+
+For two or three days we pushed on, but we did not seem to gain much on
+the Indians, as they were evidently making about the same marches that we
+were. On the fourth or fifth morning of our pursuit, I rode ahead of the
+command about ten miles, and mounting a hill, I scanned the country far
+and wide with my field glass, and discovered a column of dust rising about
+ten miles farther down the creek, and soon I noticed a body of men
+marching toward me that at first I believed to be the Indians of whom we
+were in pursuit; but subsequently they proved to be General Terry's
+command. I sent back word to that effect to General Crook by a scout who
+had accompanied me, but after he had departed I observed a band of Indians
+on the opposite side of the creek, and also another party directly in
+front of me. This led me to believe that I had made a mistake. But shortly
+afterward my attention was attracted by the appearance of a body of
+soldiers who were forming into a skirmish line and then I became convinced
+that it was General Terry's command, after all, and that the redskins whom
+I had seen were some of his friendly Indian scouts, who had mistaken me
+for a Sioux, and fled back to their command terribly excited, shouting,
+"The Sioux are coming!"
+
+General Terry at once came to the post, and ordered the Seventh Cavalry to
+form line of battle across the Rosebud; he also ordered up his artillery
+and had them prepare for action, doubtless dreading another "Custer
+massacre." I afterward learned that the Indian had seen the dust raised by
+General Crook's forces, and had reported that the Sioux were coming.
+
+These manoeuvers I witnessed from my position with considerable
+amusement, thinking the command must be badly demoralized when one man
+could cause a whole army to form line of battle and prepare for action.
+Having enjoyed the situation to my heart's content, I galloped down toward
+the skirmish line, waving my hat, and when within about one hundred yards
+of the troops, Colonel Weir, of the Seventh Cavalry, galloped out and met
+me. He recognized me at once, and accompanied me inside the line; then he
+sang out: "Boys, here's Buffalo Bill. Some of you old soldiers know him;
+give him a cheer!" Thereupon the regiment gave three rousing cheers, and
+it was followed up all along the line.
+
+Colonel Weir presented me to General Terry, and in answer to his question
+I informed him that the alarm of Indians had been a false one, as the dust
+seen by his scouts was caused by General Crook's troops. General Terry
+thereupon rode forward to meet General Crook, and I accompanied him at his
+request. That night both commands went into camp on the Rosebud. General
+Terry had his wagon train with him, and everything to make life
+comfortable on an Indian campaign. He had large wall tents and portable
+beds to sleep in, and commodious hospital tents for dining rooms. His camp
+looked very comfortable and attractive, and presented a great contrast to
+that of General Crook, who had for his headquarters only one small fly
+tent, and whose cooking utensils consisted of a quart cup--in which he
+made his coffee himself--and a stick upon which he broiled his bacon. When
+I compared the two camps, I came to the conclusion that General Crook was
+an Indian-fighter; for it was evident that he had learned that to follow
+and fight Indians a body of men must travel lightly, and not be detained
+by a wagon train or heavy luggage of any kind.
+
+That evening General Terry ordered General Miles to take his regiment, the
+Fifth Infantry, and return by a forced march to Yellowstone, and proceed
+down the river by steamboat to the mouth of the Powder River, to intercept
+the Indians, in case they attempted to cross the Yellowstone. General
+Miles 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 that evening and the next day in council,
+and on the following morning both commands moved out on the Indian trail.
+Although General Terry was the senior officer, he did not assume command
+of both expeditions, but left General Crook in command of his own troops,
+although they operated together. We crossed the Tongue River to Powder
+River, and proceeded down the latter stream to a point twenty miles from
+its junction with the Yellowstone, where the Indian trail turned to the
+southeast in the direction of the Black Hills. The two commands now being
+nearly out of supplies, the trail was abandoned, and the troops kept on
+down Powder River to its confluence with the Yellowstone, and remained
+there several days. Here we met General Miles, who reported that no
+Indians had as yet crossed the Yellowstone. Several steamboats soon
+arrived with a large quantity of supplies, and once more the "Boys in
+Blue" were made happy.
+
+One evening, while we were in camp on the Yellowstone at the mouth of
+Powder River, I was informed that the commanding officer had selected
+Louis Richard, a half-breed, and myself to accompany General Miles on a
+scouting expedition on the steamer _Far West_, down the Yellowstone as far
+as Glendive Creek. We were to ride on the pilot house and keep a sharp
+lookout on both sides of the river for Indian trails that might have
+crossed the stream. The idea of scouting on a steamboat was indeed a novel
+one to me, and I anticipated a pleasant trip.
+
+At daylight next morning we reported on board the steamer to General
+Miles, who had with him four or five companies of his regiment. We were
+somewhat surprised when he asked us where our horses were, as we had not
+supposed that horses would be needed if the scouting was to be done on the
+steamer. He said we might need them before we got back, and thereupon we
+had the animals brought on board. In a few minutes we were booming down
+the river at the rate of about twenty miles an hour.
+
+The steamer _Far West_ was commanded by Captain Grant Marsh, whom I found
+to be an interesting character. I had often heard of him, for he was, and
+is yet, one of the best-known river captains in the country. He it was
+who, with his steamer _Far West_, transported the wounded men from the
+battle of the Little Big Horn to Fort Abraham Lincoln on the Missouri
+River, and on that trip he made the fastest steamboat time on record. He
+was a skillful and experienced pilot, handling his boat with remarkable
+dexterity.
+
+While Richard and myself were at our stations on the pilot house, the
+steamer, with a full head of steam, went flying past islands, around
+bends, over sand bars, at a rate that was exhilarating. Presently I
+thought I could see horses grazing in a distant bend of the river, and I
+reported the fact to General Miles, who asked Captain Marsh if he could
+land the boat near a large tree which he pointed out to him. "Yes, sir; I
+can land her there, and make her climb the tree if necessary," said he.
+
+On reaching the spot designated, General Miles ordered two companies
+ashore, while Richard and myself were instructed to take our horses off
+the boat and push out as rapidly as possible to see if there were Indians
+in the vicinity. While we were getting ashore, Captain Marsh remarked that
+if there were only a good heavy dew on the grass he would shoot the
+steamer ashore, and take us on the scout without the trouble of leaving
+the boat.
+
+It was a false alarm, however, as the objects we had seen proved to be
+Indian graves. Quite a large number of braves, who had probably been
+killed in some battle, were laid on scaffolds, according to the Indian
+custom, and some of their clothing had been torn from the bodies by the
+wolves and was waving in the air.
+
+On arriving at Glendive Creek we found that Colonel Rice and his company
+of the Fifth Infantry, who had been sent there by General Miles, had built
+quite a good little fort with their trowel-bayonets, a weapon which
+Colonel Rice was the inventor of, and which is, by the way, a very useful
+implement of war, as it can be used for a shovel in throwing up
+intrenchments, and can be profitably utilized in several other ways. On
+the day previous to our arrival Colonel Rice had a fight with a party of
+Indians, and had killed two or three of them at long range with his Rodman
+cannon.
+
+The _Far West_ was to remain at Glendive overnight, and General Miles
+wished to send dispatches back to General Terry at once. At his request I
+took the dispatches, and rode seventy-five miles that night through the
+bad lands of the Yellowstone, and reached General Terry's camp next
+morning, after having nearly broken my neck a dozen times or more.
+
+There being but little prospect of any more fighting, I determined to go
+East as soon as possible to engage in other pursuits. So I started down
+the river on the steamer _Yellowstone_, _en route_ to Fort Beaufort. On
+the same morning Generals Terry and Crook pulled out for Powder River, to
+take up the old Indian trail which we had left.
+
+The steamer had proceeded down the stream about twenty miles when it was
+met by another boat on its way up the river, having on board General
+Whistler and some fresh troops for General Terry's command. Both boats
+landed, and I met several old friends among the soldiers.
+
+General Whistler, upon learning that General Terry had left the
+Yellowstone, asked me to carry to him some important dispatches from
+General Sheridan, and although I objected, he insisted upon my performing
+this duty, saying that it would only detain me a few hours longer; as an
+extra inducement he offered me the use of his own thoroughbred horse,
+which was on the boat. I finally consented to go, and was soon speeding
+over the rough and hilly country toward Powder River, and delivered the
+dispatches to General Terry the same evening. General Whistler's horse,
+although a good animal, was not used to such hard riding, and was far more
+exhausted by the journey than I was.
+
+After I had taken a lunch, General Terry asked me if I would carry some
+dispatches back to General Whistler, and I replied that I would. Captain
+Smith, General Terry's aid-de-camp, offered me his horse for the trip, and
+it proved to be an excellent animal; for I rode him that same night forty
+miles over the bad lands in four hours, and reached General Whistler's
+steamboat at one o'clock. During my absence the Indians had made their
+appearance on the different hills of the vicinity, and the troops from the
+boat had had several skirmishes with them. When General Whistler had
+finished reading the dispatches, he said: "Cody, I want to send some
+information to General Terry concerning the Indians who have been
+skirmishing around here all day. I have been trying all the evening long
+to induce some one to carry my dispatches to him, but no one seems willing
+to undertake the trip, and I have got to fall back on you. It is asking a
+great deal, I know, as you have just ridden eighty miles; but it is a case
+of necessity, and if you'll go, Cody, I'll see that you are well paid for
+it."
+
+"Never mind about the pay," said I, "but get your dispatches ready and
+I'll start at once."
+
+In a few minutes he handed me the package, and, mounting the same horse
+which I had ridden from General Terry's camp, I struck out for my
+destination. It was two o'clock in the morning when I left the boat, and
+at eight o'clock I rode into General Terry's camp, just as he was about to
+march, having made one hundred and twenty miles in twenty-two hours.
+
+General Terry, after reading the dispatches, halted his command, and then
+rode on and overtook General Crook, with whom he held a council; the
+result was that Crook's command moved on in the direction which they had
+been pursuing, while Terry's forces marched back to the Yellowstone and
+crossed the river on steamboats. At the urgent request of General Terry I
+accompanied the command on a scout in the direction of the Dry Fork of the
+Missouri, where it was expected we would strike some Indians.
+
+The first march out from the Yellowstone was made in the night, as we
+wished to get into the hills without being discovered by the Sioux scouts.
+After marching three days a little to the east of north, we reached the
+buffalo range and discovered fresh signs of Indians, who had evidently
+been killing buffaloes. General Terry now called on me to carry
+dispatches to Colonel Rice, who was still encamped at the mouth of
+Glendive Creek, on the Yellowstone--distant about eighty miles from us.
+
+Night had set in with a storm, and a drizzling rain was falling when, at
+ten o'clock, I started on this ride through a section of country with
+which I was entirely unacquainted. I traveled through the darkness a
+distance of about thirty-five miles, and at daylight I rode into a
+secluded spot at the head of a ravine where stood a bunch of ash trees,
+and there I concluded to remain till night, for I considered it a
+dangerous undertaking to cross the wide prairies in broad
+daylight--especially as my horse was a poor one. I accordingly unsaddled
+my animal and ate a hearty breakfast of bacon and hardtack which I had
+stored in the saddle pockets; then, after taking a smoke, I lay down to
+sleep, with my saddle for a pillow. In a few minutes I was in the land of
+dreams.
+
+After sleeping some time--I cannot tell how long--I was suddenly awakened
+by a roaring, rumbling sound. I instantly seized my gun, sprang to my
+horse, and hurriedly secreted him in the brush. Then I climbed up the
+steep side of the bank and cautiously looked over the summit; in the
+distance I saw a large herd of buffaloes which were being chased and fired
+at by twenty or thirty Indians. Occasionally a buffalo would drop out of
+the herd, but the Indians kept on until they had killed ten or fifteen.
+Then they turned back and began to cut up the game.
+
+[Illustration: IN THE DISTANCE I SAW A LARGE HERD OF BUFFALOES WHICH WERE
+BEING CHASED AND FIRED AT BY TWENTY OR THIRTY INDIANS.]
+
+I saddled my horse and tied him to a small tree where I could reach him
+conveniently in case the Indians should discover me by finding my trail
+and following it. I then crawled carefully back to the summit of the
+bluff, and in a concealed position watched the Indians for two hours,
+during which time they were occupied in cutting up the buffaloes and
+packing the meat on their ponies. When they had finished this work they
+rode off in the direction whence they had come.
+
+I waited till nightfall before resuming my journey, and then I bore off to
+the east for several miles, and by making a semicircle to avoid the
+Indians, I got back on my original course, and then pushed on rapidly to
+Colonel Rice's camp, which I reached just at daylight.
+
+Colonel Rice had been fighting Indians almost every day since he had been
+encamped at this point, and he was very anxious to notify General Terry of
+the fact. Of course I was requested to carry his dispatches. After
+remaining at Glendive a single day, I started back to find General Terry,
+and on the third day I overhauled him at the head of Deer Creek, while on
+his way to Colonel Rice's camp. He was not, however, going in the right
+direction, but bearing too far to the east, and so I informed him. He then
+asked me to guide the command, and I did so.
+
+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 to Rochester, New
+York, where I met my family.
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE LITTLE BOY OF THE PRAIRIE
+
+
+Once when Buffalo Bill was a tiny boy of seven or eight his father's
+family were camping on their way to Kansas. It happened that both his
+father and the guide were away from the little camp in search of food. It
+was at night and young Bill Cody was asleep. He was suddenly awakened by
+hearing a noise, and saw an Indian in the act of untying and leading away
+his own pet pony. The boy jumped up, grasped his rifle, and said,
+
+"What are you doing with my horse?"
+
+The Indian did not seem to be much disturbed at the little fellow's
+appearance, and said he would swap horses. Little Bill said he would not
+swap. The Indian only laughed at him. Then the boy held his gun ready,
+and said again that he would not swap; and in the end the big Indian,
+after watching him keenly for a few minutes, quietly mounted his old pony
+and rode away. This is a good example of the nerve and courage which have
+made him as a grown man the best plainsman in our history.
+
+Every boy, perhaps every man, loves to read about the days of Indian
+fights, the camping along the trails, the crossing of the plains in
+prairie schooners, and the wild life that belonged to what was once called
+the Great American Desert--which now contains thousands of farms and
+hundreds of cities. It was a hard life; but it was so full of real
+adventure, of actual danger, that it had its own interest to those who
+lived it. And although it is gone now forever, it will always remain the
+most interesting part of American history to the boys of our country.
+
+That was the time when a man saved his own life day by day, absolutely and
+solely because he had greater courage or quicker wit than his opponent,
+whether that opponent was an Indian, a stage robber, a flood, a prairie
+fire, or any other form of danger. To understand those days and the
+events and episodes as they occurred to the men who lived them, one must
+first get into one's mind the country they lived in and traveled over. It
+was a flat land stretching thousands of miles across the middle of the
+United States from the Missouri River to California, with here and there a
+huge range of mountains running north and south, guarded on either side by
+long lines of foothills. Sometimes there were stretches of forest;
+generally there was nothing but the flat plains covered with a rough wild
+grass. Between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada there were the
+alkali plains, unfit for human habitation. All this country was inhabited
+by Indians who had been gradually driven westward from the Atlantic coast,
+who had been treated badly by white men, and who had become a fierce race
+of fighters and hunters. They considered the white man their natural prey.
+Whenever they saw a "pale face" it was fair and right in their minds to
+try to get his scalp; for hundreds of stories had been handed down from
+their fathers and grandfathers of the way in which the white man had
+killed their people and driven them from the land that had been theirs for
+centuries.
+
+Over this country--a distance of two thousand miles--the buffaloes and the
+Indians roamed, and no white man had a home. There were no cities. There
+were practically no towns. The white man gradually moving west had got as
+far as the western counties of Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa in 1850; the
+white men had settled the Pacific coast in California; there were no
+railroads; there was no way to communicate between the Missouri River and
+California, except on horseback or by driving huge wagons across these
+wild plains.
+
+Any day, any moment, while the travelers were sitting in their great
+wagons, they might see some little specks coming toward them across the
+flat plain. Then came a scurrying to put the wagons in a circle with the
+horses and mules, men and women, in the center. In a moment a band of
+mounted Indians would rush down upon them; and unless they were ready
+these wild red men would ride through the train between the wagons,
+frighten the mules and horses, separate one wagon from another, and after
+killing all the human beings, carry their goods away. Sometimes it
+happened in the night. Sometimes it happened in the day. And as those who
+were not ready were always killed, the result was that those who lived and
+traveled across those plains were the keenest and shrewdest of their
+kind--quicker and shrewder than the Indians themselves. Even if the
+Indians did not appear, it took a good hunter to keep his little caravan
+supplied with food. For the journey was a long one; there were many
+breakdowns and delays; and in order to supply food for the company the
+buffalo and deer of the plains had to be hunted and killed.
+
+That was the country and the people between 1850 and 1860. After the rush
+to California for gold, it became evident that there must be some regular
+system of communication between the outskirts of civilization in the East,
+and the outskirts of civilization in the West in California. It was just
+at this time that the man who is known all over the world as Buffalo Bill
+was born.
+
+Buffalo Bill's father was named Isaac Cody. He lived on a farm in Scott
+County, Iowa, near a town named Le Clair, and there William Frederick Cody
+was born on the 26th of February, 1846.
+
+When the California gold craze came in 1849, Isaac Cody, with thousands of
+other people, made up his mind to go across the plains to California and
+look for gold. But before he had much more than started he changed his
+mind and moved toward Kansas, where he hoped to find some place to settle
+on the frontier. Instead of taking his wife and children on such a
+dangerous expedition he left them with his brother, Elijah Cody, in Platt
+County, Missouri, and then started out in search of a new home. Finally,
+when young William was only seven or eight years old, his father settled
+near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and here the boy grew up in the midst of
+Indians and the wild life of the plains, and in the very thick of the
+early fights that occurred between the Northerners and Southerners over
+the question of slavery. It was a hard life and only those who were
+naturally fitted for it lived through it. Even at the age of seven or
+eight little Bill Cody naturally took to this sort of life. He loved
+adventure. He loved stories of Indians, scouts, and desperadoes, and he
+could fire a rifle pretty accurately almost as soon as he could carry one.
+
+Finally the family settled in Salt Creek Valley in Kansas, which was on
+the line of one of the two trails, or roads--if they could be called
+roads--that stretched for two thousand miles or more across this waste of
+plain and mountain to California.
+
+Day after day little Bill Cody would go out with his father, taking his
+rifle, to hunt, and he always had with him a famous dog named "Turk." The
+boy, and in fact all the children, loved Turk. He was as much one of the
+family as any of the children, and again and again gave warning of danger.
+There are many instances in which the dog practically saved the lives of
+at least one member of the family group. One day when Cody's two sisters
+were walking some distance from their home they heard a snarl, and looking
+up into a tree they saw a panther getting ready to spring upon them. Old
+Turk, who was with them, was quite as well aware of the danger as they
+were; and while they hid in the bushes, he sat in front of them and
+grappled with the panther as it jumped to reach them. The whole incident
+took place in a moment, and before they realized what had happened, they
+saw their favorite dog in the act of being killed by the panther. Suddenly
+off in the distance they heard their brother Bill's familiar whistle
+calling his dog. Then on the instant, as they crouched there, expecting
+every moment to see the fight end with the death of the dog, a rifle shot
+rang out and the panther rolled over dead. That was a famous shot in
+itself for a boy of less than eight years, for both animals were rolling
+over and over in their fight, and it took not only nerve, but accurate
+aim, to hit the one and avoid the other.
+
+The family had scarcely got settled in their new home when the father, who
+did not believe in slavery, got into discussions with other people of the
+county who had been brought up to hold slaves. Those were hard, dangerous
+men. They got angry quickly; they shot their pistols at one another
+without much provocation, and they feared neither death nor anything else
+because they were living in the midst of danger always. In one of these
+excited discussions as to whether slaves should be held in the new State
+of Kansas or not, Isaac Cody took a firm stand on his side, and was
+thereupon notified that if he did not leave the country he would be shot.
+He had to hide frequently in different parts of his own house at night
+when a body of men would come to kill him, and for days and days he lived
+in thickets near the house, his little son bringing him food every day.
+
+Once when a party had come to the house in search of his father and had
+failed to find him, young Bill discovered that his pony was missing. He
+went out to look for it, and found that it had been stolen by a member of
+the lynching party named Sharp. He cried out to the man that that was his
+pony; whereupon the desperado laughed at him. Bill called him a coward and
+told him he would get even with him some day; and then suddenly getting an
+idea, he whistled for Turk, and set the dog on the man. The dog ran up to
+the pony and bit his hind legs, whereupon the little horse kicked
+vigorously and bucked until he had thrown Sharp off. Then began a hot
+discussion between Will and Sharp, the one setting the dog on, the other
+yelling to have him called off. But in the end Sharp was obliged to
+temporize. He returned the pony and went away as fast as he could run.
+
+So the days went on until Isaac Cody was obliged to leave the country. One
+of the famous scout's first real adventures occurred at this time. The boy
+was scarcely ten years old when one night the family received information
+that their father was coming home to see them and to stay for one night,
+returning to Fort Leavenworth in the morning. In some way the men of the
+community discovered that he was coming. A party was sent out to capture
+him as he came through a wooded gulch, and the little family sat around
+the hearth, most of them in tears, with the certainty that their father
+would be killed that night.
+
+Then the instinct of the young scout came to the surface. Young Bill
+proposed that he should ride his pony to a place called Grasshopper Falls,
+where his father was staying, and warn him. The boy had been sick with a
+fever; but he got out of bed, mounted his pony, and started in the night
+to ride the thirty miles. He had only gone four or five when he heard a
+cry of, "Halt!" Instead of stopping, he leaned over Indian fashion behind
+his pony, so that nothing but one leg showed on the side from which the
+call came, and there he hung as the good horse rushed at his top speed
+through the ambuscade. As he did not stop, the men began firing at him,
+and he could hear the bullets flying over him. He got through safely,
+however, and succeeded in getting to Grasshopper Falls just as his father
+was starting. It is interesting to know that this ride taken in the night
+by a sick boy not old enough to go to school was ten miles longer than the
+famous ride of General Philip Sheridan in the Civil War.
+
+Then came hard times for the little Cody family. The father died, and the
+mother had no means of supporting her children and keeping up the farm.
+Young Bill, then eleven years old, made up his mind that it was his duty
+to support them. He could not stay at home, as he was not big enough to
+attend to the work of the farm.
+
+It seemed an almost impossible task, because in addition to all their
+poverty there was a mortgage of one thousand dollars against their farm,
+and if they did not pay this shortly their own home would be taken away
+from them. Mrs. Cody was a brave woman, and she felt that if it were not
+for that mortgage she could have managed to scrape along and keep the
+family alive. In the many talks which they had as to what they should do,
+the boy told his mother that if she could fight this claim he would try to
+earn the money.
+
+This was his idea. There was a firm--a famous one in the history of that
+part of the United States--named Russell, Majors & Waddell, frontiersmen
+who had gradually built up a line of freight wagons that went from St.
+Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, two thousand miles across the plains
+and mountains, carrying the freight that was shipped from the East to the
+West and bringing back freight from California to the East. These goods
+were packed in huge wagons with big canvas tops, drawn by sometimes ten
+and sometimes twenty teams of oxen. There was so much danger in these
+trips from Indians and outlaws that they never started without several
+wagons in a little caravan, with a guard of frontiersmen all armed and
+ready to repel any attack from whatever source. Each night they camped in
+certain places along the trail where there was water and, if possible,
+wood. They cooked their own meals. They set up their pickets and guards,
+and started on again in the morning to the next camp. The journey took
+about a month; and time and time again the whole outfit would fail to
+appear at the other end. It had been attacked and all the men killed by
+Indians or by the robbers of the plains. And sometimes the next caravan
+would find the remnants of the wagons and the dead bodies of men and oxen.
+It was Bill Cody's idea to see if he could not get a chance to travel as
+what is called an "extra" on one of these caravans, and forthwith he
+presented himself at the office of the firm in Fort Leavenworth. One of
+the members of the firm had known his father, and so he treated the boy
+kindly. But he told him frankly that a boy of his age would be of no use.
+Bill, however, said that he could ride and shoot, that he could herd
+cattle and do a lot of other things. He wanted to be an "extra." Finally,
+he was so earnest in his desire, that Mr. Majors consented; and there is
+an interesting document which was signed by the two which shows what was
+expected and what were the dangers of such work. This paper reads as
+follows:
+
+"I, Wm. F. Cody, do hereby solemnly swear before the great and living God,
+that during my engagement with, and while I am in the employ of, Russell,
+Majors & Waddell, I will not, under any circumstances, use profane
+language, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employé of the
+firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be
+faithful to my duties, and shall direct all my acts so as to win the
+confidence of my employers. So help me God."
+
+And so the "boy extra" began his work. At night he slept in a blanket
+under a wagon, and by day he did whatever he was given to do.
+
+Day after day, week after week, they traveled slowly over the huge plains,
+the "bull whackers"--the men who drove the huge oxen--constantly snapping
+their enormous whips and urging the beasts on as fast as possible. It was
+a monotonous life, except when some incident occurred, and then the
+incident was likely to be one of life and death, depending on the
+quickness, accuracy of aim, and alertness of the men in the "bull train."
+They had gone only about thirty-five miles from Fort Kearny, one of the
+places where they stopped near the Platte River, when young Bill suddenly
+saw the three pickets drop flat on the ground, and the next moment he
+heard shots and saw a band of Indians riding toward them. Instantly the
+men in the bull train--all frontiersmen--made a circle of the wagons, got
+into the circle themselves, and began firing at the Indians. The red men
+wheeled in a big curve, firing as they went, and then rode off a short
+distance on the plain out of gun shot and stood watching the white men.
+Buffalo Bill has already told this story in his own words earlier in the
+book. But he does not tell what it seems impossible to believe--that this
+boy of eleven years saved the lives of the entire outfit; and so it is
+well to mention the fact here. The consultation which the men had while
+the Indians waited proved that it was useless to stay where they were.
+Indians began to come from all quarters and outnumbered the whites ten to
+one. It was therefore decided to leave the train to the mercy of the
+Indians and make a dash for a creek where they could hide behind the
+embankment. This was successfully carried out and they then started for
+Fort Kearny, walking in the water and keeping watch over the top of the
+bank. As night came on the little boy began to get tired and weak. He
+could not keep up with the others, and in the excitement and darkness they
+did not miss him as he gradually fell behind. So the little fellow was
+trudging along, his rifle over his shoulder, perhaps a hundred yards
+behind the party, when to his amazement he saw the feathered head of an
+Indian poke over the bank before him and behind the others of his party.
+The Indian did not see him, for he was looking toward the others. With the
+quickness and instinct which made Buffalo Bill what he was, the lad put up
+his rifle, and the first warning his friends had of any attack in the rear
+was the sound of a shot, and the sound, too, of the body of the dead
+Indian rolling down into the creek. That was Buffalo Bill's first Indian,
+and the story of the boy who had saved the bull train went all over the
+frontier country in an incredibly short space of time.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+LITTLE BILL AT SCHOOL AND AT THE TRAPS
+
+
+Now began days of trouble for the young frontier boy. The family
+difficulties were not so serious as they had seemed at first. Mrs. Cody
+was able to keep the farm, and realizing that her boy, while promising to
+make a good frontiersman, was not getting any education, she showed him
+the necessity of having the "man of the family" go to school.
+
+Near their home some of the settlers had contributed money for the
+building of a little schoolhouse and for the payment of a teacher who was
+to come from the East and teach their children. Mrs. Cody made up her mind
+that Bill should go there to school, and after much discussion he began
+his school days.
+
+Those must have been strange school days as we think of school now. The
+little one-room shanty on the plain had nothing in it but a few boards of
+the simplest kind that would serve as desks, a stove, and a few, very few,
+books. The scholars were a wild lot, quite unused to any kind of
+discipline. There was no idea in their minds of promptness, of getting to
+school on time, of behaving while they were in school, or of studying very
+hard over their lessons. In fact, their parents had had very little
+education, and there was nothing in all that country that made people
+believe in any discipline. Then, too, the teacher was not a very good one.
+In fact, it would have been hard to get a man to go out on that wild
+frontier who could make a living in the East. So the school was a somewhat
+uproarious affair. The boys had numerous fights. They came when they
+liked. They went hunting or fishing as they saw fit. They got a good many
+beatings from the teacher and laughed over them afterward. They teased the
+girls, and again and again the school teacher, unable to cope with them,
+settled matters by driving them out of the little house and locking the
+door.
+
+In the midst of this crowd of youngsters young Bill began his first day.
+He was known to them all and to all their parents for miles around as the
+boy who had saved the bull train, as a fine shot, and as a good deal of a
+hero. Besides this he was a terrible tease, not only to his own sisters,
+but to every one else's sisters.
+
+Not many days had passed when a feud grew up between him and another boy
+of the school. This soon developed into fights, finally ending in the
+arrival of old Turk at the school. The school, like all other houses, had
+no cellar. It rested a foot or two above the ground. Bill's rival in the
+school was a boy named Gobel, and he, too, owned a dog. When Turk arrived
+in search of his young master the school was in session, and a moderate
+amount of order had been maintained for some time. Then suddenly the
+scholars and the teacher heard beneath them a fierce growl, then another,
+then a series of howls and cries. And everyone knew that within a few
+inches of them, only separated by the floor, there was a fine dogfight in
+progress. That was enough for the scholars. They jumped over their seats,
+crowded out through the door, and stood around the schoolhouse watching
+Turk and Gobel's dog fight. Each dog was urged on by one of the two
+factions. It was not long before Turk had beaten his rival and driven him
+away with his tail between his legs. Whereupon young Gobel said that
+although his dog might be beaten, he could lick Will Cody. That was enough
+for the young frontier boy, and, in spite of all the teacher could do, a
+ring was soon formed by the scholars and a thoroughbred prize fight
+started. Gobel was much larger and older than Will, and the latter knew
+that he would be beaten shortly. He must resort to some stratagem, and
+though it seems strange to us now, out on that frontier, and especially to
+a boy who had actually been obliged to kill men to save his own life, any
+means of winning the fight was right. So the little fellow thinking all
+the time while he was in the midst of his struggle, drew his knife and
+stuck it into the fleshy part of Steve Gobel's leg. The moment Steve saw
+the blood he screamed with terror and cried out that he was killed.
+
+Thereupon all the children took to their heels and ran to tell their
+parents that Will Cody had killed Gobel. Then the teacher took a hand, and
+so did the parents of many of the children, and it looked as if it would
+go hard with poor Bill. At all events, he did not care to stay at home,
+and not knowing what else to do, he ran away down the trail, happening to
+come upon one of the wagon trains of his first employers, Russell, Majors
+& Waddell, as he ran. The boss of the outfit was a man named Willis, and
+when the boy told his story Willis promised to look after him and take him
+again as a boy extra, first offering to go back to the school with him and
+lick Gobel, and the teacher too, if Bill said so. It was only a few
+moments when Gobel's father and a couple of men came up to arrest the boy,
+but they had to deal with men who were used to that sort of thing every
+day of their lives, and the pursuers soon discovered that it was wise for
+them to turn around and go home. But there was no more school for young
+Cody at present, and so he again became a member of a bull train.
+
+During this short term of service with the freighters the boy had another
+experience which nearly ended his career, and which to any boy who lives
+in a pleasant home and never sees any such life can scarcely be much more
+than a fairy tale, it is so terrible and seems so impossible. The boy had
+a short time with nothing to do between trips in the winter, and he
+decided, as money was necessary, to go on a hunting trip with a party of
+trappers. There was a chance of making considerable money by trapping
+animals and selling their furs. As a matter of fact, the trapping was very
+successful, and young Bill contributed distinctly his part to the family
+treasury. It was in the midst of this trip, while he was in an absolutely
+uninhabited country, making a round of his traps, that he came upon three
+Indians, each leading a pony loaded with skins. It was a case of three to
+one, and the moment he discovered them they discovered him. He saw the
+leading Indian put up his rifle and aim it at him. Here was a case, one of
+the many that came later, when the young frontier boy unquestionably saved
+his life by his own quickness and skill. Actually before the Indian, who
+was no greenhorn at such matters, could aim his rifle and fire, Will Cody
+had shot him dead. The other two Indians fired arrows, one of which went
+through the boy's hat; but without stopping, he turned around and cried,
+as if to his companions:
+
+"Here they are! This way! This way!"
+
+And then--all this taking place in an incredibly short space of time--he
+wounded one Indian with his revolver as the two turned and fled; so that,
+instead of being killed himself, he killed one Indian, wounded another,
+overcame the third, and marched into camp with their three ponies and all
+the skins that they had gathered.
+
+It was on a similar trapping expedition that the following episode
+occurred. The boy had been so successful and had made so much money that
+he decided on another trip. Not finding any party of men starting out, he
+got up an expedition of his own with a friend of his named David Phillips.
+The two youngsters bought an ox-team wagon and started out. They were
+after beaver, and when they were somewhere in the vicinity of Fort
+Leavenworth they struck a country full of beaver dams. Here they camped in
+a cave in the hillside which they fixed up for a permanent home. They
+stored the food they had brought and went to work setting their traps. At
+every hour of the day and night they were likely to run upon Indians, who
+never waited to parley, but killed whatever white men they saw as soon as
+they came upon them, scalping them and leaving them dead or dying wherever
+they might have fallen.
+
+These two boys, therefore, were constantly on the watch. Every bush, every
+tree, every rock, might conceal an Indian, and by practicing this
+instinct, just as a sailor on a ship will see a sail that anyone else
+might think was a cloud or a speck on the horizon, these boys of the
+plains could discover, in a range of many miles over plain or rolling
+country, the slightest thing that was unusual or unexplainable. A little
+spot of color in a tree or bush that was not exactly the color of a winter
+leaf would mean to them an ambuscade of Indians. The slightest impression
+in the earth which was different from impressions left there by nature
+meant the trail of a party of Indians. Every instant while they were
+moving along in the day or night their eyes were roaming over the country
+round about to pick out any one of these tiny but unusual signs.
+
+The boys had been attending to their work of trapping for many days
+without seeing any unusual sign. One night they came to their camp and had
+eaten supper, when their oxen began to bellow and leap about. The boys
+grabbed their rifles, ran to the corral, and discovered that a bear was in
+the vicinity. Phillips fired first and wounded the animal. But that only
+made him the more savage. The boy just managed to leap out of the bear's
+way when Bill fired into his mouth and killed him. But it was a close
+call, as the dead beast fell actually on the body of Phillips. It was a
+case of having saved the boy's life, and the chance of returning the favor
+came only too soon.
+
+It was the next day, when Bill Cody slipped and broke his leg. The other
+boy carried him back to the camp, made splints, bound up his leg, and
+stopped the bleeding; and then the two sat down to decide what should be
+done. The nearest settlement was a hundred miles away. It was absolutely
+impossible for Cody to walk that distance. His friend could not carry him,
+and in the fright which the bear had given the two oxen one had killed
+itself, and the other had become so maimed that it had to be shot. What
+the youngsters were to do they did not know. No one was nearer than a
+hundred miles, and there was no way of getting a boy with a broken leg
+that distance. Yet it was a case of starving to death or of doing
+something at once. Therefore the two trappers, hardly fourteen years old,
+decided that Phillips should start at once and walk the hundred miles for
+assistance.
+
+To go and come back would take him twenty days at least. That meant twenty
+days lying in a cave for Bill, without his having the power even to get up
+and go outside. Yet there was nothing else to do, and the good nerve of
+the two boys was sufficient for the occasion.
+
+Phillips made Cody as comfortable as he could and put all the food they
+had near him. They figured out just how much he was to eat each day in
+order to hold out until assistance should be brought, and then shaking
+hands, Phillips left him.
+
+The poor boy felt too lonely and heartbroken to eat much of anything in
+the first day or two. He counted the days as they passed by cutting a
+notch in a stick of wood each day. Gradually his leg healed, and in the
+course of two weeks he could move about a little. That alone relieved the
+pressure of loneliness, for hobbling to the mouth of the cave and looking
+outside was a very different thing from lying perfectly still in one
+position day after day. He tried to use up some of the time by studying
+the school books which his mother had asked him to take with him, and it
+was in the midst of one of these attempts to pass away the hours by
+reading over again what he had already read a dozen times, that he looked
+up and saw an Indian in war paint standing inside the cave gazing at him.
+
+[Illustration: HE LOOKED UP AND SAW INDIANS IN WAR PAINT STANDING INSIDE
+THE CAVE, GAZING AT HIM.]
+
+In a moment a dozen or more warriors had followed the first. The boy
+thought his last day had come, for the delay that had occurred already
+was a longer time than the Indians usually gave any white man to live if
+they were in a position to put him out of existence. The chief in his
+guttural tones, without changing his expression at all, said:
+
+"How?"
+
+Bill said: "How?" and then they looked at one another, the boy's mind
+flying along all the possible schemes which an expert frontiersman could
+think of to prolong a discussion that might possibly save his life. As he
+was thinking, gazing thus at the Indians one after another, he suddenly
+recognized one of them who was a chief named Rain-in-the-Face, an Indian
+whom he had once befriended in a way that the red man appreciates.
+
+It seems that once, some time before, Bill had found the man in difficulty
+and had given him something to eat and a blanket to sleep in. Instantly
+the boy's mind, well aware of the peculiar kind of gratitude Indians feel,
+began to work upon this. First he showed his leg and the bandages and
+told the story of his mishap, gaining as much time as he could in that
+way. Then suddenly he turned to Rain-in-the-Face and reminded him of how
+once their positions had been exactly reversed and how he had helped the
+Indian to get what he most needed. Rain-in-the-Face remembered the episode
+perfectly, and after a consultation he told Cody that although he and his
+friends were out in search of scalps, they would not molest him, but that
+that was the limit of their kindness.
+
+The Indians ransacked the cave, took everything that was of value from it,
+leaving only a small amount of food. And yet after they were gone the boy
+was so thankful for the chance that had thrown this one Indian in his way
+and had saved his life that he could not even complain of the starvation
+which stared him in the face. He took what little food was left and
+divided it up, allowing ten days beyond the twenty for the return of
+Phillips, and kept strictly to the portion each day that would keep him in
+some sort of food until the thirty days were up.
+
+A day or two after the episode of the Indians a heavy snowstorm set in,
+and lasted for so long that when it finally ceased the mouth of the cave
+was entirely covered with snow. That seemed almost the last straw, for
+little or no light came into the cave, the cold was intense, and the boy
+was unable to go out. Hour by hour, day in and day out, he sat there,
+unable to read any more and without any appetite for the little food he
+could allow himself.
+
+Three weeks passed--one day over the time in which Phillips might have
+returned. The little fellow's mind almost gave way from the strain that
+was put on him as he sat there with night following day, and no
+change--only expectancy.
+
+Twenty-eight days passed. He had but a day or so more of food. If help did
+not come within the next three days at the most, he would starve to death.
+To add to his misery, most of the wood that had been left was used up.
+
+So the boy sat on the twenty-ninth day, huddled over the little flame that
+he could spare himself, hardly realizing now the passage of time, when he
+suddenly heard his name called. It seemed to him that he must be dreaming.
+He sat perfectly still listening, unable even to make a reply, and then
+the name rang out again and was repeated time after time. With all the
+strength he had left he answered the call, and it was his answering cry
+that enabled Phillips and the relief party to find the cave and begin
+digging through the snow.
+
+When the two boys came together Bill Cody's nerves gave way and he was
+carried out more dead than alive. But he was alive and bound to have many
+more of these hairbreadth escapes that make perhaps as extraordinary a
+record as could be told of any man who has ever lived.
+
+These adventures, which read to-day as if they came out of a wild, unreal
+story of adventure, happening as they did in the life of this boy not yet
+fifteen years old, prepared the way for a youth and early manhood of such
+extraordinary usefulness to the plains that Cody by the time the Civil War
+came was one of the most expert frontiersmen, guides, and scouts that
+existed in the United States. And yet in 1860 he was but fifteen years
+old, too young, in other words, to go to college to-day, younger than most
+boys now when they get their first shotgun or rifle.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE PONY EXPRESS RIDER
+
+
+At the time when the Civil War broke out Cody was too young to enlist. No
+regiment would take him, and besides, his mother, who was in feeble health
+and who had all the family to look out for, begged and prayed him to stay
+at home, as she said it was more important for him, the man of the family,
+to watch over them than to put his services at his country's disposal. The
+boy wanted to go. It was a natural contingency for a young man brought up
+as he had been brought up. Yet he gave up his ambition for his mother.
+Bill promised his mother that he would never go to war as long as she was
+alive, but that as he must do something to earn money, he had to go to
+work at once. His chance came with an opportunity to join a group of men
+who will be read about as long as there is any history of the United
+States. Their work only lasted a few years, but it was so extraordinary,
+so exciting, so near to the ideal of a life of adventure, that it stands
+out more important than many an era in this country's history which had
+greater results and extended over a longer time.
+
+The firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, who have already been mentioned,
+increased in importance because they were the only men who carried out on
+a large scale successfully the business of transporting freight across the
+desert and the mountains to California. But as California grew--and it
+grew very fast in a few years--there came a demand for a speedier method
+of communication between the Western frontier in the East and the Eastern
+frontier in the West. Those two thousand miles of waste land consumed a
+month or more when transportation was by means of bull trains. It did not
+matter very much with freight, but in the transportation of money, of
+letters, of business arrangements that time grew to be too long for
+advancing civilization.
+
+The great freight transporters, therefore, conceived the idea of getting
+up a scheme for carrying a few letters at a much faster rate from St.
+Joseph to San Francisco by means of a single horseman riding a pony at
+full speed. Their idea was that a man should mount a swift pony, well
+tried for his endurance before starting; that this man should ride fifteen
+miles straight out into the desert, and that at the end of the fifteen
+miles there should be a station, a house with a couple of men in it, who
+would have another pony ready. The horseman was to ride up to this shanty,
+jump to the ground with his bag of letters, immediately jump on the fresh
+pony, and rush along another fifteen miles to a similar station. Some of
+these stations were in settlements, some were in towns, but most of them
+were on the bleak prairies or in the hills of the Rocky Mountains. The
+trail was the same as that used by the freight bull trains. The bull-train
+stations were of course used, but it was necessary to increase the number
+of stations. Some of the divisions were longer than others. But the
+average was a distance of forty-five miles; that is, the man who rode one
+of these divisions of the two thousand miles, rode fifteen miles on one
+pony, fifteen miles on the second, and fifteen miles on the third. Then he
+began his return trip of forty-five miles. The longest division was two
+hundred and fifty miles.
+
+Sometimes the country was open and moderately easy for riding. Sometimes
+it was up rocky gulches or through forests where the riding was hard. It
+required in the men the hardest kind of physique and endurance, in the
+ponies surefootedness as well as swiftness. Sometimes in order to keep up
+the schedule the men were obliged to cover twenty-five miles in an hour on
+flat country, in order to make up for slower going in the hills. They
+received about one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month, which was very
+high pay. But that gave the promoters of the scheme their choice among the
+best men of the frontier.
+
+The letters were carried in mail pouches or bags that hung over the
+saddle, and no rider was allowed to carry more than twenty pounds. In
+order to get as much mail within the twenty pounds as possible letters
+were written on tissue paper. Whatever money was carried was in paper, and
+one Eastern newspaper printed a special edition on tissue paper for use
+only on this famous Pony Express. So in the twenty pounds there were
+hundreds of letters. In fact, the paper was so thin that even a hundred
+letters would not occupy a space larger than that occupied by an ordinary
+monthly magazine to-day. The mail pouches were waterproof, and once locked
+at St. Joseph, Missouri, they were not opened until they were delivered in
+Sacramento, California, two thousand miles away.
+
+It seems almost incredible, but that distance was covered in a time that
+was extraordinarily short for those days, when one remembers that the
+whole journey was made by running ponies. It was an exciting time when the
+first pony was ready and saddled at the offices of Russell, Majors &
+Waddell, in St. Joseph. A large crowd gathered long before the appointed
+time for starting, and when the pony was brought forth he was greeted with
+cheers. At the exact moment a frontiersman came out of the office, threw
+the pouch over the saddle, leaped on the pony, and started off at the top
+speed the pony was capable of, followed by the cries and cheers of the
+crowd. This first trip was started on the 3d of April, 1860. That journey,
+where the mail bags were thrown across the ponies and carried by a number
+of riders, took ten days to do the two thousand miles. It was an average
+of two hundred miles a day, or between eight and nine miles an hour for
+every hour of the twenty-four for ten days, including all stops and all
+delays. But in a short time the average trip was made regularly in nine
+days, and the fastest trip was made when President Lincoln's inaugural
+address was carried over the two thousand miles in seven days and
+seventeen hours.
+
+When Cody was looking for work he conceived the idea of enlisting as one
+of the Pony Express riders, and he went to the office of the company and
+asked if he could not be one of the riders. They told him that he was too
+young, as he was then only a little over fourteen. But he insisted he
+could do it, and finally they gave him the shortest trip, a ride of
+thirty-five miles with three changes of ponies.
+
+When the time came for him to be ready for the first trip the boy was
+outside of his station with his pony ready, looking across the prairie for
+the rider who was to bring the mail pouches from the next station. Close
+upon time the man appeared. Drawing up to the station he jumped off, threw
+the bag to Cody, who in turn leaped into his saddle with it and started on
+his fifteen miles. He reached his first station on time, dismounted, and
+mounted a fresh pony which was standing ready, and started on the second
+relay. And so with the third, until he finished his thirty-five miles and
+threw the bag to the next man, who was waiting. And within an hour he was
+ready again for the rider coming from the direction of San Francisco. As
+soon as he had the mail he mounted a fresh pony and rode back over the
+same thirty-five miles.
+
+Thus the boy did seventy miles every day for three months. But endurance
+was not the only quality the rider must have. Through most of the whole
+route there was constant danger of a "hold up" either from Indians or
+from outlaws, who knew that the bag frequently contained money. He must be
+as alert and as good a frontiersman in the knowledge of Indian warfare as
+he was a good horseman. It was some time before the boy had any incident
+other than the ordinary episodes of the long ride. However, the time came.
+
+He was riding as fast as his pony could go through a ravine one day when
+there sprang out in front of him in the narrow track a man with his rifle
+at his shoulder. Young Cody knew enough to know that the man had what was
+called the "drop" on him. There was nothing to do but pull up and await
+events. It was a white man--a desperado of the plains. He told the boy
+that he meant him no harm, but that he wanted the money in the bag. Cody
+could do nothing but sit quietly on his pony. But always alert, always on
+the watch for every opportunity, in a situation that, young as he was, he
+had been in many times before, he kept a keen eye on the man while
+appearing to submit. The outlaw was careless enough to approach the pony
+from the front, and as he got within reach the young horseman by a trick
+that he had used many times before made the pony rear so suddenly that his
+fore foot struck the man in the head and knocked him senseless.
+
+Bill knew that somewhere in the vicinity the highwayman had a horse. He at
+once dismounted, bound the man hand and foot while he was insensible, and
+then began to hunt for the horse in the bushes. He found him a few rods
+away, and when he got back his opponent had come to. Unbinding his legs,
+Bill forced him to mount his own horse, and then strapped him on. Although
+the young Pony Expressman was late at the next station, the fact that he
+had brought in a robber and had saved his mail pouch was quite sufficient
+excuse for the delay of the mail that day.
+
+At the end of a few months the work proved too severe for him to continue,
+and he was laid off as supernumerary--that is, a man who could be called
+on to ride in any emergency. It was not long, however, before he made
+application for another job on the Pony Express. He went to Fort Laramie
+and looked up a man named Slade, who was agent of the line there. Slade
+told him he was too young, but on hearing his name he slapped him on the
+shoulder and said that he had heard of him before and that he would give
+him a job. This run was from Red Buttes to a place called Three Crossings,
+and the distance was seventy-six miles. The boy started running this route
+regularly each day, and for a time had no unusual experience. One day,
+however, having made the run out of seventy-six miles, he found, when he
+arrived at his last station, that the man who was supposed to carry the
+bag to the next station, a distance of eighty-five miles, had been wounded
+by Indians. Bill offered to go on and carry the bag over that man's
+section, and as there was no one else to do it he was sent on. This second
+division covered a distance of one hundred and sixty-one miles. That made
+one continuous route of three hundred and twenty-two miles out and back
+without stopping. In that time he rode twenty-one ponies and made the
+longest trip ever made by a Pony Express rider.
+
+It was while on this route that one day he suddenly came upon a man who
+appeared from behind a large rock as Cody passed. There was no time for
+thought, and Bill immediately reached for his revolver, but upon seeing
+him the man dropped his rifle and came forward. He turned out to be a
+famous character of the plains named "California Joe," and on seeing the
+young boy he immediately asked him if he were not Bill Cody. Then the
+frontiersman told him that a little way back on the road he had what he
+called "a little misunderstandin' with two men, and now I has to plant
+'em."
+
+It was only a little later that, as Bill left one of the stations, the
+boss called to him to look out, there were reports of Indians in the
+vicinity. Cody said he would, and started away at breakneck pace. Here
+again, as many times before and after, the boy's instinctive knowledge and
+immediate perception of anything, no matter how small, that was unusual or
+unnatural on the plains saved his life. Always keeping a keen watch, he
+suddenly saw above the top of a pile of rocks something that he knew was
+not put there by nature. It was a little speck of color, and long before
+any average human being would have seen it at all he knew that it was a
+feather in the headdress of an Indian in war paint. He did not stop or
+turn. He kept on at his furious pace until he was within rifle shot. Then
+ducking behind his pony, he turned him instantly off the trail, and at the
+same moment a puff of smoke from behind the rock showed that his guess had
+been true. The bullet went where the rider should have been, but it missed
+by the swerve which he had caused the pony to make. Out sprang two
+warriors, and a party of Indians appeared from a little distance further
+away. And now it became a ride for life. As he approached the end of the
+valley, which narrowed into a point, he saw that some of the Indians on
+the slopes were riding down to cut off his track. He watched his
+opportunity, and luckily for him those Indians had no rifles. He saw them
+fit the arrows to their bows, waited for the right moment, and just before
+the leading Indian fired his arrow the boy shot him with his revolver.
+When he reached the next station he found that his pony had two arrows
+sticking in its flesh.
+
+At this time the Pony Express had to be stopped for some time on account
+of the number of Indians who were lying in wait all along the trails to
+capture the riders, and so the boy was once more out of a job.
+
+He became a supernumerary again, and as there were days in which he had
+nothing to do, he was in the habit of going out hunting, selling the skins
+of the animals he shot. On one of these trips he came upon a group of
+horses tied near a stream, and hearing voices in a dugout cave near by, he
+went to investigate. It turned out that the men were a group of prairie
+ruffians. They supposed him to be an advance scout in search of
+themselves, and for a few moments there was a quick play of wit against
+wit.
+
+They asked him where he came from. He pointed backward. They asked where
+his horse was. He said it was down by the stream. They asked him to go and
+get it and join them. He said he would, volunteering, with the keenness of
+men whose lives are always at stake, to leave his gun with them. That
+allayed suspicion for the moment, but they even went so far as to send two
+of their number with him. The boy, as they reached the horse, carelessly
+said that he had shot some game and would pick it up, in the meantime
+asking the men to lead his horse on ahead. Then turning behind the second
+man, he struck him a blow with his revolver and shot the other. Mounting
+his pony, Cody then dashed down the ravine. In a moment the whole party
+were after him. It was certain that he would soon be overtaken, as his own
+pony was tired and theirs were fresh. Bill turned the corner of some rocks
+and, dismounting, gave the pony a slap and sent him tearing down the
+ravine, while he himself hid in the bushes and watched the whole party
+tear by in the pursuit of the riderless horse. He then calmly walked back
+to the station at Horseshoe and told of the adventure. Such experiences as
+this followed one after another, until in 1863, with the Civil War in full
+progress, Cody, then seventeen years old, received word that his mother
+was dying. He went immediately to their home, and arrived in time to see
+his mother before she died.
+
+It was a sad household that gathered together after the burial, and when
+the children talked over what they should do, they were astonished to hear
+that Cody had made up his mind to enlist at once in the Northern army. He
+had kept his word with his mother and had not become a soldier as long as
+she lived; but now that she was dead and the family homestead out of debt,
+he was free from all promises.
+
+He at once enlisted, and his regiment was soon ordered to the front, but
+the young man was so able as a scout that he soon came to be used on
+special duty. Then, too, his fame as a plainsman was well known, and it
+reached military headquarters long before he himself arrived. He was at
+once selected, therefore, as a bearer of military dispatches at Fort
+Larned, and one of his first escapades took place soon after he was put
+upon this work. Some of the Southerners bore a grudge against him that
+dated back to the time when he had saved his father from them. These
+men--now on the Southern side--heard of his journey and laid in ambush by
+a stream in a gulch where it was necessary for him to cross on account of
+the ford. They hid their horses in a clump of trees and went to a cabin
+near the ford to wait for his arrival. Darkness came on before he reached
+the spot, and as by this time the young man had acquired the habit of
+absolutely observing everything at all times about him, he soon discovered
+the fresh tracks of horses. Without any other object than the natural
+instinct to find the reason for everything that presented itself, he
+quietly dismounted, followed the trail, and found the five horses. It was
+evident that there were five men near by watching for him.
+
+The only thing to do was to ride on as quietly as possible and try to make
+the ford. He was in the act of entering the water when he heard their
+cries, and, urging his horse into the stream, he turned in his saddle, and
+before any of the five could pull a trigger he had shot one of them. Still
+he spurred the horse on, turned again and shot another. But the others
+were firing now, and so Cody fell forward across his horse and was lucky
+enough to make the other side of the stream. There he was safe, because
+the other three were not mounted.
+
+When the scout returned with answers to the dispatches he became very wary
+as he approached the ford. There were no signs, however, of an attacking
+party, and, coming up to the shanty, he found one of the men whom he had
+shot dying there alone. The man had been left by his pals with enough food
+to last him until he should die, and Bill discovered that he was a man
+whom he had known from his earliest boyhood, and who had been a supposed
+friend of his father. As the man was near his end, the boy gave him water
+and sat by him until he died. He then returned to Fort Larned.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+"BILL CODY, THE SCOUT"
+
+
+With his entrance into the United States army "Bill Cody," as he had come
+to be known, arrived at man's estate, although he was scarcely eighteen
+years of age. He was known not only all over the West, but every army
+headquarters knew of the skillful frontiersman, and even at that early
+date most boys of the United States had read some part of his life in the
+newspapers.
+
+Now his work became that of a man, and he had plenty of narrow escapes
+during the war, which in their way were as remarkable as his experiences
+on the plains. For example, once General Smith, who was in charge of
+headquarters at Memphis, got hold of him and told him that he wished to
+get some information and have some maps drawn of the position of the
+Confederate troops; and that it was impossible to secure this unless he
+could find a man who would go into the Confederate camp in disguise. Cody
+immediately consented to go. It did not seem any more dangerous or any
+less honorable than carrying out the regular life of a scout and Indian
+hunter of the plains.
+
+Just before the trip he had captured a man whom he knew, but who sided
+with the Southerners--a man named Nat Golden, who had been one of Russell,
+Majors & Waddell's freightmen. On this man he found some dispatches, which
+he promptly read. Golden was such an old friend that Cody took the papers
+from him, and when the man was arrested, nothing being found on him to
+make him a spy, he was simply imprisoned. Bill never told. With these
+papers in his possession and dressed in the Confederate uniform, the spy
+entered the Confederate lines, after telling General Smith what was in the
+dispatches.
+
+He was, of course, immediately halted by the pickets, to whom he stated
+that he was a Confederate soldier with information for the general. After
+being disarmed he was taken to General Forrest, and a conversation then
+took place in which Cody told Forest that Golden had been captured, and
+that as he was being taken prisoner he had handed Cody the dispatches,
+asking him to take them to General Forrest. The story seemed so plausible
+that the General allowed him to stay in camp. And for two days he kept his
+eyes open, drew plans, and was ready to leave, when he came near losing
+his presence of mind, as well as his life, by discovering General Forrest
+talking with Golden himself, who had escaped from the Union lines. He knew
+that there was no time for delay. Golden, having no idea that Cody was in
+the Confederate lines, would tell Forrest the whole story as it actually
+happened, and the General would at once have him arrested. He went,
+therefore, apparently in great calmness, to his tent, got his horse
+saddled, and rode quietly toward the picket line. No one suspected that
+anything was the matter. No one paid any attention to him. As he got to
+the picket the sergeant spoke to him, recognized him, and allowed him to
+pass.
+
+He was outside the lines--in fact, he was between the Union and the
+Confederate lines--when he heard the sound of a squad of cavalry
+approaching. Then he put his horse to the run and in a moment discovered
+that a troop of Confederate cavalry was approaching from behind to meet a
+troop of Union cavalry approaching from the front. The one thought a spy
+was escaping; the other thought that a deserter or a spy was approaching.
+It was a hard situation. Fortunately, he got into some timber, and as he
+came out on the other side he discovered the Union lines. But it was not
+safe for him to approach in Confederate uniform, and so, with the
+knowledge that the Confederate cavalry was looking for him in the woods,
+Cody calmly dismounted at the spot where he had left his uniform, changed
+his clothes, and was able to lay his maps and report before General Smith
+within forty-eight hours from the time he had left.
+
+After some further experiences with the force at the front, Cody was
+assigned to duty at St. Louis. Office work palled on him, however, and he
+soon procured his release, as the war was practically over. He then
+returned to Fort Leavenworth and looked again for a job. This time it
+turned out to be the work of driving the famous overland stage which ran
+from St. Joseph to Sacramento, doing the two thousand miles in nineteen
+days on the average. This stage was another of the enterprises of the
+great firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell. It was a difficult enterprise,
+too. The stage frequently carried large sums of money, and was therefore
+frequently held up by desperadoes or Indians.
+
+No one seemed very anxious to undertake the work of driver, although it
+was well paid. And the now famous Indian scout saw his opportunity again
+of making relatively large sums of money by taking risks that few others
+would take. He was at once offered the opportunity on his application, and
+started driving the coach for what was called a division--that is, two
+hundred and fifty miles.
+
+Those were strange old coaches. One of them may be seen to-day by any boy
+who will go to Buffalo Bill's famous Wild West Show and watch the old
+Deadwood coach drive around the ring. They were large-wheeled wagons swung
+on braces. They had to be strong, for they went over the most frightful
+roads one can imagine. Passengers could ride inside or on top, and every
+one who traveled went as fully armed as he could. There never was a time
+in the night or day when the coach was not apt to be attacked. And if it
+were attacked, the man on the box was the first one shot. Cody's run was
+from Fort Kearny to Plum Creek, and he drove six horses. When he took hold
+of the job he was warned that Indians were all about, and rumors came
+thicker and thicker in the first month of his driving.
+
+Nothing happened, however, with the exception of one trip, where he saved
+the coach and the lives of all in it by a daring rush through a stream in
+the face of a party of Indians. But shortly after this he was told by the
+division superintendent, as he left Fort Kearny, that in the coach was a
+very large amount of money being sent in a box to Plum Creek. It was a
+question whether the existence of this treasure had become known or not.
+At any rate, Cody said he would be on the watch. First, before mounting on
+the box, he looked over the passengers--and here again was the same habit
+of looking at everything and everybody that might have any relation to the
+situation. He did not like the looks of two of the passengers, and as the
+conductor, who always traveled with the driver on the trip, was suddenly
+prevented from going, his suspicions became keener.
+
+Again the keen boy decided that the thing to do was to take time by the
+forelock. He had proceeded only a part of the distance after all but the
+two passengers had left when he pulled up the coach and got down as if to
+examine the running gear. Then he asked the two men to help him. As they
+started to come out of the coach Cody pointed two revolvers at them and
+held them up in the most approved fashion. He made them throw out their
+revolvers, then bound them and put them back in the coach.
+
+Something that one of the men had said made him think that they were part
+of a gang, the other members of which were somewhere in ambush along the
+trail. On reaching the first relay station he deposited his prisoners with
+the agent and then started on.
+
+There were no other passengers. He had no sooner gotten away from the
+station than, stopping again, he cut open one of the cushions of the
+coach, and taking the money from the box, put it inside the cushions and
+then patched up the opening. After that he remounted the box and rode on.
+
+Within an hour, while driving through a bit of timber, the expected
+happened. The coach was held up by half a dozen men. They started to look
+for the treasure. Cody told them a long story of two men who had been
+riding as passengers, who had held him up in a lonely spot, taken the
+treasure, and disappeared into the timber. The gang immediately recognized
+their confederates, and in a fury at being thus deceived, they waited only
+long enough to ask him if they were mounted. On receiving an answer that
+they were not and also a description of the direction they had taken, the
+highwaymen left him in peace and rode in hot haste after their
+confederates.
+
+And the driver of the overland stage finished his journey and deposited
+the treasure into the hands that it was intended for.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE INDIAN CAMPAIGNS WITH THE ARMY
+
+
+Anyone who will read the history of the United States after the Civil War
+will come upon a long series of campaigns of the United States army in the
+West against the American Indians. These Indians, as has already been
+said, constantly being more and more confined, had now only the great
+American desert and the Rocky Mountains to live upon. They existed there
+in enormous numbers. They hunted the almost limitless herds of buffalo and
+deer. They fought, whenever opportunity offered, whatever white men came
+upon them. The attempt of the government was to give the Indians certain
+territories on which they could live in different parts of that country.
+These territories were called Indian reservations, and some of them still
+exist; but at that time--that is, between 1870 and 1880--the Indians were
+still in their native wild civilization, and declined to be limited to
+these reservations.
+
+They had no desire to become farmers. They wanted to roam over the plains,
+and hunt, and fish, and live as they were born to live. They could not be
+made like white men. And hence the result was a series of campaigns which
+gradually exterminated most of them and killed the spirit of the others.
+One of these campaigns was the famous fight of General Custer, whose
+command was practically annihilated in the famous battle of Little Big
+Horn. Here again the qualities of Cody came into great demand. He was one
+of the greatest scouts in these Indian campaigns. His experiences, his
+fights, would number into the hundreds in a short decade. General
+Sheridan, who was put in command of the troops to quell the Indian
+uprising, made him the chief of his scouts, and during these years he was
+constantly at work leading the American troops against the Indians.
+
+Some time before he had acquired the name which now every boy in this
+country and almost every boy in the civilized world knows him
+by--"Buffalo Bill"--and the story of how this name was given to him is
+well worth the telling.
+
+Cody had always been a great shot--not only an accurate, but a wonderfully
+quick shooter. This skill and quickness had saved his life many times.
+When he was not at work at some specific duty he would hunt buffaloes,
+riding forth over the plains on a horse he had trained to hunt. As a herd
+of buffaloes--and there were hundreds of them--was seen approaching some
+camp where Cody was, he would mount his horse, throw the reins on his
+neck, and sit quietly while the animal ran diagonally toward the herd at
+full speed, selected of his own will the last of the herd, and worked with
+all his keen, nervous ability until he brought his rider close alongside
+the shaggy animal. There is but one spot that is very vulnerable in a
+buffalo. You may shoot a dozen times and hardly wound him, but if one shot
+reaches the vital spot, the animal drops dead in his tracks. Again and
+again the men of the plains have seen Cody start out on his horse and
+within a few minutes from the firing of the first shot drop ten or a dozen
+of the wild beasts of the prairie.
+
+The story of how the name of Buffalo Bill came to be given to him by
+common consent is this: There was a man named William Comstock who had
+been called by his friends "Buffalo Bill" because he was such a successful
+buffalo hunter. When he heard that Cody was being called "Buffalo Bill"
+too, he disputed his right to that title. Cody heard of it, and told some
+of the officers of the army post that if there was any dispute, he for one
+was willing to settle it by an actual contest in buffalo killing. Comstock
+was as game as Cody, and accepted the challenge. And so the plainsmen
+arranged the contest.
+
+They settled upon a huge tract of prairie near Sheridan, Kansas, and when
+the appointed day arrived everybody who could reach the spot came to
+witness the contest. Officers, soldiers, railroadmen, scouts, pioneers,
+and all the inhabitants of that country gathered in a large crowd. Judges
+were appointed and the two claimants to the title were on hand. It was an
+easy matter in those days and in that place to find a herd of buffaloes,
+so that within an hour after the start they had sighted a herd and started
+for the hunt.
+
+As soon as the herd was sighted the two men separated, each working on his
+own account and getting all the buffaloes he could. Cody killed
+thirty-eight, to twenty-three for Comstock, and the sight of sixty-one
+buffaloes lying dead upon the plain must have been a wonderful one.
+
+Then they had a gala lunch, and in the afternoon started again. And then
+the final crowning feat was apparent. In the second contest Cody, in order
+to leave no doubt of the matter, rode his horse without either saddle or
+bridle, and even then he killed eighteen to the other's fourteen. From
+that time on to this day no one has questioned his right to the title of
+"Buffalo Bill."
+
+It would be impossible here to go into the many episodes that occurred
+while Bill, under the title of Colonel William F. Cody, was chief of the
+United States Army Scouts. It is only possible to say that in that
+capacity he not only made it possible for the United States army to
+accomplish a work impossible without scouts who had been brought up in
+that kind of fight, but it is safe to say that if General Custer had had
+him with him, the frightful massacre of Little Big Horn would never have
+occurred. But in all that time Buffalo Bill was at work upon his chosen
+profession, with the exception of a short time when, against his will, he
+was made a justice of the peace.
+
+There is an interesting and amusing episode told of his short legal career
+that is worth mentioning briefly here. Shortly after his appointment,
+which was made because of the necessity of having a justice of the peace
+at hand in the army post, a couple came to him to be married. He was very
+much disturbed and embarrassed, scarcely knowing what to do, but he got
+along all right until the end of the service, and then, to the amazement
+of the assembled party, he ended all by saying:
+
+"Whom God and Buffalo Bill hath joined together, let no man put asunder."
+
+In the midst of these years of scouting in the Indian fights the great
+Western scout was always in difficulty as to the management of his
+financial affairs. He always has said that he was not born a business man.
+When he had money he spent it like a gentleman, no matter how much it was.
+Once when he was not busy in Indian campaigning he conceived the idea of
+representing on the stage certain phases of life on the plains in order to
+make some money. The first venture took place in Rochester, New York. In
+order to make the show as realistic as possible, he himself and two other
+scouts were put into a play written especially for them, and the
+descriptions of the first performance make an episode in Buffalo Bill's
+life that must have been as amusing and as extraordinary as the episodes
+of his life on the plains were exciting and dangerous. The three were
+stagestruck from the time the curtain went up, and all of them forgot
+their lines. But Buffalo Bill, finding that nothing was going to happen
+and realizing that the audience were sitting in their seats expecting
+something to happen, answered the questions put to him by the manager and
+told a story. That poor manager must have had a bad quarter of an hour.
+He was also taking part in the piece, and was utterly at a loss what to
+say or do. Bill told a story of one of his experiences on the plains in
+his own language. This proving to meet with the approval of the audience,
+the manager continued asking questions, drawing forth story after story,
+so that when the play ended the audience felt full of enthusiasm for the
+extraordinary show, which in reality did not contain one single line of
+the original drama.
+
+The scheme was not successful, however, and some years later Buffalo Bill
+got together some friendly Indian chiefs and some frontiersmen and
+constructed a simple play of the plains which was an immense success. At
+different times for five years this play--"The Scout of the Plains"--was
+played in nearly every city of any size in the United States. Frequently
+it would be having a run in some town when word would come from a
+commanding officer at a Western army post that the Indians were on the
+warpath again. Then the play would be closed, and the scouts, with their
+chief at their head, would hasten to the plains and begin again their
+real warfare, returning to the sham fights of the play when the real ones
+were over.
+
+And it was this remarkable success in representing to people in Eastern
+cities the actual life on the plains that gave Colonel Cody the courage to
+carry out an idea which had been in his mind for many years--that is, of
+putting before people a true representation of the different phases of the
+life in that immense country, thousands of miles in length and width,
+which existed between 1840 and 1870, and which has now gone forever.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+BUFFALO BILL AND HIS SHOW
+
+
+There is only a word to be said of Buffalo Bill's "Wild West," because the
+space at our command does not make it possible to tell the whole story in
+detail. The enterprise is now one of huge proportions, but it started much
+smaller. The reason for its enormous popularity and increase is that it is
+almost unique among plays or shows of every kind. For it gives to the
+audience a real picture, with real characters, of a most exciting period
+of civilization in this country that never has existed anywhere else, and
+that never will exist again. The Indians that have mock fights in Buffalo
+Bill's arena to-day are absolutely the same men who used to track him and
+try to kill him in the Indian campaigns twenty or thirty years ago. The
+Deadwood coach that is attacked in the arena by Indians with the shooting
+of guns is the same coach that used to run across the plains and that has
+time and time again been attacked in the same way, but with very different
+intent. The cowboys and frontiersmen who ride are the same men who used to
+live on the plains and herd cattle, and the ponies they ride are the
+bucking bronchos of the West.
+
+There have often been doubts expressed as to the reality of some of this.
+One instance is enough to show the contrary. When the great Wild West Show
+went to Europe and traveled about in the ancient cities of Italy, they
+came finally to Rome and gave their daily exhibition there. In one of the
+boxes sat an Italian nobleman, the Prince of Sermonetta, who made the
+statement to his friends that he doubted whether the broncho busters--the
+men who ride the bucking bronchos--were really as good riders as they
+seemed. He thought the ponies were trained to buck.
+
+This came to the ears of Buffalo Bill, and he answered it in his usual
+polite but sturdy fashion. Then the nobleman met him and told him that he
+had some wild horses on his estate in the country that had never been
+ridden and could not be controlled except in a mass. Buffalo Bill at once
+said that if he would have the horses brought to his arena some afternoon
+during the show he would like to have his men make a try at riding them.
+Nothing pleased the nobleman more, and of course the experiment was
+advertised all over Italy.
+
+On the appointed day the horses were brought on in cars. There was
+considerable difficulty and a good deal of excitement in getting them out
+of the cars and into the arena. As soon as they found themselves loose
+after being cooped up in such undignified fashion, they were wild indeed.
+The arena was cleared of everything except those furious beasts, and then
+half a dozen cowboys calmly walked in with their lariats to make the
+trial. It was probably the most interesting exhibition ever given by the
+Wild West Show. Quietly and warily the cow punchers threw their lassoes,
+wound them about the feet of the horses, threw them, and held them down.
+Then they saddled and bridled them, and then the riding began. The show
+was not materially delayed; the audience left and got home at the usual
+time; but before they had quitted the arena every one of the wild horses
+was ridden quietly and in dignified fashion around the ring and up in
+front of the nobleman's box, and it was reported that no one was more
+pleased than that same nobleman himself.
+
+There are many additional and interesting features to Buffalo Bill's show
+to-day, such as the Cossack riders, the San Juan battle, and the regiments
+of different European armies. But they do not add to the value of what
+will go down in history as "Buffalo Bill's Wild West." That is all true as
+gold. That is justly remarkable because of the real way in which it tells
+a real story, and if the boy of to-day who reads this would like to see
+what the Indians and the white men of the Western plains were in those
+days, how they fought, how they traveled, and how they lived, he may see
+it still by going to see the show. He will never see it anywhere else
+again.
+
+In ending this little sketch of a remarkable man it is worth telling an
+episode of the experience of these natives of the wilderness in the midst
+of the centuries-old cities of the Old World. Everywhere the company went
+in England, in Europe, the famous scout was entertained by royalty and
+entertained them in return. One day after they had opened in London the
+King, then the Prince of Wales, expressed a desire to see the show. A box
+was prepared and the royal party attended. The whole exhibition was so new
+and interesting that in a short time the Prince went again, and expressed
+a desire to ride around the ring in the Deadwood coach. Buffalo Bill was
+ready and called for five passengers. The five passengers who accepted
+were the Prince of Wales himself on the box beside Buffalo Bill, and four
+kings who happened to be visiting in England--the King of Denmark, the
+King of Saxony, the King of Greece, and the Crown Prince of Austria. As
+usual, the coach started. But this time the Indians who attacked and the
+cowboys who rescued the coach had been instructed to "do something a
+little extra," to give a little louder yells, to fire a few more shots.
+And it is no wonder if, as the rumor goes--though proof does not
+exist--that before the ride was over some of the four kings were under the
+seats. When the trip was finished and the Prince of Wales congratulated
+Buffalo Bill, he said to him:
+
+"Colonel, did you ever hold four kings like that before?"
+
+And Cody replied: "I have held four kings more than once. But, your Royal
+Highness, I never held four kings and a royal joker before."
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Buffalo Bill, by 
+Col. William F. Cody
+
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+    <title>
+      The Adventures Of Buffalo Bill, by William F. Cody&mdash;A Project Gutenberg eBook
+    </title>
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+Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Buffalo Bill, by Col. William F. Cody
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
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+Title: The Adventures of Buffalo Bill
+
+Author: Col. William F. Cody
+
+Release Date: February 13, 2012 [EBook #38840]
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL ***
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+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1><small>THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL</small></h1>
+
+<p>&nbsp;<a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="bbox" style="width: 413px; height: 500px;"><img src="images/frontis.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p class="caption">HE SAW THE FEATHERED HEAD OF AN INDIAN POKE OVER<br />THE BANK BEFORE HIM.</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Adventures of<br />
+Buffalo Bill</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><small>BY</small><br />
+COL. WILLIAM F. CODY<br />
+(BUFFALO BILL)</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center">HARPER &amp; ROW, PUBLISHERS<br />
+NEW YORK, EVANSTON, and LONDON</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="title"><i>Harper&#8217;s Young People&#8217;s Series</i></p>
+<p class="center">New Large Type Edition</p>
+<p class="center">Illustrated&mdash;Jackets Printed in Colors</p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table">
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">Toby Tyler.</span> By James Otis<br />
+<span class="smcap">Mr. Stubbs&#8217;s Brother.</span> By James Otis<br />
+<span class="smcap">Tim and Tip.</span> By James Otis<br />
+<span class="smcap">Raising the Pearl.</span> By James Otis<br />
+<span class="smcap">Adventures of Buffalo Bill.</span> By W. F. Cody<br />
+<span class="smcap">Diddie, Dumps, and Tot.</span> By Mrs. L. C. Pyrnelle<br />
+<span class="smcap">Music and Musicians.</span> By Lucy C. Lillie<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Cruise of the Canoe Club.</span> By W. L. Alden<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Cruise of the &#8220;Ghost.&#8221;</span> By W. L. Alden<br />
+<span class="smcap">Moral Pirates.</span> By W. L. Alden<br />
+<span class="smcap">A New Robinson Crusoe.</span> By W. L. Alden<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Adventures of Jimmy Brown.</span> By W. L. Alden<br />
+<span class="smcap">Prince Lazybones.</span> By Mrs. W. J. Hays<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Flamingo Feather.</span> By Kirk Munroe<br />
+<span class="smcap">Derrick Sterling.</span> By Kirk Munroe<br />
+<span class="smcap">Chrystal, Jack &amp; Co.</span> By Kirk Munroe<br />
+<span class="smcap">Wakulla.</span> By Kirk Munroe<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Ice Queen.</span> By Ernest Ingersoll<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Red Mustang.</span> By W. O. Stoddard<br />
+<span class="smcap">Talking Leaves.</span> By W. O. Stoddard<br />
+<span class="smcap">Two Arrows.</span> By W. O. Stoddard<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Household of Glen Holly.</span> By Lucy C. Lillie<br />
+<span class="smcap">Mildred&#8217;s Bargain.</span> By Lucy C. Lillie<br />
+<span class="smcap">Nan.</span> By Lucy C. Lillie<br />
+<span class="smcap">Rolf House.</span> By Lucy C. Lillie</td></tr></table>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center">THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL</p>
+<p class="center">Copyright 1904<br />
+By Harper &amp; Brothers<br />
+Printed in the U.S.A.</p>
+<p class="center">D-E</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p class="title">CONTENTS</p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table">
+<tr><td colspan="3" align="center">THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2">&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#I">I.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Crossing the Plains</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II">II.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Rounding Up Indians</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#III">III.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Pursuing the Sioux</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#IV">IV.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">My Duel with Yellow Hand</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="3" align="center">THE LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II.1">I.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">The Little Boy of the Prairie</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II.2">II.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Little Bill at School and at the Traps</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II.3">III.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">The Pony Express Rider</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II.4">IV.</a></td><td>&#8220;<span class="smcap">Bill Cody, the Scout</span>&#8221;</td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II.5">V.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">The Indian Campaigns with the Army</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II.6">VI.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Buffalo Bill and His Show</span></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td></tr></table>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p class="title">ILLUSTRATIONS</p>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table">
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">He Saw the Feathered Head of an Indian Poke Over the Bank Before Him</span></td>
+    <td colspan="2" align="right"><a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">I Disentangled Myself and Jumped Behind the Dead Body of My Horse</span></td>
+    <td><i>Facing p.</i></td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_47">46</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">In the Distance I Saw a Large Herd of Buffaloes Which Were Being<br />Chased and Fired at by Twenty or Thirty Indians</span></td>
+    <td valign="bottom" align="center">"</td>
+    <td valign="bottom" align="right"><a href="#Page_97">96</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="smcap">He Looked Up and Saw Indians in War Paint Standing Inside the Cave, Gazing at Him</span></td>
+    <td align="center">"</td>
+    <td align="right"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td></tr></table>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p>
+<h2>FOREWORD</h2>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">With</span> the death of William Frederick Cody, at Denver on January 10, 1917,
+there passed away the last of that intrepid band of pathfinders who gave
+their lives to the taming of the West, a gallant company of brave men
+steadfastly pushing back the frontier year by year and mile by mile, and
+ceasing from their labors only when the young and vigorous life of the
+Pacific States had been linked up for all time with the older civilization
+of the Atlantic seaboard.</p>
+
+<p>The fame of Colonel Cody, or Buffalo Bill as he was popularly called,
+recalls that of Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Kit Carson, but he cannot
+be said to rank with those earlier heroes in point of actual national
+service. He played no large part in the upbuilding of our Continental
+Empire. Yet he was made of the same stern stuff, and, on his more
+circumscribed stage, he was a gallant and picturesque figure, a true
+superman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> of the brave old days. When, in 1883, Cody gave up his roving
+life and organized the Wild West show it meant that the Wild West itself
+was gone for good and all. Together with Boone, Crockett, and Carson his
+life rounds out the century of continental occupation, counting from the
+year Boone crossed the mountains into Kentucky to the final completion of
+the Union Pacific Railway. Boone was born in Pennsylvania and died in
+Missouri; Crockett was born west of the Alleghanies, in Tennessee, and
+died in Texas; Carson and Cody were born west of the Mississippi, and died
+in Colorado.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the most picturesque period in Buffalo Bill&#8217;s life was his service
+as a rider in the service of the famous Pony Express just before the Civil
+War. This was perhaps the most perilous job that a man could undertake,
+and young Cody was barely fifteen years old. Yet he had had previous
+experience in Indian fighting and at the age of eleven he had killed his
+first Indian. Shortly afterward the Civil War began and Cody enlisted in
+the Union Army, serving as a scout. When the fighting was over he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span>
+returned to the Far West. The transcontinental railways were in process of
+construction, a romantic episode in American history fittingly depicted in
+the glowing pages of Zane Grey&#8217;s <i>The U. P. Trail</i>. The builders of the
+Kansas Pacific Railroad wanted buffalo meat to feed their laborers and
+Cody undertook the contract. In eighteen months (1867-68) he killed 4,280
+buffaloes, and thereby earned his title of Buffalo Bill.</p>
+
+<p>In 1868 Cody rejoined the army as scout and guide, and quickly made a
+reputation as a man of infinite endurance and daring. He was attached to
+General Sheridan&#8217;s headquarters at Hays City, Kansas; and soon after
+reporting for duty he learned that the commander wanted a dispatch sent to
+Fort Dodge, a distance of ninety-five miles. The Indians had recently
+killed two or three dispatch riders on this route, and none of the scouts
+was anxious to take on the job. Even a promised bonus of several hundred
+dollars found no takers. Cody volunteered and made the dangerous trip in
+safety. But at Fort Dodge he found that the commanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> officer there was
+very anxious to send dispatches to Fort Larned, and again the regular
+scouts shunned the task. On went Buffalo Bill to Fort Larned, sixty-five
+miles farther. About half-way he stopped to water his mule and the animal
+got away from him. For thirty-five miles Cody trailed the obstinate brute
+on foot, never quite able to get within clutch of his bridle rein. At
+daybreak Fort Larned came in sight and the danger from roving Indians was
+over. &#8220;Now, Mr. Mule, it is my turn,&#8221; exclaimed the exhausted and
+thoroughly infuriated scout, raising his gun to his shoulder. Like the
+majority of Government mules he was not easy to kill. He died hard, but he
+died.</p>
+
+<p>After a few hours&#8217; sleep it was necessary to begin the return journey, as
+answering dispatches had to be sent to General Sheridan. Again the ride
+was made in safety, and one of the greatest feats in all scout history had
+been accomplished. It should be explained that, previous to beginning the
+ride to Fort Dodge, Cody had been in the saddle for twenty hours, covering
+a distance of 140 miles. His grand total for a period of fifty-eight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span>
+hours was 365 miles (including thirty-five miles on foot), an average of
+over six miles an hour.</p>
+
+<p>A little later Cody was appointed chief scout and guide for the Fifth
+Cavalry in a campaign against the hostile Sioux and Cheyennes, and he had
+many narrow escapes from the tight places into which his adventurous
+disposition was always leading him. He also served as chief scout for the
+Republican River Expedition of 1869.</p>
+
+<p>While living near Fort McPherson, Nebraska, in 1870, Cody was appointed
+justice of the peace by General Emory to take care of certain civilian
+offenders against the common law. Buffalo Bill protested that he knew
+nothing about law, but General Emory was insistent and Cody went over to
+North Platte and was sworn in. That very night he was aroused by a man who
+had a complaint to make. One of his horses had been stolen by the boss of
+a passing herd, and he wanted a writ of replevin. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what a
+replevin is,&#8221; answered &#8217;Squire Cody, as he took down his old Lucretia
+rifle and patted it gently, &#8220;but I guess this will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> do as well.&#8221; In
+company with the complainant Cody galloped after the cavalcade and soon
+overtook the offender against the ethical code. At first the boss was
+defiant, but when he realized who the &#8217;Squire was he quickly weakened. &#8220;I
+didn&#8217;t care a blank about you being justice of the peace and constable
+combined,&#8221; he explained, &#8220;but when I found out you were Buffalo Bill it
+was time to lay down my hand.&#8221; The &#8217;Squire read the fellow a lecture on
+the iniquity of horse stealing, collected a fine of one hundred and fifty
+dollars, reclaimed the animal, and declared that court was adjourned.</p>
+
+<p>In 1872 the Russian Grand Duke Alexis visited this country, and a Far West
+hunting expedition was arranged in his honor. Buffalo Bill acted as guide
+and chief huntsman. The Grand Duke, under Cody&#8217;s tutelage, succeeded in
+bagging several handsome heads, and, in token of his appreciation, he
+presented to Buffalo Bill his almost priceless fur overcoat and a
+wonderful set of sleeve links and scarfpin studded with diamonds and
+rubies. In this same year<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span> Cody was elected a member of the Nebraska
+Legislature. Later on he resigned and went to Chicago, where he made his
+first appearance on the stage as an actor in a play written around himself
+and entitled, &#8220;The Scout of the Plains.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In 1874 Cody acted as guide to a grand hunting party given by General
+Sheridan to a number of wealthy and distinguished Eastern men. Cody became
+a great favorite with everybody, and the next winter he went on to New
+York to visit his new friends. He wore his famous sombrero and his fringed
+hunting suit of buckskin everywhere, and they created a mild sensation on
+Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Then he went back to the West and tried the
+hum-drum life of a farmer and ranchman.</p>
+
+<p>The famous Wild West show was staged for the first time at Omaha on May
+17, 1883. It was a tremendous success from the start, and Colonel Cody was
+besieged with applications from all over the country. He went to England
+in 1887; royalty patronized this truly original and thrilling
+entertainment, and Buffalo Bill&#8217;s fortune was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span> made. In later years
+several successful European tours were undertaken.</p>
+
+<p>In November, 1911, Colonel Cody announced his retirement. He was then
+sixty-seven years old and reputed to be worth $3,000,000. He went to his
+ranch at Cody, Wyoming, and tried to settle down. But the old spirit of
+adventure lured him back to the sawdust arena. This time he was not so
+fortunate. He lost money on every hand, and finally the celebrated show
+went under the auctioneer&#8217;s hammer. Friends came to his rescue, however,
+and bid in his famous white horse, Ishan, which the Colonel always rode at
+the head of his roughriders.</p>
+
+<p>The old scout had kept his courage, too, and he announced his intention of
+trying it again; he even joined a circus company as one of the regular
+troupe of performers. But his race was run, his day was done. Even his
+iron constitution had been weakened by the trials and privations of
+seventy-two years of strenuous life. He had lived up to the very last inch
+of his allotted span. He had played hard and he had fought hard and in the
+end he died hard, amazing even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span> his experienced physicians by his
+extraordinary vitality. The doctors had told him that the end was near,
+but he only laughed and called for a pack of cards. &#8220;You can&#8217;t kill the
+old scout,&#8221; he said, smilingly. &#8220;Let&#8217;s have a game of high-five.&#8221; Yet even
+this undaunted spirit was forced to bow to mortal necessity, and a day or
+two later he relapsed into a state of unconsciousness from which he was
+never to emerge.</p>
+
+<p>His death attracted the notice of two continents. The newspapers printed
+columns of obituaries; the State of Colorado ordered a public funeral in
+his honor; it was the passing of a heroic figure in American annals. All
+in all, he must rank as the greatest of scouts and the most gallant of
+Indian fighters. He never knew fear. His life was in danger hundreds of
+times, and yet he always had the better of his adversary. He lived a free
+life among wild surroundings, but he was always to be found on the side of
+law and order. He was a dead shot, a splendid horseman, and an absolutely
+fearless fighter. The men who knew him best, including many well-known<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span>
+officers of the army, all united in praising the bravery, honesty, and
+modesty of this true product of the old wild West. His place can never be
+filled; he was a relic of the days that are gone, never to return.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="giant">THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2>
+<p class="title"><span class="smcap">Crossing the Plains</span></p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> the early settlement of Kansas common-school advantages were denied us,
+and to provide a means for educating the few boys and girls in the
+neighborhood of my home, a subscription school was started in a small log
+cabin that was built on the bank of a creek that ran near our house. My
+mother took great interest in this school, and at her persuasion I
+returned home and became enrolled as a pupil, where I made satisfactory
+progress until, as the result of a quarrel with a schoolmate, I left the
+town and started across the plains with one of Russell, Majors &amp; Waddell&#8217;s
+freight trains.</p>
+
+<p>The trip proved a most enjoyable one to me, although no incidents worthy
+of note occurred on the way. On my return from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> Fort Kearny I was paid off
+the same as the rest of the employ&eacute;s. The remainder of the summer and fall
+I spent in herding cattle and working for Russell, Majors &amp; Waddell.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1857, I started for Salt Lake City with a herd of beef cattle, in
+charge of Frank and Bill McCarthy, for General Albert Sidney Johnston&#8217;s
+army, which was then being sent across the plains to fight the Mormons.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing occurred to interrupt our journey until we reached Plum Creek, on
+the South Platte River, thirty-five miles west of old Fort Kearny. We had
+made a morning drive, and had camped for dinner. The wagon masters and a
+majority of the men had gone to sleep under the mess wagons. The cattle
+were being guarded by three men, and the cook was preparing dinner. No one
+had any idea that Indians were anywhere near us. The first warning we had
+that they were infesting that part of the country was the firing of shots
+and the whoops and yells from a party of them, who, catching us napping,
+gave us a most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> unwelcome surprise. All the men jumped to their feet and
+seized their guns. They saw with astonishment the cattle running in every
+direction, they having been stampeded by the Indians, who had shot and
+killed the three men who were on day herd duty, and the redmen were now
+charging down upon the rest of us.</p>
+
+<p>The McCarthy boys, at the proper moment, gave orders to fire upon the
+advancing enemy. The volley checked them, although they returned the
+compliment, and shot one of our party through the leg. Frank McCarthy then
+sang out, &#8220;Boys, make a break for the slough yonder, and we can then have
+the bank for a breastwork.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We made a run for the slough, which was only a short distance off, and
+succeeded in safely reaching it, bringing with us the wounded man. The
+bank proved to be a very effective breastwork, affording us good
+protection. We had been there but a short time when Frank McCarthy, seeing
+that the longer we were corralled the worse it would be for us, said,</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, boys, we&#8217;ll try to make our way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> back to Fort Kearny by wading in
+the river and keeping the bank for a breastwork.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We all agreed that this was the best plan, and we accordingly proceeded
+down the river several miles in this way, managing to keep the Indians at
+a safe distance with our guns, until the slough made a junction with the
+main Platte River. From there down we found the river at times quite deep,
+and in order to carry the wounded man along with us, we constructed a raft
+of poles for his accommodation, and in this way he was transported.</p>
+
+<p>Occasionally the water would be too deep for us to wade, and we were
+obliged to put our weapons on the raft and swim. The Indians followed us
+pretty closely, and were continually watching for an opportunity to get a
+good range and give us a raking fire. Covering ourselves by keeping well
+under the bank, we pushed ahead as rapidly as possible, and made pretty
+good progress, the night finding us still on the way and our enemies yet
+on our track.</p>
+
+<p>I, being the youngest and smallest of the party, became somewhat tired,
+and, without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> noticing it, I had fallen behind the others for some little
+distance. It was about ten o&#8217;clock, and we were keeping very quiet and
+hugging close to the bank, when I happened to look up to the moonlit sky
+and saw the plumed head of an Indian peeping over the bank. Instead of
+hurrying ahead and alarming the men in a quiet way, I instantly aimed my
+gun at his head and fired. The report rang out sharp and loud on the night
+air, and was immediately followed by an Indian whoop, and the next moment
+about six feet of dead Indian came tumbling into the river. I was not only
+overcome with astonishment, but was badly scared, as I could hardly
+realize what I had done. I expected to see the whole force of Indians come
+down upon us. While I was standing thus bewildered, the men, who had heard
+the shot and the war whoop, and had seen the Indian take a tumble, came
+rushing back.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who fired that shot?&#8221; cried Frank McCarthy.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I did,&#8221; replied I, rather proudly, as my confidence returned, and I saw
+the men coming up.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>&#8220;Yes, and little Billy has killed an Indian stone dead&mdash;too dead to skin,&#8221;
+said one of the men, who had approached nearer than the rest, and had
+almost stumbled upon the Indian. From that time forward I became a hero
+and an Indian-killer. This was, of course, the first Indian I had ever
+shot, and as I was not then more than eleven years of age, my exploit
+created quite a sensation.</p>
+
+<p>The other Indians, upon learning what had happened to their advance, fired
+several shots without effect, but which hastened our retreat down the
+river. We reached Fort Kearny just as the reveille was being sounded,
+bringing the wounded man with us. After the peril through which we had
+passed, it was a relief to feel that once more I was safe after such a
+dangerous initiation.</p>
+
+<p>Frank McCarthy immediately reported to the commanding officer and informed
+him of all that had happened. The commandant at once ordered a company of
+cavalry and one of infantry to proceed to Plum Creek on a forced march,
+taking a howitzer with them&mdash;to endeavor to recapture the cattle from the
+Indians.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>The firm of Russell, Majors &amp; Waddell had a division agent at Kearny, and
+this agent mounted us on mules so that we could accompany the troops. On
+reaching the place where the Indians had surprised us, we found the bodies
+of the three men, whom they had killed and scalped and literally cut into
+pieces. We of course buried the remains. We caught but few of the cattle,
+most of them having been driven off and stampeded with the buffaloes,
+there being numerous immense herds of the latter in that section of the
+country at the time. The Indians&#8217; trail was discovered running south
+toward the Republican River, and the troops followed it to the head of
+Plum Creek, and there abandoned it, returning to Fort Kearny without
+having seen a single redskin.</p>
+
+<p>The company&#8217;s agent, seeing that there was no further use for us in that
+vicinity&mdash;as we had lost our cattle and mules&mdash;sent us back to Fort
+Leavenworth. The company, it is proper to state, did not have to stand the
+loss of the expedition, as the government held itself responsible for such
+depredations by the Indians.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>On the day that I got into Leavenworth, some time in July, I was
+interviewed for the first time in my life by a newspaper reporter, and the
+next morning I found my name in print as &#8220;the youngest Indian-slayer on
+the plains.&#8221; I am candid enough to admit that I felt very much elated over
+this notoriety. Again and again I read with eager interest the long and
+sensational account of our adventure. My exploit was related in a very
+graphic manner, and for a long time afterward I was considerable of a
+hero.</p>
+
+<p>In the following summer, Russell, Majors &amp; Waddell entered upon a contract
+with the government for General Albert Sidney Johnston&#8217;s army that was
+sent against the Mormons. A large number of teams and teamsters were
+required for the purpose, and as the route was considered a dangerous one,
+men were not easily engaged for the service, though the pay was forty
+dollars a month in gold. An old wagon master named Lew Simpson, one of the
+best that ever commanded a bull train, was upon the point of starting with
+about ten wagons for the company, direct for Salt Lake, and as he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+known me for some time as an ambitious youth, requested me to accompany
+him as an extra hand. My duties would be light, and, in fact, I would have
+nothing to do, unless some one of the drivers became sick, in which case I
+would be required to take his place. But even more seductive than this
+inducement was the promise that I should be provided with a mule of my own
+to ride, and be subject to the orders of no one save Simpson himself.</p>
+
+<p>As a matter of interest to the general reader, it may be well to give a
+brief description of a freight train. The wagons used in those days by
+Russell, Majors &amp; Waddell were known as the &#8220;J. Murphy wagons,&#8221; made at
+St. Louis especially for the plains business. They were very large and
+very strongly built, being capable of carrying seven thousand pounds of
+freight each. The wagon boxes were very commodious, being about as large
+as the rooms of an ordinary house, and were covered with two heavy canvas
+sheets to protect the merchandise from the rain. These wagons were
+generally sent out from Leavenworth, each<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> loaded with six thousand pounds
+of freight, and each drawn by several yoke of oxen in charge of one
+driver. A train consisted of twenty-five wagons, all in charge of one man,
+who was known as the wagon master. The second man in command was the
+assistant wagon master. Then came the &#8220;extra hand,&#8221; next the night herder,
+and lastly the cavayard driver, whose duty it was to drive the loose and
+lame cattle. There were thirty-one men all told in a train. The men did
+their own cooking, being divided into messes of seven. One man cooked,
+another brought wood and water, another stood guard, and so on, each
+having some duty to perform while getting meals. All were heavily armed
+with Colt&#8217;s pistols and Mississippi yagers, and every one always had his
+weapons handy so as to be prepared for any emergency.</p>
+
+<p>The wagon master, in the language of the plains, was called the
+&#8220;bull-wagon boss&#8221;; the teamsters were known as &#8220;bull-whackers&#8221;; and the
+whole train was denominated a &#8220;bull outfit.&#8221; Everything at that time was
+called an &#8220;outfit.&#8221; The men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> of the plains were always full of a droll
+humor and exciting stories of their own experiences, and many an hour I
+spent in listening to the recitals of thrilling adventures and hairbreadth
+escapes.</p>
+
+<p>The trail to Salt Lake ran through Kansas northwestwardly, crossing the
+Big Blue River, then over the Big and Little Sandy, coming into Nebraska
+near the Big Sandy. The next stream of any importance was the Little Blue,
+along which the trail ran for sixty miles, then crossed a range of sand
+hills, and struck the Platte River ten miles below Fort Kearny; thence the
+course lay up the South Platte to the old Ash Hollow Crossing; thence
+eighteen miles across to the North Platte, near the mouth of the Blue
+Water, where General Harney had his great battle in 1855 with the Sioux
+and Cheyenne Indians. From this point the North Platte was followed,
+passing Courthouse Rock, Chimney Rock, and Scott&#8217;s Bluffs, and then on to
+Fort Laramie, where the Laramie River was crossed. Still following the
+North Platte for some considerable distance, the trail crossed the river
+at old Richard&#8217;s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> Bridge, and followed it up to the celebrated Red Buttes,
+crossing the Willow Creeks to the Sweet Water, thence past the Cold
+Springs, where, three feet under the sod, on the hottest day of summer,
+ice can be found; thence to the Hot Springs and the Rocky Ridge, and
+through the Rocky Mountains and Echo Canyon, and thence on to the great
+Salt Lake Valley.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing occurred on the trip to delay or give us any trouble whatever,
+until the train struck the South Platte River. One day we camped on the
+same ground where the Indians had surprised the cattle herd in charge of
+the McCarthy brothers. It was with difficulty that we discovered any
+traces of anybody ever having camped there before, the only landmark being
+the single grave, now covered with grass, in which we had buried the three
+men who had been killed. The country was alive with buffaloes, and having
+a day of rare sport, we captured ten or twelve head of cattle, they being
+a portion of the herd which had been stampeded by the Indians two months
+before. The next day we pulled out of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> camp, and the train was strung
+out to a considerable length along the road which ran near the foot of the
+sand hills two miles from the river. Between the road and the river we saw
+a large herd of buffaloes grazing quietly, they having been down to the
+stream for a drink.</p>
+
+<p>Just at this time we observed a party of returning Californians coming
+from the West. They too noticed the buffalo herd, and in another moment
+they were dashing down upon them, urging their steeds to the greatest
+speed. The buffalo herd stampeded at once, and broke down the hills. So
+hotly were they pursued by the hunters that about five hundred of them
+rushed through our train pell-mell, frightening both men and oxen. Some of
+the wagons were turned clear around, and many of the terrified oxen
+attempted to run to the hills, with the heavy wagons attached to them.
+Others turned around so short that they broke the wagon tongues off.
+Nearly all the teams got entangled in their gearing, and became wild and
+unruly, so that the perplexed drivers were unable to manage them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>The buffaloes, the cattle, and the drivers were soon running in every
+direction, and the excitement upset nearly everybody and everything. Many
+of the cattle broke their yokes and stampeded. One big buffalo bull became
+entangled in one of the heavy wagon chains, and it is a fact that in his
+desperate efforts to free himself he not only actually snapped the strong
+chain in two, but broke the ox yoke to which it was attached, and the last
+seen of him he was running toward the hills with it hanging from his
+horns. A dozen other equally remarkable incidents happened during the
+short time that the frantic buffaloes were playing havoc with our train,
+and when they got through and left us our outfit was badly crippled and
+scattered. This caused us to go into camp and spend a day in replacing the
+broken tongues and repairing other damages, and gathering up our scattered
+ox teams.</p>
+
+<p>The next day we rolled out of camp, and proceeded on our way toward the
+setting sun. Everything ran along smoothly with us from that point until
+we came within<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> about eighteen miles of Green River, in the Rocky
+Mountains, where we camped at noon. At this place we had to drive our
+cattle about a mile and a half to a creek to water them. Simpson, his
+assistant George Wood, and myself, accompanied by the usual number of
+guards, drove the cattle over to the creek, and while on our way back to
+camp we suddenly observed a party of twenty horsemen rapidly approaching
+us. We were not yet in view of our wagons, as a rise of ground intervened,
+and therefore we could not signal the trainmen in case of any unexpected
+danger befalling us. We had no suspicion, however, that we were about to
+be trapped, as the strangers were white men. When they had come up to us,
+one of the party, who evidently was the leader, rode out in front, and
+said,</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How are you, Mr. Simpson?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve got the best of me, sir,&#8221; said Simpson, who did not know him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I rather think I have,&#8221; coolly replied the stranger, whose words
+conveyed a double meaning, as we soon learned. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> had all come to a halt
+by this time, and the strange horsemen had surrounded us. They were all
+armed with double-barreled shotguns, rifles, and revolvers. We also were
+armed with revolvers, but we had no idea of danger, and these men, much to
+our surprise, had &#8220;got the drop&#8221; on us, and had covered us with their
+weapons, so that we were completely at their mercy. The whole movement of
+corralling us was done so quietly and quickly that it was accomplished
+before we knew it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll trouble you for your six-shooters, gentlemen,&#8221; now said the leader.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll give &#8217;em to you in a way you don&#8217;t want,&#8221; replied Simpson.</p>
+
+<p>The next moment three guns were leveled at Simpson. &#8220;If you make a move
+you are a dead man,&#8221; said the leader.</p>
+
+<p>Simpson saw at a glance that he was taken at a great disadvantage, and
+thinking it advisable not to risk the lives of the party by any rash act
+on his part, he said, &#8220;I see now that you have the best of me; but who are
+you, anyhow?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am Joe Smith,&#8221; was the reply.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>&#8220;What! the leader of the Danites?&#8221; asked Simpson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You are correct,&#8221; said Smith, for he it was.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; said Simpson, &#8220;I know you now; you are a spying scoundrel.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Simpson had good reason for calling him this, for only a short time before
+this Joe Smith had visited our train in the disguise of a teamster, and
+had remained with us two days. He suddenly disappeared, no one knowing
+where he had gone or why he had come among us. But it was all explained to
+us, now that he had returned with his Mormon Danites. After they had
+disarmed us, Simpson asked,</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Smith, what are you going to do with us?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ride back with us and I&#8217;ll soon show you,&#8221; said Smith.</p>
+
+<p>We had no idea of the surprise which awaited us. As we came upon the top
+of the ridge from which we could view our camp, we were astonished to see
+the remainder of the trainmen disarmed and stationed in a group, and
+surrounded by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>another squad of Danites, while other Mormons were
+searching our wagons for such articles as they wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How is this?&#8221; inquired Simpson. &#8220;How did you surprise my camp without a
+struggle? I can&#8217;t understand it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Easily enough,&#8221; said Smith. &#8220;Your men were all asleep under the wagons,
+except the cooks, who saw us coming, and took us for returning
+Californians or emigrants, and paid no attention to us until we rode up
+and surrounded your train. With our arms covering the men, we woke them
+up, and told them all they had to do was to walk out and drop their
+pistols, which they saw was the best thing they could do under
+circumstances over which they had no control, and you can just bet they
+did it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And what do you propose to do with us now?&#8221; asked Simpson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I intend to burn your train,&#8221; said he. &#8220;You are loaded with supplies and
+ammunition for Sidney Johnston, and as I have no way to convey the stuff
+to my own people, I&#8217;ll see that it does not reach the United States
+troops.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>&#8220;Are you going to turn us adrift here?&#8221; asked Simpson, who was anxious to
+learn what was to become of himself and his men.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No; I am hardly as bad as that. I&#8217;ll give you enough provisions to last
+you until you can reach Fort Bridger,&#8221; replied Smith. &#8220;And as soon as your
+cooks can get the stuff out of the wagons you can start.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;On foot?&#8221; was the laconic inquiry of Simpson.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, sir,&#8221; was the equally short reply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Smith, that&#8217;s too rough on us men. Put yourself in our place, and see how
+you would like it,&#8221; said Simpson. &#8220;You can well afford to give us at least
+one wagon and six yokes of oxen to convey us and our clothing and
+provisions to Fort Bridger. You&#8217;re a brute if you don&#8217;t do this.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; said Smith, after consulting a minute or two with some of his
+company, &#8220;I&#8217;ll do that much for you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The cattle and the wagon were brought up according to his orders, and the
+clothing and provisions were loaded on.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now you can go,&#8221; said Smith, after everything had been arranged.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>&#8220;Joe Smith, I think you are a mean coward to set us afloat in a hostile
+country without giving us our arms,&#8221; said Simpson, who had once before
+asked for the weapons, and had had his request denied.</p>
+
+<p>Smith, after further consultation with his comrades, said: &#8220;Simpson, you
+are too brave a man to be turned adrift here without any means of defense.
+You shall have your revolvers and guns.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Our weapons were accordingly handed over to Simpson, and we at once
+started for Fort Bridger, knowing that it would be useless to attempt the
+recapture of the train.</p>
+
+<p>When we had traveled about two miles we saw the smoke arising from our old
+camp. The Mormons, after taking what goods they wanted and could carry
+off, had set fire to the wagons, many of which were loaded with bacon,
+lard, hardtack, and other provisions, which made a very hot, fierce fire,
+and the smoke to roll up in dense clouds. Some of the wagons were loaded
+with ammunition, and it was not long before loud explosions followed in
+rapid succession. We waited and witnessed the burning of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> train, and
+then pushed on to Fort Bridger. Arriving at this post, we learned that two
+other trains had been captured and destroyed in the same way by the
+Mormons. This made seventy-five wagonloads, or four hundred and fifty
+thousand pounds of supplies, mostly provisions, which never reached
+General Johnston&#8217;s command, to which they had been consigned.</p>
+
+<p>After reaching the fort, it being far in November, we decided to spend the
+winter there, with about four hundred other employ&eacute;s of Russell, Majors &amp;
+Waddell, rather than attempt a return, which would have exposed us to many
+dangers and the severity of the rapidly approaching winter. During this
+period of hibernation, however, the larders of the commissary became so
+depleted that we were placed on one-quarter rations, and at length, as a
+final resort, the poor, dreadfully emaciated mules and oxen were killed to
+afford sustenance for our famishing party.</p>
+
+<p>Fort Bridger being located in a prairie, all fuel there used had to be
+carried for a distance of nearly two miles, and after our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> mules and oxen
+were butchered, we had no other recourse than to carry the wood on our
+backs or haul it on sleds&mdash;a very tedious and laborious alternative.</p>
+
+<p>Starvation was beginning to lurk about the post when spring approached,
+and but for the timely arrival of a westward-bound train loaded with
+provisions for Johnston&#8217;s army, some of our party must certainly have
+fallen victims to deadly hunger.</p>
+
+<p>The winter finally passed away, and early in the spring, as soon as we
+could travel, the civil employ&eacute;s of the government, with the teamsters and
+freighters, started for the Missouri River, the Johnston expedition having
+been abandoned.</p>
+
+<p>On the way up we stopped at Fort Laramie, and there met a supply train
+bound westward. Of course we all had a square meal once more, consisting
+of hardtack, bacon, coffee, and beans. I can honestly say that I thought
+it was the best meal that I had ever eaten; at least I relished it more
+than any other, and I think the rest of the party did the same.</p>
+
+<p>On leaving Fort Laramie, Simpson was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> made brigadier wagon master, and was
+put in charge of two large trains, with about four hundred extra men who
+were bound for Fort Leavenworth. When we came to Ash Hollow, instead of
+taking the usual trail over to the South Platte, Simpson concluded to
+follow the North Platte down to its junction with the South Platte. The
+two trains were traveling about fifteen miles apart, when one morning,
+while Simpson was with the rear train, he told his assistant wagon master
+George Wood and myself to saddle up our mules, as he wanted us to go with
+him and overtake the head train.</p>
+
+<p>We started off at about eleven o&#8217;clock, and had ridden about seven miles,
+when, while we were on a big plateau back of Cedar Bluffs, we suddenly
+discovered a band of Indians coming out of the head of the ravine half a
+mile distant, and charging down upon us at full speed. I thought that our
+end had come this time. Simpson, however, was equal to the occasion, for
+with wonderful promptness he jumped from his jaded mule, and in a trice
+shot his own animal and ours also, and ordered us to assist him to jerk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>
+their bodies into a triangle. This being quickly done, we got inside the
+barricade of mule-flesh, and were prepared to receive the Indians. We were
+each armed with a Mississippi yager and two revolvers, and as the Indians
+came swooping down on our improvised fort, we opened fire with such good
+effect that three fell dead at the first volley. This caused them to
+retreat out of range, as with two exceptions they were armed with bows and
+arrows, and therefore to approach near enough to do execution would expose
+at least several of them to certain death. Seeing that they could not take
+our little fortification or drive us from it, they circled around several
+times, shooting their arrows at us. One of these struck George Wood in the
+left shoulder, inflicting only a slight wound, however, and several lodged
+in the bodies of the dead mules; otherwise they did us no harm. The
+Indians finally galloped off to a safe distance, where our bullets could
+not reach them, and seemed to be holding a council. This was a lucky move
+for us, for it gave us an opportunity to reload our guns and pistols and
+prepare for the next charge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> of the enemy. During the brief cessation of
+hostilities Simpson extracted the arrow from Wood&#8217;s shoulder, and put an
+immense quid of tobacco on the wound. Wood was then ready for business
+again.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians did not give us a very long rest, for with another desperate
+charge, as if to ride over us, they came dashing toward the mule
+barricade. We gave them a hot reception from our yagers and revolvers.
+They could not stand or understand the rapidly repeating fire of the
+revolver, and we checked them again. They circled around us once more, and
+gave us a few parting shots as they rode off, leaving behind them another
+dead Indian and a horse.</p>
+
+<p>For two hours afterward they did not seem to be doing anything but holding
+a council. We made good use of this time by digging up the ground inside
+the barricade with our knives, and throwing the loose earth around and
+over the mules, and we soon had a very respectable fortification. We were
+not troubled any more that day, but during the night the cunning rascals
+tried to burn us out by setting fire to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> prairie. The buffalo grass
+was so short that the fire did not trouble us much, but the smoke
+concealed the Indians from our view, and they thought they could approach
+to us without being seen. We were aware of this, and kept a sharp lookout,
+being prepared all the time to receive them. They finally abandoned the
+idea of surprising us.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning, bright and early, they gave us one more grand charge, and
+again we &#8220;stood them off.&#8221; They then rode away half a mile or so, and
+formed a circle around us. Each man dismounted and sat down, as if to wait
+and starve us out. They had evidently seen the advance train pass on the
+morning of the previous day, and believed that we belonged to that outfit,
+and were trying to overtake it. They had no idea that another train was on
+its way after us.</p>
+
+<p>Our hopes of escape from this unpleasant and perilous situation now
+depended upon the arrival of the rear train, and when we saw that the
+Indians were going to besiege us instead of renewing their attacks, we
+felt rather confident of receiving timely assistance. We had expected that
+the train<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> would be along late in the afternoon of the previous day, and
+as the morning wore away we were somewhat anxious and uneasy at its
+nonarrival.</p>
+
+<p>At last, about ten o&#8217;clock, we began to hear in the distance the loud and
+sharp reports of the big bull-whips, which were handled with great
+dexterity by the teamsters, and cracked like rifle shots. These were
+welcome sounds to us, as were the notes of the bagpipes to the besieged
+garrison at Lucknow when the re-enforcements were coming up, and the
+pipers were heard playing &#8220;The Campbells are Coming.&#8221; In a few moments we
+saw the head wagon coming slowly over the ridge which had concealed the
+train from our view, and soon the whole outfit made its appearance. The
+Indians observed the approaching train, and assembling in a group, they
+held a short consultation. They then charged upon us once more, for the
+last time, and as they turned and dashed away over the prairie, we sent
+our farewell shots rattling after them. The teamsters, seeing the Indians
+and hearing the shots, came rushing forward to our <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>assistance, but by
+that time the redskins had almost disappeared from view. The teamsters
+eagerly asked us a hundred questions concerning our fight, admired our
+fort, and praised our pluck. Simpson&#8217;s remarkable presence of mind in
+planning the defense was the general topic of conversation among all the
+men.</p>
+
+<p>When the teams came up we obtained some water and bandages with which to
+dress Wood&#8217;s wound, which had become quite inflamed and painful, and we
+then put him into one of the wagons. Simpson and myself obtained a
+remount, bade good-by to our dead mules which had served us so well, and
+after collecting the ornaments and other plunder from the dead Indians, we
+left their bodies and bones to bleach on the prairie. The train moved on
+again, and we had no other adventures, except several exciting buffalo
+hunts on the South Platte near Plum Creek.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2>
+<p class="title"><span class="smcap">Rounding Up Indians</span></p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> October, 1867, General Sheridan organized an expedition to operate
+against the Indians who infested the Republican River region. &#8220;Cody,&#8221; said
+he, &#8220;I have decided to appoint you as guide and chief of scouts with the
+command. How does that suit you?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;First rate, General, and thank you for the honor,&#8221; I replied, as
+gracefully as I knew how.</p>
+
+<p>The Dog Soldier Indians were a band of Cheyennes and unruly, turbulent
+members of other tribes, who would not enter into any treaty, or keep a
+treaty if they made one, and who had always refused to go upon a
+reservation. They were a warlike body of well-built, daring, and restless
+braves, and were determined to hold possession of the country in the
+vicinity of the Republican and Solomon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> rivers. They were called &#8220;Dog
+Soldiers&#8221; because they were principally Cheyennes&mdash;a name derived from the
+French <i>chien</i>, a dog.</p>
+
+<p>On the 3d of October the Fifth Cavalry arrived at Fort Hays. General
+Sheridan, being anxious to punish the Indians who had lately fought
+General Forsyth, did not give the regiment much of a rest, and accordingly
+on the 5th of October it began its march for the 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 pretty well acquainted with Major
+Brown and Captain Sweetman, who invited me to mess with them on this
+expedition, and a jolly mess we had. There were other scouts in the
+command besides myself, and I particularly remember Tom Renahan, Hank
+Fields, and a character called &#8220;Nosey,&#8221; on account of his long nose.</p>
+
+<p>The next day we marched thirty miles, and late in the afternoon we came
+into camp on the south fork of the Solomon. At this encampment Colonel
+Royal asked me to go out and kill some buffaloes for the boys.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>&#8220;All right, Colonel; send along a wagon or two to bring in the meat,&#8221; I
+said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I am not in the habit of sending out my wagons until I know that there is
+something to be hauled in; kill your buffaloes first, and then I&#8217;ll send
+out the wagons,&#8221; was the Colonel&#8217;s reply. I said no more, but went out on
+a hunt, and after a short absence returned and asked the Colonel to send
+out his wagons over the hill for the half-dozen buffaloes I had killed.</p>
+
+<p>The following afternoon he again requested me to go out and get some fresh
+buffalo meat. I didn&#8217;t ask him for any wagons this time, but rode out some
+distance, and coming up with a small herd I managed to get seven of them
+headed straight for the encampment, and instead of shooting them just
+then, I ran them at full speed right into the camp, and then killed them
+all, one after another, in rapid succession. Colonel Royal witnessed the
+whole proceeding, which puzzled him somewhat, as he could see no reason
+why I had not killed them on the prairie. He came up rather angrily, and
+demanded an explanation.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>&#8220;I can&#8217;t allow any such business as this, Cody,&#8221; said he. &#8220;What do you
+mean by it?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t care about asking for any wagons this time, Colonel, so I
+thought I would make the buffaloes furnish their own transportation,&#8221; was
+my reply. The Colonel saw the point in a moment, and had no more to say on
+the subject.</p>
+
+<p>No Indians had been seen in the vicinity during the day, and Colonel
+Royal, having carefully posted his pickets, supposed everything was serene
+for the night. But before morning we were aroused from our slumbers by
+hearing shots fired, and immediately afterward one of the mounted pickets
+came galloping into camp, saying that there were Indians close at hand.
+The companies all fell into line, and were soon prepared and anxious to
+give the redskins battle; but as the men were yet new in the Indian
+country a great many of them were considerably excited. No Indians,
+however, made their appearance, and upon going to the picket-post where
+the picket said he had seen them none could be found, nor could any traces
+of them be discovered. The sentinel, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> was an Irishman, insisted that
+there had certainly been redskins there.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you must be mistaken,&#8221; said Colonel Royal.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Upon me sowl, Colonel, I&#8217;m not. As shure ez me name&#8217;s Pat Maloney, one of
+them redskins hit me on the head with a club, so he did,&#8221; said Pat.</p>
+
+<p>And so when morning came the mystery was further investigated, and was
+easily solved. Elk tracks were found in the vicinity, and it was
+undoubtedly a herd of elks that had frightened Pat. As he had turned to
+run he had gone under a limb of a tree against which he hit his head, and
+supposed he had been struck by a club in the hands of an Indian. It was
+hard to convince Pat, however, of the truth.</p>
+
+<p>A three days&#8217; uninteresting march brought us to Beaver Creek, where we
+were camped, and from which point scouting parties were sent out in
+different directions. None of these, however, discovering Indians, they
+all returned to camp about the same time, finding it in a state of great
+excitement, it having been attacked a few hours previously by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> a party of
+Indians, who had succeeded in killing two men and in making off with sixty
+horses belonging to Company H.</p>
+
+<p>That evening the command started on the trail of these Indian horse
+thieves, Major Brown with two companies and three days&#8217; rations pushing
+ahead in advance of the main command. Being unsuccessful, however, in
+overtaking the Indians, and getting nearly out of provisions&mdash;it being our
+eighteenth day out&mdash;the entire command marched toward the nearest railway
+point, and camped on the Saline River, distant three miles from Buffalo
+Tank. While waiting for supplies we received a new commanding officer,
+Brevet Major General E. A. Carr, who was the senior major of the regiment,
+and who ranked Colonel Royal. He brought with him the celebrated Forsyth
+scouts, who were commanded by Lieutenant Pepoon, a regular army officer.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, at an early hour, the command started out on a hunt for
+Indians. General Carr, having a pretty good idea where he would be most
+likely to find them, directed me to guide them by the nearest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> route to
+Elephant Rock on Beaver Creek. Upon arriving at the south fork of the
+Beaver on the second day&#8217;s march, we discovered a large fresh Indian
+trail, which we hurriedly followed for a distance of eight miles, when
+suddenly we saw on the bluffs ahead of us quite a large number of Indians.</p>
+
+<p>General Carr ordered Lieutenant Pepoon&#8217;s scouts and Company M to the
+front. This company was commanded by Lieutenant Schinosky, a Frenchman by
+birth and reckless by nature. Having advanced his company nearly a mile
+ahead of the main command, about four hundred Indians suddenly charged
+down upon him and gave him a lively little fight, until he was supported
+by our full force. The Indians kept increasing in numbers all the while,
+until it was estimated that we were fighting from eight hundred to one
+thousand of them. The engagement became quite general, and several were
+killed and wounded on each side. The Indians were evidently fighting to
+give their families and village a chance to get away. We had undoubtedly
+surprised them with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> larger force than they had expected to see in that
+part of the country. We fought them until dark, all the time driving them
+before us. At night they annoyed us considerably by firing down into our
+camp from the higher hills, and several times the command was ordered to
+dislodge them from their position and drive them back.</p>
+
+<p>After having returned from one of these sallies, Major Brown, Captain
+Sweetman, Lieutenant Bache, and myself were taking supper together, when
+&#8220;whang!&#8221; came a bullet into Lieutenant Bache&#8217;s plate, breaking a hole
+through it. The bullet came from the gun of one of the Indians, who had
+returned to the high bluff overlooking our camp. Major Brown declared it
+was a crack shot, because it broke the plate. We finished our supper
+without having any more such close calls.</p>
+
+<p>At daylight next morning we struck out on the trail, and soon came to the
+spot where the Indians had camped the day before. We could see that their
+village was a very large one, consisting of about five hundred lodges; and
+we pushed forward rapidly from this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> point on the trail which ran back
+toward Prairie Dog Creek. About two o&#8217;clock we came in sight of the
+retreating village, and soon the warriors turned back to give us battle.
+They set fire to the prairie grass in front of us and on all sides in
+order to delay us as much as possible. We kept up a running fight for the
+remainder of the afternoon, and the Indians repeatedly attempted to lead
+us off the track of their flying village; but their trail was easily
+followed, as they were continually dropping tepee-poles, camp-kettles,
+robes, furs, and all heavy articles belonging to them. They were evidently
+scattering, and it finally became difficult for us to keep on the main
+trail. When darkness set in we went into camp, it being useless to try to
+follow the Indians after nightfall.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning we were again on the trail. The Indians soon scattered in
+every direction, but we followed the main trail to the Republican River,
+where we made a cut-off, and then went north toward the Platte River. We
+found, however, that the Indians by traveling night and day had got a
+long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> start, and the General concluded that it was useless to follow them
+any farther.</p>
+
+<p>The General told me that the next day&#8217;s march would be toward the
+headwaters of the Beaver, and asked me the distance. I replied that it was
+about twenty-five miles, and he said he would make it the next day.
+Getting an early start in the morning, we struck out across the prairie,
+my position as guide being ahead of the advance guard. About two o&#8217;clock
+General Carr overtook me, and asked me how far I supposed it was to water.
+I thought it was about eight miles, although we could see no sign or
+indication of any stream in front.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pepoon&#8217;s scouts say you are going in the wrong direction,&#8221; said the
+General; &#8220;and in the way you are bearing it will be fifteen miles before
+you can strike any of the branches of the Beaver; and that when you do,
+you will find no water, for the Beavers are dry at this time of the year
+at that point.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;General, I think the scouts are mistaken,&#8221; said I, &#8220;for the Beaver has
+more water near its head than it has below; and at the place where we will
+strike the stream we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> will find immense beaver dams, large enough and
+strong enough to cross the whole command, if you wish.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, Cody, go ahead,&#8221; said he; &#8220;I&#8217;ll leave it to you; but remember that
+I don&#8217;t want a dry camp.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No danger of that,&#8221; said I; and then I rode on, leaving him to return to
+the command. As I had predicted, we found water seven or eight miles
+farther on, where we came upon a beautiful little stream, a tributary of
+the Beaver, hidden in the hills. We had no difficulty in selecting a good
+halting-place, and obtaining fresh spring water and grass. The General,
+upon learning from me that the stream&mdash;which was only eight or nine miles
+long&mdash;had no name, took out his map and located it, and named it Cody&#8217;s
+Creek, which name it still bears.</p>
+
+<p>We pulled out early next morning for the Beaver, and when we were
+approaching the stream I rode on ahead of the advance guard in order to
+find the crossing. Just as I turned a bend of the creek, &#8220;bang!&#8221; went a
+shot, and down went my horse&mdash;myself with him. I disentangled myself, and
+jumped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> behind the dead body. Looking in the direction whence the shot had
+come I saw two Indians, and at once turned my gun loose on them, but in
+the excitement of the moment I missed my aim. They fired two or three more
+shots, and I returned the compliment, wounding one of their horses.</p>
+
+<p>On the opposite side of the creek, going over the hill, I observed a few
+lodges moving rapidly away, and also some mounted warriors, who could see
+me, and who kept blazing away with their guns. The two Indians who had
+fired at me, and had killed my horse, were retreating across the creek on
+a beaver dam. I sent a few shots after them to accelerate their speed, and
+also fired at the ones on the other side of the stream. I was undecided as
+to whether it was best to run back to the command on foot or hold my
+position. I knew that within a few minutes the troops would come up, and I
+therefore decided to hold my position. The Indians, seeing that I was
+alone, turned, and charged down the hill, and were about to recross the
+creek to corral me, when the advance guard of the command put in an
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>appearance on the ridge, and dashed forward to my rescue. The redskins
+whirled and made off.</p>
+
+<p>When General Carr came up, he ordered Company I to go in pursuit of the
+band. I accompanied Lieutenant Brady, who commanded, and we had a running
+fight with the Indians, lasting several hours. We captured several head of
+their horses and most of their lodges. At night we returned to the
+command, which by this time had crossed the creek on the beaver dam.</p>
+
+<p>We scouted for several days along the river, and had two or three lively
+skirmishes. Finally our supplies began to run low, and General Carr gave
+orders to return to Fort Wallace, which we reached three days afterward,
+and where we remained several days.</p>
+
+<p>Very soon after, General Carr received orders from General Sheridan for a
+winter&#8217;s campaign in the Canadian River country, instructing him to
+proceed at once to Fort Lyon, Colorado, and there to fit out for the
+expedition. Leaving Fort Wallace in November, 1868, we arrived at Fort
+Lyon in the latter part of the month without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> special incident, and at
+once began our preparations for invading the enemy&#8217;s country. General
+Penrose had left his post three weeks previously with a command of some
+three hundred men. He had taken no wagons with him, and his supply train
+was composed only of pack mules. General Carr was ordered to follow with
+supplies on his trail and overtake him as soon as possible. I was
+particularly anxious to catch up with Penrose&#8217;s command, as my old friend
+Wild Bill was among his scouts. We followed the trail very easily for the
+first three days, and then we were caught in Freeze-Out Canyon by a
+fearful snowstorm, which compelled us to go into camp for a day. The
+ground now being covered with snow, we found it would be impossible to
+follow Penrose&#8217;s trail any farther, especially as he had left no sign to
+indicate the direction he was going. General Carr sent for me, and said
+that as it was very important that we should not lose the trail, he wished
+that I would take some scouts with me, and while the command remained in
+camp, push on as far as possible, and see if I could not discover<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> some
+traces of Penrose or where he had camped at any time.</p>
+
+<p>Accompanied by four men, I started out in the blinding snowstorm, taking a
+southerly direction. We rode twenty-four miles, and upon reaching a
+tributary of the Cimarron, we scouted up and down the stream for a few
+miles, and finally found one of Penrose&#8217;s old camps. It was now late in
+the afternoon, and as the command would come up the next day, it was not
+necessary for all of us to return with the information to General Carr. So
+riding down into a sheltered place in the bend of the creek, we built a
+fire and broiled some venison from a deer which we had shot during the
+day, and after eating a substantial meal, I left the four men there while
+I returned to bring up the troops.</p>
+
+<p>It was eleven o&#8217;clock at night when I got back to the camp. A light was
+still burning in the General&#8217;s tent, he having remained awake, anxiously
+awaiting my return. He was glad to see me, and was overjoyed at the
+information I brought, for he had great fears concerning the safety of
+General Penrose.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>The command took up its march next day for the Cimarron, and had a hard
+tramp of it on account of the snow having drifted to a great depth in many
+of the ravines, and in some places the teamsters had to shovel their way
+through. We arrived at the Cimarron at sundown, and went into camp. Upon
+looking around next morning, we found that Penrose, having been
+unencumbered by wagons, had kept on the west side of the Cimarron, and the
+country was so rough that it was impossible for us to stay on his trail
+with our wagons; but knowing that we would certainly follow down the
+river, General Carr concluded to take the best wagon route along the
+stream, which I discovered to be on the east side. Before we could make
+any headway with our wagon train we had to leave the river and get out on
+the divide. We were very fortunate that day in finding a splendid road for
+some distance, until we were all at once brought to a standstill on a high
+tableland, overlooking a beautiful winding creek that lay far below us in
+the valley. The question that troubled us was how we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> were to get the
+wagons down. We were now in the foothills of the Rattoon Mountains, and
+the bluff we were on was very steep.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cody, we&#8217;re in a nice fix now,&#8221; said General Carr.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, that&#8217;s nothing,&#8221; was my reply.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you can never take the train down,&#8221; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never you mind the train, General. You say you are looking for a good
+camp. How does that beautiful spot down in the valley suit you?&#8221; I asked
+him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That will do. I can easily descend with the cavalry, but how to get the
+wagons down there is a puzzler to me,&#8221; said he.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;By the time you are located in your camp, your wagons shall be there,&#8221;
+said I.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right, Cody, I&#8217;ll leave it to you, as you seem to want to be boss,&#8221;
+he replied, pleasantly. He at once ordered the command to dismount and
+lead the horses down the mountain side. The wagon train was a mile in the
+rear, and when it came up one of the drivers asked, &#8220;How are we going down
+there?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>&#8220;Run down, slide down, or fall down; any way to get down,&#8221; said I.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can never do it; it&#8217;s too steep; the wagons will run over the mules,&#8221;
+said another wagon master.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I guess not; the mules have got to keep out of the way,&#8221; was my reply.</p>
+
+<p>I told Wilson, the chief wagon master, to bring on his mess wagon, which
+was at the head of the train, and I would try the experiment at least.
+Wilson drove the team and wagon to the brink of the hill, and following my
+directions he brought out some extra chains with which we locked the
+wheels on each side, and then rough-locked them. We now started the wagon
+down the hill. The wheel horses&mdash;or rather the wheel mules&mdash;were good on
+the hold back, and we got along finely until we nearly reached the bottom,
+when the wagon crowded the mules so hard that they started on a run and
+galloped down into the valley and to the place where General Carr had
+located his camp. Three other wagons immediately followed in the same way,
+and in half an hour every wagon was in camp, without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> the least accident
+having occurred. It was indeed an exciting sight to see the six mule teams
+come straight down the mountain and finally break into a full run. At
+times it looked as if the wagons would turn a somersault and land on the
+mules.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="bbox" style="width: 335px; height: 500px;"><img src="images/img01.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p class="caption">I DISENTANGLED MYSELF AND JUMPED BEHIND<br />THE DEAD BODY OF THE HORSE.</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>This proved to be a lucky march for us, as far as gaining on Penrose was
+concerned; for the route he had taken on the west side of the stream
+turned out to be a bad one, and we went with our immense wagon train as
+far in one day as Penrose had in seven. His command had marched on to a
+plateau or high tableland so steep that not even a pack mule could descend
+it, and he was obliged to retrace his steps a long way, thus losing three
+days&#8217; time, as we afterward learned.</p>
+
+<p>From this point on, for several days, we had no trouble in following
+Penrose&#8217;s trail, which led us in a southeasterly direction toward the
+Canadian River. No Indians were seen, nor any signs of them found. 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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> and upon looking closely at the spot, I saw a negro.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Sakes alive! Massa Bill, am dat you?&#8221; asked the man, whom I recognized as
+one of the colored soldiers of the Tenth Cavalry. I next heard him say to
+some one in the brush: &#8220;Come out o&#8217; heah. Dar&#8217;s Massa Buffalo Bill.&#8221; Then
+he sang out, &#8220;Massa Bill, is you got any hawdtack?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Nary a hardtack; but the wagons will be along presently, and then you can
+get all you want,&#8221; said I.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dat&#8217;s de best news I&#8217;s heerd foah sixteen long days, Massa Bill,&#8221; said
+he.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where&#8217;s your command? Where&#8217;s General Penrose?&#8221; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I dun&#8217;no&#8217;,&#8221; said the darky; &#8220;we got lost and we&#8217;s been starvin&#8217; eber
+since.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>By this time two other negroes had emerged from their place of
+concealment. They had deserted Penrose&#8217;s command&mdash;which was out of rations
+and nearly in a starving condition&mdash;and were trying to make their way back
+to Fort Lyon. General Carr concluded, from what they could tell him, that
+General Penrose was somewhere on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> Palladora Creek; but we could not learn
+anything definite, for they knew not where they were themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Having learned that General Penrose&#8217;s troops were in such bad shape,
+General Carr 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
+accompanied this detachment, and on the third day out we found the
+half-famished soldiers camped on the Palladora. The camp presented a
+pitiful sight, indeed. For over two weeks the men had had only quarter
+rations, and were now nearly starved to death. Over two hundred horses and
+mules were lying dead, having died from fatigue and starvation. General
+Penrose, fearing that General Carr would not find him, had sent back a
+company of the Seventh Cavalry to Fort Lyon for supplies; but no word had
+as yet been heard from them. The rations which Major Brown brought to the
+command came none too soon, and were the means of saving many lives.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>General Carr, upon arriving with his force, took command of all the
+troops, he being the senior officer and ranking General Penrose. After
+selecting a good camp, he unloaded the wagons and sent them back to Fort
+Lyon for fresh 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, leaving the rest of the troops at the supply camp.</p>
+
+<p>For several days we scouted along the Canadian River, but found no signs
+of Indians. General Carr then went back to his camp, and soon afterward
+our wagon train came in from Fort Lyon with a fresh load of provisions. At
+length, our horses and mules having become sufficiently recruited to
+return, we returned to Fort Lyon, arriving there in March, 1869, where the
+command was to rest and recruit for thirty days before proceeding to the
+Department of the Platte, whither it had been ordered.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2>
+<p class="title"><span class="smcap">Pursuing the Sioux</span></p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">When</span> the Fifth Cavalry was ordered to the Department of the Platte, we
+moved from Fort Wallace down to Sheridan, and in a few days started on
+another expedition after the hostile Indians. The second day out, on
+reaching the North Fork of the Beaver and riding down the valley toward
+the stream, I suddenly discovered a large fresh Indian trail. On
+examination I found it to be scattered all over the valley on both sides
+of the creek, as if a very large village had recently passed that way.
+Judging from the size of the trail, I thought that there could not be less
+than four hundred lodges, or between twenty-five hundred and three
+thousand warriors, women, and children in the band. I galloped back to the
+command, distant about three miles, and reported the news to General Carr,
+who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> halted the regiment, and after consulting a few minutes, ordered me
+to select a ravine, or as low ground as possible, so that he could keep
+the troops out of sight until we could strike the creek.</p>
+
+<p>We went into camp on the Beaver, and the General ordered Lieutenant Ward
+to take twelve men and myself and follow up the trail for several miles,
+and find out how fast the Indians were traveling. I was soon convinced, by
+the many camps they had made, that they were traveling slowly, and hunting
+as they journeyed. We went down the Beaver on this scout about twelve
+miles, keeping our horses well concealed under the banks of the creek, so
+as not to be discovered.</p>
+
+<p>At this point, Lieutenant Ward and myself, leaving our horses behind us,
+crawled to the top of a high knoll, where we could have a good view for
+some miles distant down the stream. We peeped over the summit of the hill,
+and not over three miles away we could see a whole Indian village in plain
+sight, and thousands of ponies grazing around on the prairie. Looking over
+to our left, on the opposite side of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> creek we observed two or three
+parties of Indians coming in, loaded down with buffalo meat.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This is no place for us, Lieutenant,&#8221; said I; &#8220;I think we have important
+business at the camp to attend to as soon as possible.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I agree with you,&#8221; said he, &#8220;and the quicker we get there the better it
+will be for us.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We quickly descended the hill and joined the men below. Lieutenant Ward
+hurriedly wrote a note to General Carr, and handing it to a corporal,
+ordered him to make all possible haste back to the command and deliver the
+message. The man started off on a gallop, and Lieutenant Ward said, &#8220;We
+will march slowly back until we meet the troops, as I think the General
+will soon be here, for he will start immediately upon receiving my note.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes we heard two or three shots in the direction in which our
+dispatch courier had gone, and soon after we saw him come running around
+the bend of the creek, pursued by four or five Indians. The Lieutenant,
+with his squad of soldiers and myself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> at once charged upon them, when
+they turned and ran across the stream.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;This will not do,&#8221; said Lieutenant Ward; &#8220;the whole Indian village will
+now know that soldiers are near by.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lieutenant, give me that note, and I will take it to the General,&#8221; said
+I.</p>
+
+<p>He gladly handed me the dispatch, and spurring my horse I dashed up the
+creek. After having ridden a short distance, I observed another party of
+Indians, also going to the village with meat; but instead of waiting for
+them to fire upon me, I gave them a shot at long range. Seeing one man
+firing at them so boldly, it surprised them, and they did not know what to
+make of it. While they were thus considering, I got between them and our
+camp. By this time they had recovered from their surprise, and cutting
+their buffalo meat loose from their horses, they came after me at the top
+of their speed; but as their steeds were tired out, it did not take me
+long to leave them far in the rear.</p>
+
+<p>I reached the command in less than an hour, delivered the dispatch to
+General Carr, and informed him of what I had seen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> He instantly had the
+bugler sound &#8220;boots and saddles,&#8221; and all the troops, with the exception
+of two companies which we left to guard the train, were soon galloping in
+the direction of the Indian camp.</p>
+
+<p>We had ridden about three miles, when we met Lieutenant Ward, who was
+coming slowly toward us. He reported that he had run into a party of
+Indian buffalo hunters, and had killed one of the number, and had had one
+of his horses wounded. We immediately pushed forward, and after marching
+about five miles came within sight of hundreds of mounted Indians
+advancing up the creek to meet us. They formed a complete line in front of
+us. General Carr, being desirous of striking their village, ordered the
+troops to charge, break through their line, and keep straight on. This
+movement would no doubt have been successfully accomplished had it not
+been for the rattle-brained and dare-devil French Lieutenant Schinosky,
+commanding Company B, who, misunderstanding General Carr&#8217;s orders, charged
+upon some Indians at the left, while the rest of the command dashed
+through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> enemy&#8217;s line, and was keeping straight on, when it was
+observed that Schinosky and his company were surrounded by four or five
+hundred Indians. The General, to save the company, was obliged to sound a
+halt and charge back to the rescue. The company during this short fight
+had several men and quite a number of horses killed.</p>
+
+<p>All this took up valuable time, and night was coming on. The Indians were
+fighting desperately to keep us from reaching their village, which, being
+informed by couriers of what was taking place, was packing up and getting
+away. During that afternoon it was all that we could do to hold our own in
+fighting the mounted warriors, who were in our front and contesting every
+inch of the ground. The General had left word for our wagon train to
+follow up with its escort of two companies, but as it had not made its
+appearance, he entertained some fears that it had been surrounded, and to
+prevent the possible loss of the supply train we had to go back and look
+for it. About nine o&#8217;clock that evening we found it and went into camp for
+the night.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>Early the next day we broke camp and passed down the creek, but there was
+not an Indian to be seen. They had all disappeared and gone on with their
+village. Two miles farther we came to where a village had been located,
+and here we found nearly everything belonging to or pertaining to an
+Indian camp, which had been left in the great hurry to get away. These
+articles were all gathered up and burned. We then pushed out on the trail
+as fast as possible. It led us to the northeast toward the Republican; but
+as the Indians had a night the start of us, we entertained but little hope
+of overtaking them that day. Upon reaching the Republican in the afternoon
+the General called a halt, and as the trail was running more to the east,
+he concluded to send his wagon train on to Fort McPherson by the most
+direct route, while he would follow on the trail of the redskins.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning at daylight we again pulled out, and were evidently gaining
+rapidly on the Indians, for we could occasionally see them in the
+distance. About eleven o&#8217;clock that day, while Major Babcock was ahead of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+the main command with his company, and while we were crossing a deep
+ravine, we were surprised by about three hundred warriors, who commenced a
+lively fire upon us. Galloping out of the ravine on to the rough prairie,
+the men dismounted and returned the fire. We soon succeeded in driving the
+Indians before us and were so close to them at one time that they
+abandoned and threw away nearly all their lodges and camp equipage, and
+everything that had any considerable weight. They left behind them their
+played-out horses, and for miles we could see Indian furniture strewn
+along in every direction. The trail became divided, and the Indians
+scattered in small bodies all over the prairie. As night was approaching
+and our horses were about giving out, a halt was called. A company was
+detailed to collect all the Indian horses running loose over the country,
+and to burn the other Indian property.</p>
+
+<p>The command being nearly out of rations, I was sent to the nearest point,
+old Fort Kearny, about sixty miles distant, for supplies.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>Shortly after we reached Fort McPherson, which continued to be the
+headquarters of the Fifth Cavalry for some time, we fitted out for a new
+expedition to the Republican River country, and were re-enforced by three
+companies of the celebrated Pawnee Indian scouts, commanded by Major Frank
+North. General Carr recommended at this time to General Augur, who was in
+command of the department, that I be made chief of scouts in the
+Department of the Platte, and informed me that in this position I would
+receive higher wages than I had been getting in the Department of the
+Missouri. This appointment I had not asked for.</p>
+
+<p>I made the acquaintance of Major Frank North, and I found him and his
+officers perfect gentlemen, and we were all good friends from the very
+start. The Pawnee scouts had made quite a reputation for themselves, as
+they had performed brave and valuable services in fighting against the
+Sioux, whose bitter enemies they were; being thoroughly acquainted with
+the Republican and Beaver country, I was glad that they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> to be with
+the expedition, and my expectation of the aid they would render was not
+disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>During our stay at Fort McPherson I made the acquaintance of Lieutenant
+George P. Belden, known as the &#8220;White Chief.&#8221; I found him to be an
+intelligent, dashing fellow, a splendid rider, and an excellent shot. An
+hour after our introduction he challenged me for a rifle match, the
+preliminaries of which were soon arranged. We were to shoot ten shots each
+for fifty dollars, at two hundred yards, off-hand. Belden was to use a
+Henry rifle, while I was to shoot my old &#8220;Lucretia.&#8221; This match I won, and
+then Belden proposed to shoot a one-hundred-yard match, as I was shooting
+over his distance. In this match Belden was victorious. We were now even,
+and we stopped right there.</p>
+
+<p>While we were at this post General Augur and several of his officers paid
+us a visit for the purpose of reviewing the command. The regiment turned
+out in fine style and showed themselves to be well-drilled soldiers,
+thoroughly understanding military tactics. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> Pawnee scouts were also
+reviewed, and it was very amusing to see them in their full regular
+uniform. They had been furnished a regulation cavalry uniform, and on this
+parade some of them had their heavy overcoats on, others their large black
+hats, with all the brass accouterments attached; some of them were minus
+pantaloons, and only wore a breech-clout. Others wore regulation
+pantaloons, but no shirts, and were bareheaded; others again had the seat
+of the pantaloons cut out, leaving only leggings; but for all this they
+seemed to understand the drill remarkably well for Indians. The commands,
+of course, were given to them in their own language by Major North, who
+could talk it as well as any full-blooded Pawnee. The Indians were well
+mounted, and felt proud and elated because they had been made United
+States soldiers. Major North had for years complete control over these
+Indians, and could do more with them than any man living. That evening,
+after the parade was over, the officers and quite a number of ladies
+visited a grand Indian dance given by the Pawnees, and of all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> Indians
+I have seen, their dances excel those of any other tribe.</p>
+
+<p>Next day the command started. When encamped, several days after, on the
+Republican River, near the mouth of the Beaver, we heard the whoops of
+Indians, followed by shots in the vicinity of the mule herd, which had
+been taken down to water. One of the herders came dashing into camp with
+an arrow sticking in him. My horse was close at hand, and mounting him
+bareback, I at once dashed off after the mule herd, which had been
+stampeded. I supposed certainly that I would be the first man on the
+ground, but I was mistaken, however, for the Pawnee Indians, unlike
+regular soldiers, had not waited to receive orders from their officers,
+but had jumped on their ponies without bridles or saddles, and placing
+ropes in their mouths, had dashed off in the direction whence the shots
+came, and had got there ahead of me. It proved to be a party of about
+fifty Sioux who had endeavored to stampede our mules, and it took them by
+surprise to see their inveterate enemies, the Pawnees, coming at full
+gallop at them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> They were not aware that the Pawnees were with the
+command, and as they knew it would take regular soldiers some time to turn
+out, they thought they would have ample opportunity to secure the herd
+before the troops could give chase.</p>
+
+<p>We had a running fight of fifteen miles, and several of the enemy were
+killed. During this chase I was mounted on an excellent horse, which
+Colonel Royal had picked out for me, and for the first mile or two I was
+in advance of the Pawnees. Presently a Pawnee shot by me like an arrow,
+and I could not help admiring the horse he was riding. Seeing that he
+possessed rare running qualities, I determined to get possession of the
+animal in some way. It was a large buckskin or yellow horse, and I took a
+careful view of him, so that I would know him when I returned to camp.</p>
+
+<p>After the chase was over I rode up to Major North and inquired about the
+buckskin horse.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh yes,&#8221; said the Major; &#8220;that is one of our favorite steeds.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>&#8220;What chance is there to trade for him?&#8221; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It is a government horse,&#8221; said he, &#8220;and the Indian who is riding him is
+very much attached to the animal.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I have fallen in love with the horse myself,&#8221; said I, &#8220;and I would like
+to know if you have any objections to my trading for him if I can arrange
+it satisfactorily with the Indians?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He replied, &#8220;None whatever, and I will help you to do it; you can give the
+Indian another horse in his place.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>A few days after this I persuaded the Indian, by making him several
+presents, to trade horses with me, and in this way I became the owner of
+the buckskin steed; not as my own property, however, but as a government
+horse that I could ride. I gave him the name of &#8220;Buckskin Joe,&#8221; and he
+proved to be a fine buffalo hunter. In the winter of 1872, after I had
+left Fort McPherson, Buckskin Joe was condemned and sold at public sale,
+and was bought by Dave Perry, at North Platte, who in 1877 presented him
+to me, and I owned him until his death in 1879.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>The command scouted several days up the Beaver and Prairie Dog rivers,
+occasionally having running fights with way parties of Indians, but did
+not succeed in getting them into a general battle. At the end of twenty
+days we found ourselves back on the Republican.</p>
+
+<p>Hitherto the Pawnees had not taken much interest in me, but while at this
+camp I gained their respect and admiration by showing them how I killed
+buffaloes. Although the Pawnees were excellent buffalo hunters, for
+Indians, I have never seen one of them kill more than four or five in a
+single run. A number of them generally surround the herd and then dash in
+upon them, and in this way each one kills from one to four buffaloes. I
+had gone out in company with Major North and some of the officers, and saw
+them make a &#8220;surround.&#8221; Twenty of the Pawnees circled a herd and succeeded
+in killing only thirty-two.</p>
+
+<p>While they were cutting up the animals another herd appeared in sight. The
+Indians were preparing to surround it, when I asked Major North to keep
+them back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> and let me show them what I could do. He accordingly informed
+the Indians of my wish, and they readily consented to let me have the
+opportunity. I had learned that Buckskin Joe was an excellent buffalo
+horse, and felt confident that I would astonish the natives. Galloping in
+among the buffaloes, I certainly did so by killing thirty-six in less than
+a half-mile run. At nearly every shot I killed a buffalo, stringing the
+dead animals out on the prairie, not over fifty feet apart. This manner of
+killing was greatly admired by the Indians, who called me a big chief, and
+from that time on I stood high in their estimation.</p>
+
+<p>On leaving camp the command took a westward course up the Republican, and
+Major North, with two companies of cavalry, under the command of Colonel
+Royal, made a scout to the north of the river. Shortly after we had gone
+into camp, on the Black Tail 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. At first we supposed them to be Sioux, and
+all was excitement for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> a few moments. We noticed, however, that our
+Pawnee Indians made no hostile demonstrations or preparations toward going
+out to fight them, but began singing and yelling themselves. Captain Lute
+North stepped up to General Carr and said: &#8220;General, those are our men who
+are coming, and they have had a fight. That is the way they act when they
+come back from a battle and have taken any scalps.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Pawnees came into camp on the run. Captain North, calling to one of
+them, a sergeant, soon found out that they had run across a party of Sioux
+who were following a large Indian trail. These Indians had evidently been
+in a fight, for two or three of them had been wounded, and they were
+conveying the injured persons on <i>travoix</i>. The Pawnees had &#8220;jumped&#8221; them,
+and had killed three or four after a sharp fight, in which much ammunition
+was expended.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning the command, at an early hour, started out to take up this
+Indian trail, which they followed for two days as rapidly as possible, it
+becoming evident from the many camp fires which we passed that we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> were
+gaining on the Indians. Wherever they had encamped we found the print of a
+woman&#8217;s shoe, and we concluded that they had with them some white captive.
+This made us all the more anxious to overtake them, and General Carr
+selected all his best horses which could stand a long run, and gave orders
+for the wagon train to follow as fast as possible, while he pushed ahead
+on a forced march. At the same time I was ordered to pick out five or six
+of the best Pawnees and go in advance of the command, keeping ten or
+twelve miles ahead on the trail, so that when we overtook the Indians we
+could find out the location of their camp, and send word to the troops
+before they came in sight, thus affording ample time to arrange a plan for
+the capture of the village.</p>
+
+<p>After having gone about ten miles in advance of the regiment, we began to
+move very cautiously, as we were now evidently nearing the Indians. We
+looked carefully over the summits of the hills before exposing ourselves
+to plain view, and at last we discovered the village, encamped in the sand
+hills south of the South Platte River at Summit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> Springs. Here I left the
+Pawnee scouts to keep watch, while I went back and informed General Carr
+that the Indians were in sight.</p>
+
+<p>The General at once ordered his men to tighten their saddles and otherwise
+prepare for action. Soon all was excitement among the officers and
+soldiers, every one being anxious to charge the village. I now changed my
+horse for old Buckskin Joe, who had been led for me thus far, and was
+comparatively fresh. Acting on my suggestion, the General made a circuit
+to the north, believing that if the Indians had their scouts out they
+would naturally be watching in the direction whence they had come. When we
+had passed the Indians, and were between them and the Platte River, we
+turned toward the left and started toward the village.</p>
+
+<p>By this man&oelig;uver we had avoided discovery by the Sioux scouts, and we
+were confident of giving them a complete surprise. Keeping the command
+wholly out of sight until we were within a mile of the Indians, the
+General halted the advance guard until all closed up, and then issued an
+order that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> when he sounded the charge the whole command was to rush into
+the village.</p>
+
+<p>As we halted on the top of the hill overlooking the camp of unsuspecting
+Indians, General Carr called out to his bugler, &#8220;Sound the charge!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The bugler for a moment became intensely excited, and actually forgot the
+notes. The General again sang out, &#8220;Sound the charge!&#8221; and yet the bugler
+was unable to obey the command. Quartermaster Hays&mdash;who had obtained
+permission to accompany the expedition&mdash;was riding near the General, and
+comprehending the dilemma of the man, rushed up to him, jerked the bugle
+from his hands, and sounded the charge himself in clear, distinct notes.
+As the troops rushed forward, he threw the bugle away, then drawing his
+pistols, was among the first men that entered the village.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians had just driven up their horses, and were preparing to make a
+move of the camp, when they saw the soldiers coming down upon them. A
+great many of them succeeded in jumping upon their ponies and, leaving
+everything behind them,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> advanced out of the village and prepared to meet
+the charge; but, upon second thought, they quickly concluded that it was
+useless to try to check us, and those who were mounted rapidly rode away,
+while the others on foot fled for safety to the neighboring hills. We went
+through their village, shooting right and left at everything we saw. The
+Pawnees, the regular soldiers, and officers were all mixed up together,
+and the Sioux were flying in every direction.</p>
+
+<p>The pursuit continued until darkness made it impossible to longer follow
+the Indians, who had scattered and were leading off in every direction
+like a brood of young quails. The expedition went into camp along the
+South Platte, much exhausted by so long a chase, and though very tired,
+every trooper seemed anxious for the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly sunrise when &#8220;boots and saddles&#8221; was sounded, breakfast
+having been disposed of at break of day. The command started in a most
+seasonable time, but finding that the trail was all broken up, it was
+deemed advisable to separate into companies, each to follow a different
+trail.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>The company which I headed struck out toward the northwest, over a route
+indicating the march of about one hundred Indians, and followed this for
+nearly two days. At a short bend of the Platte a new trail was discovered
+leading into the one the company was following, and at this point it was
+evident that a junction had been made. Farther along evidences of a
+reunion of the entire village increased, and now it began to appear that
+further pursuit would be somewhat hazardous, owing to the largely
+increased force of Indians. But there were plenty of brave men in the
+company, and nearly all were anxious to meet the Indians, however great
+their numbers might be. This anxiety was appeased on the third day, when a
+party of about six hundred Sioux was discovered riding in close ranks near
+the Platte. The discovery was mutual, and there was immediate preparation
+for battle on both sides. Owing to the overwhelming force of Indians,
+extreme caution became necessary, and instead of advancing boldly, the
+soldiers sought advantageous ground. Seeing this, the Indians became
+convinced that there had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> been a division in General Carr&#8217;s command, and
+that the company before them was a fragmentary part of the expedition.
+They therefore assumed the aggressive, charging us until we were compelled
+to retire to a ravine and act on the defensive. The attack was made with
+such caution that the soldiers fell back without undue haste, and had
+ample opportunity to secure their horses in the natural pit, which was a
+ravine that during wet seasons formed a branch of the Platte.</p>
+
+<p>After circling about the soldiers with a view of measuring their full
+strength, the Indians, comprehending how small was the number, made a
+desperate charge from two sides, getting so near us that several of the
+soldiers were badly wounded by arrows. But the Indians were received with
+such withering fire that they fell back in confusion, leaving twenty of
+their warriors on the ground. Another charge resulted like the first, with
+heavy loss to the redskins, which so discouraged them that they drew off
+and held a long council. After discussing the situation among themselves,
+they separated,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> one body making off as though they intended to leave; but
+I understood their motions too well to allow the soldiers to be deceived.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians that remained again began to ride in a circle around us, but
+maintained a safe distance out of rifle range. Seeing an especially
+well-mounted Indian riding at the head of a squad, passing around in the
+same circle more than a dozen times, I decided to take my chances for
+dismounting the chief (as he proved to be), and to accomplish this purpose
+I crawled on my hands and knees three hundred yards up the ravine,
+stopping at a point which I considered would be in range of the Indian
+when he should again make the circuit. My judgment proved correct, for
+soon the Indian was seen loping his pony through the grass, and as he
+slackened speed to cross the ravine I rose up and fired, the aim being so
+well taken that the chief tumbled to the ground, while his horse, after
+running a few hundred yards, approached the soldiers, one of whom ran out
+and caught hold of the long lariat attached to the bridle, and thus
+secured the animal. When I returned to the company, all of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> whom had
+witnessed my feat of killing an Indian at a range of fully four hundred
+yards, by general consent the horse of my victim was given to me.</p>
+
+<p>This Indian whom I killed proved to be Tall Bull, one of the most cunning
+and able chiefs the Sioux ever had, and his death so affected the Indians
+that they at once retreated without further attempt to dislodge us.</p>
+
+<p>Some days after this occurrence General Carr&#8217;s command was brought
+together again and had an engagement with the Sioux, in which more than
+three hundred warriors and a large number of ponies were captured,
+together with several hundred squaws, among the latter being Tall Bull&#8217;s
+widow, who told with pathetic interest how the Prairie Chief had killed
+her husband. But instead of being moved with hatred against me, as most
+civilized women would have been under like circumstances, she regarded me
+with special favor, and esteemed it quite an honor that her husband, a
+great warrior himself, should have met his death at my hands.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2>
+<p class="title"><span class="smcap">My Duel with Yellow Hand</span></p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">When</span> the news of the terrible massacre of Custer was learned, preparations
+were immediately made to avenge his death. The whole Cheyenne and Sioux
+tribes were in revolt, and a lively, if not very dangerous, campaign was
+in prospective. Two days before receipt of the news of the massacre,
+Colonel Stanton, who was with the Fifth Cavalry, had been sent to Red
+Cloud agency, and on the evening of the receipt of news of the Custer
+fight a scout arrived in our camp with a message from the Colonel,
+informing General Merritt that eight hundred Cheyenne warriors had that
+day left Red Cloud agency to join Sitting Bull&#8217;s hostile forces in the Big
+Horn country.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the instructions to proceed immediately to join General
+Crook by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> the way of Fort Fetterman, General Merritt took the
+responsibility of endeavoring to intercept the Cheyennes, and, as the
+sequel shows, he performed a very important service.</p>
+
+<p>He selected five hundred men and horses, and in two hours we were making a
+forced march back to Hat, or War-Bonnet Creek, the intention being to
+reach the main Indian trail running to the north across that creek before
+the Cheyennes could get there. We arrived there the next night, and at
+daylight the following morning, July 17, 1876, I went out on a scout, and
+found that the Indians had not yet crossed the creek. On my way back to
+the command I discovered a large party of Indians, which proved to be the
+Cheyennes, coming up from the south, and I hurried to the camp with this
+important information.</p>
+
+<p>The cavalrymen quietly mounted their horses and were ordered to remain out
+of sight, while General Merritt, accompanied by two or three aids and
+myself, went out on a little tour of observation to a neighboring hill,
+from the summit of which we saw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> that the Indians were approaching almost
+directly toward us. Presently fifteen or twenty of them dashed off to the
+west, in the direction from which we had come the night before; and upon
+closer observation with our field glasses we discovered two mounted
+soldiers, evidently carrying dispatches for us, pushing forward on our
+trail.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians were evidently trying to intercept these two men, and General
+Merritt feared that they would accomplish their object. He did not think
+it advisable to send out any soldiers to the assistance of the couriers,
+for fear that they would show to the Indians that there were troops in the
+vicinity who were waiting for them. I finally suggested that the best plan
+was to wait until the couriers came closer to the command, and then, just
+as the Indians were about to charge, to let me take the scouts and cut
+them off from the main body of the Cheyennes who were coming over the
+divide.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;All right, Cody,&#8221; said the General. &#8220;If you can do that, go ahead.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I rushed back to the command, jumped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> on my horse, picked out fifteen men,
+and returned with them to the point of observation. I told General Merritt
+to give us the word to start out at the proper time, and presently he sang
+out:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Go in now, Cody, and be quick about it. They are going to charge on the
+couriers.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The two messengers were not over four hundred yards from us, and the
+Indians were only about two hundred yards behind them. We instantly dashed
+over the bluffs, and advanced on a gallop toward the Indians. A running
+fight lasted several minutes, during which we drove the enemy some little
+distance and killed three of their number. The rest of them rode off
+toward the main body, which had come into plain sight and halted, upon
+seeing the skirmish that was going on. We were about half a mile from
+General Merritt, and the Indians whom we were chasing suddenly turned upon
+us, and another lively skirmish took place. One of the Indians, who was
+handsomely decorated with all the ornaments usually worn by a war chief
+when engaged in a fight, sang out to me, in his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> tongue, &#8220;I know you,
+Pa-he-haska; if you want to fight, come ahead and fight me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The chief was riding his horse back and forth in front of his men as if to
+banter me, and I concluded to accept the challenge. I galloped toward him
+for fifty yards, and he advanced toward me about the same distance, both
+of us riding at full speed, and then, when we were only about thirty yards
+apart, I raised my rifle and fired; his horse fell to the ground, having
+been killed by a bullet. Almost at the same moment my own horse went down,
+he having stepped into a gopher hole. The fall did not hurt me much, and I
+instantly sprang to my feet. The Indian had also recovered himself, and we
+were now both on foot, and not more than twenty paces apart. We fired at
+each other simultaneously. My usual luck did not desert me on this
+occasion, for his bullet missed me, while mine struck him in the breast.
+He reeled and fell, but before he had fairly touched the ground I was upon
+him, knife in hand, and had driven the keen-edged weapon to its hilt in
+his heart. Jerking his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> war bonnet off, I scientifically scalped him in
+about five seconds.</p>
+
+<p>The whole affair from beginning to end occupied but little time, and the
+Indians, seeing that I was some little distance from my company, now came
+charging down upon me from a hill, in hopes 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. The order came none
+too soon, for had it been one minute later I would have had not less than
+two hundred Indians upon me. As the soldiers came up I swung the Indian
+chieftain&#8217;s topknot and bonnet in the air and shouted, &#8220;the first scalp
+for Custer.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>General Merritt, seeing that he could not now ambush the Indians, ordered
+the whole regiment to charge upon them. They made a stubborn resistance
+for a little while, but it was no use for any eight hundred, or even
+sixteen hundred, Indians to try to check a charge of the gallant old Fifth
+Cavalry, and they soon came to that conclusion, and began a running
+retreat toward Red Cloud agency.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> For thirty-five miles we drove them,
+pushing them so hard that they were obliged to abandon their loose horses,
+their camp equipage, and everything else. We drove them into the agency,
+and followed in ourselves, notwithstanding the possibility of our having
+to encounter the thousands of Indians at that point. We were uncertain
+whether or not the agency Indians had determined to follow the example of
+the Cheyennes and strike out upon the warpath; but that made no difference
+with the Fifth Cavalry, for they would have fought them all if necessary.
+It was dark when we rode into the agency, where we found thousands of
+Indians collected together; but they manifested no disposition to fight.</p>
+
+<p>While at the agency I learned the name of the Indian chief whom I had
+killed that morning; it was Yellow Hand, a son of old Cut Nose, a leading
+chief of the Cheyennes. Cut Nose having learned that I had killed his son,
+sent a white interpreter to me with a message to the effect that he would
+give me four mules if I would turn over to him Yellow Hand&#8217;s war-bonnet,
+guns, pistols, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>ornaments, and other paraphernalia which I had captured. I
+sent back word to the old gentleman that it would give me pleasure to
+accommodate him, but I could not do it this time.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning we started to join General Crook, who was camped near the
+foot of Cloud Peak in the Big Horn Mountains, awaiting the arrival of the
+Fifth Cavalry before proceeding against the Sioux, who were somewhere near
+the head of the Little Big Horn&mdash;as his scouts informed him. We made rapid
+marches, and reached General Crook&#8217;s camp on Goose Creek about the 3d of
+August.</p>
+
+<p>At this camp I met many old friends, among whom was Colonel Royal, who had
+received his promotion to the lieutenant colonelcy of the Third Cavalry.
+He introduced me to General Crook, whom I had never met before, but of
+whom I had often heard. He also introduced me to the General&#8217;s chief
+guide, Frank Grouard, a half-breed, who had lived six years with Sitting
+Bull, and knew the country thoroughly.</p>
+
+<p>We remained in this camp only one day,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> and the whole troop pulled out for
+the Tongue River, leaving our wagons behind, but taking with us a large
+pack train. We marched down the Tongue River for two days, thence in a
+westerly direction over to the Rosebud, where we struck the main Indian
+trail leading down this stream. From the size of the trail, which appeared
+to be about four days old, we estimated that there must have been in the
+neighborhood of seven thousand Indians in the war party.</p>
+
+<p>For two or three days we pushed on, but we did not seem to gain much on
+the Indians, as they were evidently making about the same marches that we
+were. On the fourth or fifth morning of our pursuit, I rode ahead of the
+command about ten miles, and mounting a hill, I scanned the country far
+and wide with my field glass, and discovered a column of dust rising about
+ten miles farther down the creek, and soon I noticed a body of men
+marching toward me that at first I believed to be the Indians of whom we
+were in pursuit; but subsequently they proved to be General Terry&#8217;s
+command. I sent back word to that effect to General<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> Crook by a scout who
+had accompanied me, but after he had departed I observed a band of Indians
+on the opposite side of the creek, and also another party directly in
+front of me. This led me to believe that I had made a mistake. But shortly
+afterward my attention was attracted by the appearance of a body of
+soldiers who were forming into a skirmish line and then I became convinced
+that it was General Terry&#8217;s command, after all, and that the redskins whom
+I had seen were some of his friendly Indian scouts, who had mistaken me
+for a Sioux, and fled back to their command terribly excited, shouting,
+&#8220;The Sioux are coming!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>General Terry at once came to the post, and ordered the Seventh Cavalry to
+form line of battle across the Rosebud; he also ordered up his artillery
+and had them prepare for action, doubtless dreading another &#8220;Custer
+massacre.&#8221; I afterward learned that the Indian had seen the dust raised by
+General Crook&#8217;s forces, and had reported that the Sioux were coming.</p>
+
+<p>These man&oelig;uvers I witnessed from my position with considerable
+amusement, thinking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> the command must be badly demoralized when one man
+could cause a whole army to form line of battle and prepare for action.
+Having enjoyed the situation to my heart&#8217;s content, I galloped down toward
+the skirmish line, waving my hat, and when within about one hundred yards
+of the troops, Colonel Weir, of the Seventh Cavalry, galloped out and met
+me. He recognized me at once, and accompanied me inside the line; then he
+sang out: &#8220;Boys, here&#8217;s Buffalo Bill. Some of you old soldiers know him;
+give him a cheer!&#8221; Thereupon the regiment gave three rousing cheers, and
+it was followed up all along the line.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Weir presented me to General Terry, and in answer to his question
+I informed him that the alarm of Indians had been a false one, as the dust
+seen by his scouts was caused by General Crook&#8217;s troops. General Terry
+thereupon rode forward to meet General Crook, and I accompanied him at his
+request. That night both commands went into camp on the Rosebud. General
+Terry had his wagon train with him, and everything to make life
+comfortable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> on an Indian campaign. He had large wall tents and portable
+beds to sleep in, and commodious hospital tents for dining rooms. His camp
+looked very comfortable and attractive, and presented a great contrast to
+that of General Crook, who had for his headquarters only one small fly
+tent, and whose cooking utensils consisted of a quart cup&mdash;in which he
+made his coffee himself&mdash;and a stick upon which he broiled his bacon. When
+I compared the two camps, I came to the conclusion that General Crook was
+an Indian-fighter; for it was evident that he had learned that to follow
+and fight Indians a body of men must travel lightly, and not be detained
+by a wagon train or heavy luggage of any kind.</p>
+
+<p>That evening General Terry ordered General Miles to take his regiment, the
+Fifth Infantry, and return by a forced march to Yellowstone, and proceed
+down the river by steamboat to the mouth of the Powder River, to intercept
+the Indians, in case they attempted to cross the Yellowstone. General
+Miles made a forced march that night of thirty-five miles, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+splendid traveling for an infantry regiment through a mountainous country.</p>
+
+<p>Generals Crook and Terry spent that evening and the next day in council,
+and on the following morning both commands moved out on the Indian trail.
+Although General Terry was the senior officer, he did not assume command
+of both expeditions, but left General Crook in command of his own troops,
+although they operated together. We crossed the Tongue River to Powder
+River, and proceeded down the latter stream to a point twenty miles from
+its junction with the Yellowstone, where the Indian trail turned to the
+southeast in the direction of the Black Hills. The two commands now being
+nearly out of supplies, the trail was abandoned, and the troops kept on
+down Powder River to its confluence with the Yellowstone, and remained
+there several days. Here we met General Miles, who reported that no
+Indians had as yet crossed the Yellowstone. Several steamboats soon
+arrived with a large quantity of supplies, and once more the &#8220;Boys in
+Blue&#8221; were made happy.</p>
+
+<p>One evening, while we were in camp on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> the Yellowstone at the mouth of
+Powder River, I was informed that the commanding officer had selected
+Louis Richard, a half-breed, and myself to accompany General Miles on a
+scouting expedition on the steamer <i>Far West</i>, down the Yellowstone as far
+as Glendive Creek. We were to ride on the pilot house and keep a sharp
+lookout on both sides of the river for Indian trails that might have
+crossed the stream. The idea of scouting on a steamboat was indeed a novel
+one to me, and I anticipated a pleasant trip.</p>
+
+<p>At daylight next morning we reported on board the steamer to General
+Miles, who had with him four or five companies of his regiment. We were
+somewhat surprised when he asked us where our horses were, as we had not
+supposed that horses would be needed if the scouting was to be done on the
+steamer. He said we might need them before we got back, and thereupon we
+had the animals brought on board. In a few minutes we were booming down
+the river at the rate of about twenty miles an hour.</p>
+
+<p>The steamer <i>Far West</i> was commanded by Captain Grant Marsh, whom I found
+to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> be an interesting character. I had often heard of him, for he was, and
+is yet, one of the best-known river captains in the country. He it was
+who, with his steamer <i>Far West</i>, transported the wounded men from the
+battle of the Little Big Horn to Fort Abraham Lincoln on the Missouri
+River, and on that trip he made the fastest steamboat time on record. He
+was a skillful and experienced pilot, handling his boat with remarkable
+dexterity.</p>
+
+<p>While Richard and myself were at our stations on the pilot house, the
+steamer, with a full head of steam, went flying past islands, around
+bends, over sand bars, at a rate that was exhilarating. Presently I
+thought I could see horses grazing in a distant bend of the river, and I
+reported the fact to General Miles, who asked Captain Marsh if he could
+land the boat near a large tree which he pointed out to him. &#8220;Yes, sir; I
+can land her there, and make her climb the tree if necessary,&#8221; said he.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching the spot designated, General Miles ordered two companies
+ashore, while Richard and myself were instructed to take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> our horses off
+the boat and push out as rapidly as possible to see if there were Indians
+in the vicinity. While we were getting ashore, Captain Marsh remarked that
+if there were only a good heavy dew on the grass he would shoot the
+steamer ashore, and take us on the scout without the trouble of leaving
+the boat.</p>
+
+<p>It was a false alarm, however, as the objects we had seen proved to be
+Indian graves. Quite a large number of braves, who had probably been
+killed in some battle, were laid on scaffolds, according to the Indian
+custom, and some of their clothing had been torn from the bodies by the
+wolves and was waving in the air.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at Glendive Creek we found that Colonel Rice and his company
+of the Fifth Infantry, who had been sent there by General Miles, had built
+quite a good little fort with their trowel-bayonets, a weapon which
+Colonel Rice was the inventor of, and which is, by the way, a very useful
+implement of war, as it can be used for a shovel in throwing up
+intrenchments, and can be profitably utilized in several other ways.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> On
+the day previous to our arrival Colonel Rice had a fight with a party of
+Indians, and had killed two or three of them at long range with his Rodman
+cannon.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Far West</i> was to remain at Glendive overnight, and General Miles
+wished to send dispatches back to General Terry at once. At his request I
+took the dispatches, and rode seventy-five miles that night through the
+bad lands of the Yellowstone, and reached General Terry&#8217;s camp next
+morning, after having nearly broken my neck a dozen times or more.</p>
+
+<p>There being but little prospect of any more fighting, I determined to go
+East as soon as possible to engage in other pursuits. So I started down
+the river on the steamer <i>Yellowstone</i>, <i>en route</i> to Fort Beaufort. On
+the same morning Generals Terry and Crook pulled out for Powder River, to
+take up the old Indian trail which we had left.</p>
+
+<p>The steamer had proceeded down the stream about twenty miles when it was
+met by another boat on its way up the river, having on board General
+Whistler and some fresh troops for General Terry&#8217;s command.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> Both boats
+landed, and I met several old friends among the soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>General Whistler, upon learning that General Terry had left the
+Yellowstone, asked me to carry to him some important dispatches from
+General Sheridan, and although I objected, he insisted upon my performing
+this duty, saying that it would only detain me a few hours longer; as an
+extra inducement he offered me the use of his own thoroughbred horse,
+which was on the boat. I finally consented to go, and was soon speeding
+over the rough and hilly country toward Powder River, and delivered the
+dispatches to General Terry the same evening. General Whistler&#8217;s horse,
+although a good animal, was not used to such hard riding, and was far more
+exhausted by the journey than I was.</p>
+
+<p>After I had taken a lunch, General Terry asked me if I would carry some
+dispatches back to General Whistler, and I replied that I would. Captain
+Smith, General Terry&#8217;s aid-de-camp, offered me his horse for the trip, and
+it proved to be an excellent animal; for I rode him that same night forty
+miles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> over the bad lands in four hours, and reached General Whistler&#8217;s
+steamboat at one o&#8217;clock. During my absence the Indians had made their
+appearance on the different hills of the vicinity, and the troops from the
+boat had had several skirmishes with them. When General Whistler had
+finished reading the dispatches, he said: &#8220;Cody, I want to send some
+information to General Terry concerning the Indians who have been
+skirmishing around here all day. I have been trying all the evening long
+to induce some one to carry my dispatches to him, but no one seems willing
+to undertake the trip, and I have got to fall back on you. It is asking a
+great deal, I know, as you have just ridden eighty miles; but it is a case
+of necessity, and if you&#8217;ll go, Cody, I&#8217;ll see that you are well paid for
+it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Never mind about the pay,&#8221; said I, &#8220;but get your dispatches ready and
+I&#8217;ll start at once.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes he handed me the package, and, mounting the same horse
+which I had ridden from General Terry&#8217;s camp, I struck out for my
+destination. It was two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> o&#8217;clock in the morning when I left the boat, and
+at eight o&#8217;clock I rode into General Terry&#8217;s camp, just as he was about to
+march, having made one hundred and twenty miles in twenty-two hours.</p>
+
+<p>General Terry, after reading the dispatches, halted his command, and then
+rode on and overtook General Crook, with whom he held a council; the
+result was that Crook&#8217;s command moved on in the direction which they had
+been pursuing, while Terry&#8217;s forces marched back to the Yellowstone and
+crossed the river on steamboats. At the urgent request of General Terry I
+accompanied the command on a scout in the direction of the Dry Fork of the
+Missouri, where it was expected we would strike some Indians.</p>
+
+<p>The first march out from the Yellowstone was made in the night, as we
+wished to get into the hills without being discovered by the Sioux scouts.
+After marching three days a little to the east of north, we reached the
+buffalo range and discovered fresh signs of Indians, who had evidently
+been killing buffaloes. General Terry now called on me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> to carry
+dispatches to Colonel Rice, who was still encamped at the mouth of
+Glendive Creek, on the Yellowstone&mdash;distant about eighty miles from us.</p>
+
+<p>Night had set in with a storm, and a drizzling rain was falling when, at
+ten o&#8217;clock, I started on this ride through a section of country with
+which I was entirely unacquainted. I traveled through the darkness a
+distance of about thirty-five miles, and at daylight I rode into a
+secluded spot at the head of a ravine where stood a bunch of ash trees,
+and there I concluded to remain till night, for I considered it a
+dangerous undertaking to cross the wide prairies in broad
+daylight&mdash;especially as my horse was a poor one. I accordingly unsaddled
+my animal and ate a hearty breakfast of bacon and hardtack which I had
+stored in the saddle pockets; then, after taking a smoke, I lay down to
+sleep, with my saddle for a pillow. In a few minutes I was in the land of
+dreams.</p>
+
+<p>After sleeping some time&mdash;I cannot tell how long&mdash;I was suddenly awakened
+by a roaring, rumbling sound. I instantly seized my gun, sprang to my
+horse, and hurriedly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> secreted him in the brush. Then I climbed up the
+
+steep side of the bank and cautiously looked over the summit; in the
+distance I saw a large herd of buffaloes which were being chased and fired
+at by twenty or thirty Indians. Occasionally a buffalo would drop out of
+the herd, but the Indians kept on until they had killed ten or fifteen.
+Then they turned back and began to cut up the game.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="bbox" style="width: 333px; height: 500px;"><img src="images/img02.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p class="caption">IN THE DISTANCE I SAW A LARGE HERD OF BUFFALOES<br />WHICH WERE BEING CHASED AND FIRED AT BY<br />TWENTY OR THIRTY INDIANS.</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>I saddled my horse and tied him to a small tree where I could reach him
+conveniently in case the Indians should discover me by finding my trail
+and following it. I then crawled carefully back to the summit of the
+bluff, and in a concealed position watched the Indians for two hours,
+during which time they were occupied in cutting up the buffaloes and
+packing the meat on their ponies. When they had finished this work they
+rode off in the direction whence they had come.</p>
+
+<p>I waited till nightfall before resuming my journey, and then I bore off to
+the east for several miles, and by making a semicircle to avoid the
+Indians, I got back on my original course, and then pushed on rapidly to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
+Colonel Rice&#8217;s camp, which I reached just at daylight.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Rice had been fighting Indians almost every day since he had been
+encamped at this point, and he was very anxious to notify General Terry of
+the fact. Of course I was requested to carry his dispatches. After
+remaining at Glendive a single day, I started back to find General Terry,
+and on the third day I overhauled him at the head of Deer Creek, while on
+his way to Colonel Rice&#8217;s camp. He was not, however, going in the right
+direction, but bearing too far to the east, and so I informed him. He then
+asked me to guide the command, and I did so.</p>
+
+<p>On arriving at Glendive I bade good-by to the General and his officers,
+and took passage on the <i>Far West</i>, which was on her way down the
+Missouri. At Bismarck I left the steamer and proceeded to Rochester, New
+York, where I met my family.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class="giant">THE LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL</span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II.1" id="II.1"></a>I</h2>
+<p class="title"><span class="smcap">The Little Boy of the Prairie</span></p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Once</span> when Buffalo Bill was a tiny boy of seven or eight his father&#8217;s
+family were camping on their way to Kansas. It happened that both his
+father and the guide were away from the little camp in search of food. It
+was at night and young Bill Cody was asleep. He was suddenly awakened by
+hearing a noise, and saw an Indian in the act of untying and leading away
+his own pet pony. The boy jumped up, grasped his rifle, and said,</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What are you doing with my horse?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The Indian did not seem to be much disturbed at the little fellow&#8217;s
+appearance, and said he would swap horses. Little Bill said he would not
+swap. The Indian only laughed at him. Then the boy held his gun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> ready,
+and said again that he would not swap; and in the end the big Indian,
+after watching him keenly for a few minutes, quietly mounted his old pony
+and rode away. This is a good example of the nerve and courage which have
+made him as a grown man the best plainsman in our history.</p>
+
+<p>Every boy, perhaps every man, loves to read about the days of Indian
+fights, the camping along the trails, the crossing of the plains in
+prairie schooners, and the wild life that belonged to what was once called
+the Great American Desert&mdash;which now contains thousands of farms and
+hundreds of cities. It was a hard life; but it was so full of real
+adventure, of actual danger, that it had its own interest to those who
+lived it. And although it is gone now forever, it will always remain the
+most interesting part of American history to the boys of our country.</p>
+
+<p>That was the time when a man saved his own life day by day, absolutely and
+solely because he had greater courage or quicker wit than his opponent,
+whether that opponent was an Indian, a stage robber, a flood, a prairie
+fire, or any other form of danger.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> To understand those days and the
+events and episodes as they occurred to the men who lived them, one must
+first get into one&#8217;s mind the country they lived in and traveled over. It
+was a flat land stretching thousands of miles across the middle of the
+United States from the Missouri River to California, with here and there a
+huge range of mountains running north and south, guarded on either side by
+long lines of foothills. Sometimes there were stretches of forest;
+generally there was nothing but the flat plains covered with a rough wild
+grass. Between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada there were the
+alkali plains, unfit for human habitation. All this country was inhabited
+by Indians who had been gradually driven westward from the Atlantic coast,
+who had been treated badly by white men, and who had become a fierce race
+of fighters and hunters. They considered the white man their natural prey.
+Whenever they saw a &#8220;pale face&#8221; it was fair and right in their minds to
+try to get his scalp; for hundreds of stories had been handed down from
+their fathers and grandfathers of the way in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> the white man had
+killed their people and driven them from the land that had been theirs for
+centuries.</p>
+
+<p>Over this country&mdash;a distance of two thousand miles&mdash;the buffaloes and the
+Indians roamed, and no white man had a home. There were no cities. There
+were practically no towns. The white man gradually moving west had got as
+far as the western counties of Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa in 1850; the
+white men had settled the Pacific coast in California; there were no
+railroads; there was no way to communicate between the Missouri River and
+California, except on horseback or by driving huge wagons across these
+wild plains.</p>
+
+<p>Any day, any moment, while the travelers were sitting in their great
+wagons, they might see some little specks coming toward them across the
+flat plain. Then came a scurrying to put the wagons in a circle with the
+horses and mules, men and women, in the center. In a moment a band of
+mounted Indians would rush down upon them; and unless they were ready
+these wild red men would ride through the train between the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> wagons,
+frighten the mules and horses, separate one wagon from another, and after
+killing all the human beings, carry their goods away. Sometimes it
+happened in the night. Sometimes it happened in the day. And as those who
+were not ready were always killed, the result was that those who lived and
+traveled across those plains were the keenest and shrewdest of their
+kind&mdash;quicker and shrewder than the Indians themselves. Even if the
+Indians did not appear, it took a good hunter to keep his little caravan
+supplied with food. For the journey was a long one; there were many
+breakdowns and delays; and in order to supply food for the company the
+buffalo and deer of the plains had to be hunted and killed.</p>
+
+<p>That was the country and the people between 1850 and 1860. After the rush
+to California for gold, it became evident that there must be some regular
+system of communication between the outskirts of civilization in the East,
+and the outskirts of civilization in the West in California. It was just
+at this time that the man who is known all over the world as Buffalo Bill
+was born.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Buffalo Bill&#8217;s father was named Isaac Cody. He lived on a farm in Scott
+County, Iowa, near a town named Le Clair, and there William Frederick Cody
+was born on the 26th of February, 1846.</p>
+
+<p>When the California gold craze came in 1849, Isaac Cody, with thousands of
+other people, made up his mind to go across the plains to California and
+look for gold. But before he had much more than started he changed his
+mind and moved toward Kansas, where he hoped to find some place to settle
+on the frontier. Instead of taking his wife and children on such a
+dangerous expedition he left them with his brother, Elijah Cody, in Platt
+County, Missouri, and then started out in search of a new home. Finally,
+when young William was only seven or eight years old, his father settled
+near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and here the boy grew up in the midst of
+Indians and the wild life of the plains, and in the very thick of the
+early fights that occurred between the Northerners and Southerners over
+the question of slavery. It was a hard life and only those who were
+naturally fitted for it lived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> through it. Even at the age of seven or
+eight little Bill Cody naturally took to this sort of life. He loved
+adventure. He loved stories of Indians, scouts, and desperadoes, and he
+could fire a rifle pretty accurately almost as soon as he could carry one.</p>
+
+<p>Finally the family settled in Salt Creek Valley in Kansas, which was on
+the line of one of the two trails, or roads&mdash;if they could be called
+roads&mdash;that stretched for two thousand miles or more across this waste of
+plain and mountain to California.</p>
+
+<p>Day after day little Bill Cody would go out with his father, taking his
+rifle, to hunt, and he always had with him a famous dog named &#8220;Turk.&#8221; The
+boy, and in fact all the children, loved Turk. He was as much one of the
+family as any of the children, and again and again gave warning of danger.
+There are many instances in which the dog practically saved the lives of
+at least one member of the family group. One day when Cody&#8217;s two sisters
+were walking some distance from their home they heard a snarl, and looking
+up into a tree they saw a panther getting ready to spring upon them. Old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>
+Turk, who was with them, was quite as well aware of the danger as they
+were; and while they hid in the bushes, he sat in front of them and
+grappled with the panther as it jumped to reach them. The whole incident
+took place in a moment, and before they realized what had happened, they
+saw their favorite dog in the act of being killed by the panther. Suddenly
+off in the distance they heard their brother Bill&#8217;s familiar whistle
+calling his dog. Then on the instant, as they crouched there, expecting
+every moment to see the fight end with the death of the dog, a rifle shot
+rang out and the panther rolled over dead. That was a famous shot in
+itself for a boy of less than eight years, for both animals were rolling
+over and over in their fight, and it took not only nerve, but accurate
+aim, to hit the one and avoid the other.</p>
+
+<p>The family had scarcely got settled in their new home when the father, who
+did not believe in slavery, got into discussions with other people of the
+county who had been brought up to hold slaves. Those were hard, dangerous
+men. They got angry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> quickly; they shot their pistols at one another
+without much provocation, and they feared neither death nor anything else
+because they were living in the midst of danger always. In one of these
+excited discussions as to whether slaves should be held in the new State
+of Kansas or not, Isaac Cody took a firm stand on his side, and was
+thereupon notified that if he did not leave the country he would be shot.
+He had to hide frequently in different parts of his own house at night
+when a body of men would come to kill him, and for days and days he lived
+in thickets near the house, his little son bringing him food every day.</p>
+
+<p>Once when a party had come to the house in search of his father and had
+failed to find him, young Bill discovered that his pony was missing. He
+went out to look for it, and found that it had been stolen by a member of
+the lynching party named Sharp. He cried out to the man that that was his
+pony; whereupon the desperado laughed at him. Bill called him a coward and
+told him he would get even with him some day; and then suddenly getting an
+idea, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> whistled for Turk, and set the dog on the man. The dog ran up to
+the pony and bit his hind legs, whereupon the little horse kicked
+vigorously and bucked until he had thrown Sharp off. Then began a hot
+discussion between Will and Sharp, the one setting the dog on, the other
+yelling to have him called off. But in the end Sharp was obliged to
+temporize. He returned the pony and went away as fast as he could run.</p>
+
+<p>So the days went on until Isaac Cody was obliged to leave the country. One
+of the famous scout&#8217;s first real adventures occurred at this time. The boy
+was scarcely ten years old when one night the family received information
+that their father was coming home to see them and to stay for one night,
+returning to Fort Leavenworth in the morning. In some way the men of the
+community discovered that he was coming. A party was sent out to capture
+him as he came through a wooded gulch, and the little family sat around
+the hearth, most of them in tears, with the certainty that their father
+would be killed that night.</p>
+
+<p>Then the instinct of the young scout came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> to the surface. Young Bill
+proposed that he should ride his pony to a place called Grasshopper Falls,
+where his father was staying, and warn him. The boy had been sick with a
+fever; but he got out of bed, mounted his pony, and started in the night
+to ride the thirty miles. He had only gone four or five when he heard a
+cry of, &#8220;Halt!&#8221; Instead of stopping, he leaned over Indian fashion behind
+his pony, so that nothing but one leg showed on the side from which the
+call came, and there he hung as the good horse rushed at his top speed
+through the ambuscade. As he did not stop, the men began firing at him,
+and he could hear the bullets flying over him. He got through safely,
+however, and succeeded in getting to Grasshopper Falls just as his father
+was starting. It is interesting to know that this ride taken in the night
+by a sick boy not old enough to go to school was ten miles longer than the
+famous ride of General Philip Sheridan in the Civil War.</p>
+
+<p>Then came hard times for the little Cody family. The father died, and the
+mother had no means of supporting her children and keeping up the farm.
+Young Bill, then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> eleven years old, made up his mind that it was his duty
+to support them. He could not stay at home, as he was not big enough to
+attend to the work of the farm.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed an almost impossible task, because in addition to all their
+poverty there was a mortgage of one thousand dollars against their farm,
+and if they did not pay this shortly their own home would be taken away
+from them. Mrs. Cody was a brave woman, and she felt that if it were not
+for that mortgage she could have managed to scrape along and keep the
+family alive. In the many talks which they had as to what they should do,
+the boy told his mother that if she could fight this claim he would try to
+earn the money.</p>
+
+<p>This was his idea. There was a firm&mdash;a famous one in the history of that
+part of the United States&mdash;named Russell, Majors &amp; Waddell, frontiersmen
+who had gradually built up a line of freight wagons that went from St.
+Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, two thousand miles across the plains
+and mountains, carrying the freight that was shipped from the East to the
+West and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> bringing back freight from California to the East. These goods
+were packed in huge wagons with big canvas tops, drawn by sometimes ten
+and sometimes twenty teams of oxen. There was so much danger in these
+trips from Indians and outlaws that they never started without several
+wagons in a little caravan, with a guard of frontiersmen all armed and
+ready to repel any attack from whatever source. Each night they camped in
+certain places along the trail where there was water and, if possible,
+wood. They cooked their own meals. They set up their pickets and guards,
+and started on again in the morning to the next camp. The journey took
+about a month; and time and time again the whole outfit would fail to
+appear at the other end. It had been attacked and all the men killed by
+Indians or by the robbers of the plains. And sometimes the next caravan
+would find the remnants of the wagons and the dead bodies of men and oxen.
+It was Bill Cody&#8217;s idea to see if he could not get a chance to travel as
+what is called an &#8220;extra&#8221; on one of these caravans, and forthwith he
+presented himself at the office of the firm in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> Fort Leavenworth. One of
+the members of the firm had known his father, and so he treated the boy
+kindly. But he told him frankly that a boy of his age would be of no use.
+Bill, however, said that he could ride and shoot, that he could herd
+cattle and do a lot of other things. He wanted to be an &#8220;extra.&#8221; Finally,
+he was so earnest in his desire, that Mr. Majors consented; and there is
+an interesting document which was signed by the two which shows what was
+expected and what were the dangers of such work. This paper reads as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I, Wm. F. Cody, do hereby solemnly swear before the great and living God,
+that during my engagement with, and while I am in the employ of, Russell,
+Majors &amp; Waddell, I will not, under any circumstances, use profane
+language, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employ&eacute; of the
+firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be
+faithful to my duties, and shall direct all my acts so as to win the
+confidence of my employers. So help me God.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And so the &#8220;boy extra&#8221; began his work. At night he slept in a blanket
+under a wagon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> and by day he did whatever he was given to do.</p>
+
+<p>Day after day, week after week, they traveled slowly over the huge plains,
+the &#8220;bull whackers&#8221;&mdash;the men who drove the huge oxen&mdash;constantly snapping
+their enormous whips and urging the beasts on as fast as possible. It was
+a monotonous life, except when some incident occurred, and then the
+incident was likely to be one of life and death, depending on the
+quickness, accuracy of aim, and alertness of the men in the &#8220;bull train.&#8221;
+They had gone only about thirty-five miles from Fort Kearny, one of the
+places where they stopped near the Platte River, when young Bill suddenly
+saw the three pickets drop flat on the ground, and the next moment he
+heard shots and saw a band of Indians riding toward them. Instantly the
+men in the bull train&mdash;all frontiersmen&mdash;made a circle of the wagons, got
+into the circle themselves, and began firing at the Indians. The red men
+wheeled in a big curve, firing as they went, and then rode off a short
+distance on the plain out of gun shot and stood watching the white men.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+Buffalo Bill has already told this story in his own words earlier in the
+book. But he does not tell what it seems impossible to believe&mdash;that this
+boy of eleven years saved the lives of the entire outfit; and so it is
+well to mention the fact here. The consultation which the men had while
+the Indians waited proved that it was useless to stay where they were.
+Indians began to come from all quarters and outnumbered the whites ten to
+one. It was therefore decided to leave the train to the mercy of the
+Indians and make a dash for a creek where they could hide behind the
+embankment. This was successfully carried out and they then started for
+Fort Kearny, walking in the water and keeping watch over the top of the
+bank. As night came on the little boy began to get tired and weak. He
+could not keep up with the others, and in the excitement and darkness they
+did not miss him as he gradually fell behind. So the little fellow was
+trudging along, his rifle over his shoulder, perhaps a hundred yards
+behind the party, when to his amazement he saw the feathered head of an
+Indian poke over the bank before him and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> behind the others of his party.
+The Indian did not see him, for he was looking toward the others. With the
+quickness and instinct which made Buffalo Bill what he was, the lad put up
+his rifle, and the first warning his friends had of any attack in the rear
+was the sound of a shot, and the sound, too, of the body of the dead
+Indian rolling down into the creek. That was Buffalo Bill&#8217;s first Indian,
+and the story of the boy who had saved the bull train went all over the
+frontier country in an incredibly short space of time.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II.2" id="II.2"></a>II</h2>
+<p class="title"><span class="smcap">Little Bill at School and at the Traps</span></p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Now</span> began days of trouble for the young frontier boy. The family
+difficulties were not so serious as they had seemed at first. Mrs. Cody
+was able to keep the farm, and realizing that her boy, while promising to
+make a good frontiersman, was not getting any education, she showed him
+the necessity of having the &#8220;man of the family&#8221; go to school.</p>
+
+<p>Near their home some of the settlers had contributed money for the
+building of a little schoolhouse and for the payment of a teacher who was
+to come from the East and teach their children. Mrs. Cody made up her mind
+that Bill should go there to school, and after much discussion he began
+his school days.</p>
+
+<p>Those must have been strange school days as we think of school now. The
+little <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>one-room shanty on the plain had nothing in it but a few boards of
+the simplest kind that would serve as desks, a stove, and a few, very few,
+books. The scholars were a wild lot, quite unused to any kind of
+discipline. There was no idea in their minds of promptness, of getting to
+school on time, of behaving while they were in school, or of studying very
+hard over their lessons. In fact, their parents had had very little
+education, and there was nothing in all that country that made people
+believe in any discipline. Then, too, the teacher was not a very good one.
+In fact, it would have been hard to get a man to go out on that wild
+frontier who could make a living in the East. So the school was a somewhat
+uproarious affair. The boys had numerous fights. They came when they
+liked. They went hunting or fishing as they saw fit. They got a good many
+beatings from the teacher and laughed over them afterward. They teased the
+girls, and again and again the school teacher, unable to cope with them,
+settled matters by driving them out of the little house and locking the
+door.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>In the midst of this crowd of youngsters young Bill began his first day.
+He was known to them all and to all their parents for miles around as the
+boy who had saved the bull train, as a fine shot, and as a good deal of a
+hero. Besides this he was a terrible tease, not only to his own sisters,
+but to every one else&#8217;s sisters.</p>
+
+<p>Not many days had passed when a feud grew up between him and another boy
+of the school. This soon developed into fights, finally ending in the
+arrival of old Turk at the school. The school, like all other houses, had
+no cellar. It rested a foot or two above the ground. Bill&#8217;s rival in the
+school was a boy named Gobel, and he, too, owned a dog. When Turk arrived
+in search of his young master the school was in session, and a moderate
+amount of order had been maintained for some time. Then suddenly the
+scholars and the teacher heard beneath them a fierce growl, then another,
+then a series of howls and cries. And everyone knew that within a few
+inches of them, only separated by the floor, there was a fine dogfight in
+progress. That was enough for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> the scholars. They jumped over their seats,
+crowded out through the door, and stood around the schoolhouse watching
+Turk and Gobel&#8217;s dog fight. Each dog was urged on by one of the two
+factions. It was not long before Turk had beaten his rival and driven him
+away with his tail between his legs. Whereupon young Gobel said that
+although his dog might be beaten, he could lick Will Cody. That was enough
+for the young frontier boy, and, in spite of all the teacher could do, a
+ring was soon formed by the scholars and a thoroughbred prize fight
+started. Gobel was much larger and older than Will, and the latter knew
+that he would be beaten shortly. He must resort to some stratagem, and
+though it seems strange to us now, out on that frontier, and especially to
+a boy who had actually been obliged to kill men to save his own life, any
+means of winning the fight was right. So the little fellow thinking all
+the time while he was in the midst of his struggle, drew his knife and
+stuck it into the fleshy part of Steve Gobel&#8217;s leg. The moment Steve saw
+the blood he screamed with terror and cried out that he was killed.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>Thereupon all the children took to their heels and ran to tell their
+parents that Will Cody had killed Gobel. Then the teacher took a hand, and
+so did the parents of many of the children, and it looked as if it would
+go hard with poor Bill. At all events, he did not care to stay at home,
+and not knowing what else to do, he ran away down the trail, happening to
+come upon one of the wagon trains of his first employers, Russell, Majors
+&amp; Waddell, as he ran. The boss of the outfit was a man named Willis, and
+when the boy told his story Willis promised to look after him and take him
+again as a boy extra, first offering to go back to the school with him and
+lick Gobel, and the teacher too, if Bill said so. It was only a few
+moments when Gobel&#8217;s father and a couple of men came up to arrest the boy,
+but they had to deal with men who were used to that sort of thing every
+day of their lives, and the pursuers soon discovered that it was wise for
+them to turn around and go home. But there was no more school for young
+Cody at present, and so he again became a member of a bull train.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>During this short term of service with the freighters the boy had another
+experience which nearly ended his career, and which to any boy who lives
+in a pleasant home and never sees any such life can scarcely be much more
+than a fairy tale, it is so terrible and seems so impossible. The boy had
+a short time with nothing to do between trips in the winter, and he
+decided, as money was necessary, to go on a hunting trip with a party of
+trappers. There was a chance of making considerable money by trapping
+animals and selling their furs. As a matter of fact, the trapping was very
+successful, and young Bill contributed distinctly his part to the family
+treasury. It was in the midst of this trip, while he was in an absolutely
+uninhabited country, making a round of his traps, that he came upon three
+Indians, each leading a pony loaded with skins. It was a case of three to
+one, and the moment he discovered them they discovered him. He saw the
+leading Indian put up his rifle and aim it at him. Here was a case, one of
+the many that came later, when the young frontier boy unquestionably saved
+his life by his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> quickness and skill. Actually before the Indian, who
+was no greenhorn at such matters, could aim his rifle and fire, Will Cody
+had shot him dead. The other two Indians fired arrows, one of which went
+through the boy&#8217;s hat; but without stopping, he turned around and cried,
+as if to his companions:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Here they are! This way! This way!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then&mdash;all this taking place in an incredibly short space of time&mdash;he
+wounded one Indian with his revolver as the two turned and fled; so that,
+instead of being killed himself, he killed one Indian, wounded another,
+overcame the third, and marched into camp with their three ponies and all
+the skins that they had gathered.</p>
+
+<p>It was on a similar trapping expedition that the following episode
+occurred. The boy had been so successful and had made so much money that
+he decided on another trip. Not finding any party of men starting out, he
+got up an expedition of his own with a friend of his named David Phillips.
+The two youngsters bought an ox-team wagon and started out. They were
+after beaver,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> and when they were somewhere in the vicinity of Fort
+Leavenworth they struck a country full of beaver dams. Here they camped in
+a cave in the hillside which they fixed up for a permanent home. They
+stored the food they had brought and went to work setting their traps. At
+every hour of the day and night they were likely to run upon Indians, who
+never waited to parley, but killed whatever white men they saw as soon as
+they came upon them, scalping them and leaving them dead or dying wherever
+they might have fallen.</p>
+
+<p>These two boys, therefore, were constantly on the watch. Every bush, every
+tree, every rock, might conceal an Indian, and by practicing this
+instinct, just as a sailor on a ship will see a sail that anyone else
+might think was a cloud or a speck on the horizon, these boys of the
+plains could discover, in a range of many miles over plain or rolling
+country, the slightest thing that was unusual or unexplainable. A little
+spot of color in a tree or bush that was not exactly the color of a winter
+leaf would mean to them an ambuscade of Indians. The slightest impression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+in the earth which was different from impressions left there by nature
+meant the trail of a party of Indians. Every instant while they were
+moving along in the day or night their eyes were roaming over the country
+round about to pick out any one of these tiny but unusual signs.</p>
+
+<p>The boys had been attending to their work of trapping for many days
+without seeing any unusual sign. One night they came to their camp and had
+eaten supper, when their oxen began to bellow and leap about. The boys
+grabbed their rifles, ran to the corral, and discovered that a bear was in
+the vicinity. Phillips fired first and wounded the animal. But that only
+made him the more savage. The boy just managed to leap out of the bear&#8217;s
+way when Bill fired into his mouth and killed him. But it was a close
+call, as the dead beast fell actually on the body of Phillips. It was a
+case of having saved the boy&#8217;s life, and the chance of returning the favor
+came only too soon.</p>
+
+<p>It was the next day, when Bill Cody slipped and broke his leg. The other
+boy carried him back to the camp, made splints,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> bound up his leg, and
+stopped the bleeding; and then the two sat down to decide what should be
+done. The nearest settlement was a hundred miles away. It was absolutely
+impossible for Cody to walk that distance. His friend could not carry him,
+and in the fright which the bear had given the two oxen one had killed
+itself, and the other had become so maimed that it had to be shot. What
+the youngsters were to do they did not know. No one was nearer than a
+hundred miles, and there was no way of getting a boy with a broken leg
+that distance. Yet it was a case of starving to death or of doing
+something at once. Therefore the two trappers, hardly fourteen years old,
+decided that Phillips should start at once and walk the hundred miles for
+assistance.</p>
+
+<p>To go and come back would take him twenty days at least. That meant twenty
+days lying in a cave for Bill, without his having the power even to get up
+and go outside. Yet there was nothing else to do, and the good nerve of
+the two boys was sufficient for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>Phillips made Cody as comfortable as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> could and put all the food they
+had near him. They figured out just how much he was to eat each day in
+order to hold out until assistance should be brought, and then shaking
+hands, Phillips left him.</p>
+
+<p>The poor boy felt too lonely and heartbroken to eat much of anything in
+the first day or two. He counted the days as they passed by cutting a
+notch in a stick of wood each day. Gradually his leg healed, and in the
+course of two weeks he could move about a little. That alone relieved the
+pressure of loneliness, for hobbling to the mouth of the cave and looking
+outside was a very different thing from lying perfectly still in one
+position day after day. He tried to use up some of the time by studying
+the school books which his mother had asked him to take with him, and it
+was in the midst of one of these attempts to pass away the hours by
+reading over again what he had already read a dozen times, that he looked
+up and saw an Indian in war paint standing inside the cave gazing at him.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="bbox" style="width: 335px; height: 500px;"><img src="images/img03.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p class="caption">HE LOOKED UP AND SAW INDIANS IN WAR PAINT<br />STANDING INSIDE THE CAVE, GAZING AT HIM.</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>In a moment a dozen or more warriors had followed the first. The boy
+thought his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> last day had come, for the delay that had occurred already
+was a longer time than the Indians usually gave any white man to live if
+they were in a position to put him out of existence. The chief in his
+guttural tones, without changing his expression at all, said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Bill said: &#8220;How?&#8221; and then they looked at one another, the boy&#8217;s mind
+flying along all the possible schemes which an expert frontiersman could
+think of to prolong a discussion that might possibly save his life. As he
+was thinking, gazing thus at the Indians one after another, he suddenly
+recognized one of them who was a chief named Rain-in-the-Face, an Indian
+whom he had once befriended in a way that the red man appreciates.</p>
+
+<p>It seems that once, some time before, Bill had found the man in difficulty
+and had given him something to eat and a blanket to sleep in. Instantly
+the boy&#8217;s mind, well aware of the peculiar kind of gratitude Indians feel,
+began to work upon this. First he showed his leg and the bandages and
+told<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> the story of his mishap, gaining as much time as he could in that
+way. Then suddenly he turned to Rain-in-the-Face and reminded him of how
+once their positions had been exactly reversed and how he had helped the
+Indian to get what he most needed. Rain-in-the-Face remembered the episode
+perfectly, and after a consultation he told Cody that although he and his
+friends were out in search of scalps, they would not molest him, but that
+that was the limit of their kindness.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians ransacked the cave, took everything that was of value from it,
+leaving only a small amount of food. And yet after they were gone the boy
+was so thankful for the chance that had thrown this one Indian in his way
+and had saved his life that he could not even complain of the starvation
+which stared him in the face. He took what little food was left and
+divided it up, allowing ten days beyond the twenty for the return of
+Phillips, and kept strictly to the portion each day that would keep him in
+some sort of food until the thirty days were up.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>A day or two after the episode of the Indians a heavy snowstorm set in,
+and lasted for so long that when it finally ceased the mouth of the cave
+was entirely covered with snow. That seemed almost the last straw, for
+little or no light came into the cave, the cold was intense, and the boy
+was unable to go out. Hour by hour, day in and day out, he sat there,
+unable to read any more and without any appetite for the little food he
+could allow himself.</p>
+
+<p>Three weeks passed&mdash;one day over the time in which Phillips might have
+returned. The little fellow&#8217;s mind almost gave way from the strain that
+was put on him as he sat there with night following day, and no
+change&mdash;only expectancy.</p>
+
+<p>Twenty-eight days passed. He had but a day or so more of food. If help did
+not come within the next three days at the most, he would starve to death.
+To add to his misery, most of the wood that had been left was used up.</p>
+
+<p>So the boy sat on the twenty-ninth day, huddled over the little flame that
+he could spare himself, hardly realizing now the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>passage of time, when he
+suddenly heard his name called. It seemed to him that he must be dreaming.
+He sat perfectly still listening, unable even to make a reply, and then
+the name rang out again and was repeated time after time. With all the
+strength he had left he answered the call, and it was his answering cry
+that enabled Phillips and the relief party to find the cave and begin
+digging through the snow.</p>
+
+<p>When the two boys came together Bill Cody&#8217;s nerves gave way and he was
+carried out more dead than alive. But he was alive and bound to have many
+more of these hairbreadth escapes that make perhaps as extraordinary a
+record as could be told of any man who has ever lived.</p>
+
+<p>These adventures, which read to-day as if they came out of a wild, unreal
+story of adventure, happening as they did in the life of this boy not yet
+fifteen years old, prepared the way for a youth and early manhood of such
+extraordinary usefulness to the plains that Cody by the time the Civil War
+came was one of the most expert frontiersmen, guides, and scouts that
+existed in the United<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> States. And yet in 1860 he was but fifteen years
+old, too young, in other words, to go to college to-day, younger than most
+boys now when they get their first shotgun or rifle.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II.3" id="II.3"></a>III</h2>
+<p class="title"><span class="smcap">The Pony Express Rider</span></p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">At</span> the time when the Civil War broke out Cody was too young to enlist. No
+regiment would take him, and besides, his mother, who was in feeble health
+and who had all the family to look out for, begged and prayed him to stay
+at home, as she said it was more important for him, the man of the family,
+to watch over them than to put his services at his country&#8217;s disposal. The
+boy wanted to go. It was a natural contingency for a young man brought up
+as he had been brought up. Yet he gave up his ambition for his mother.
+Bill promised his mother that he would never go to war as long as she was
+alive, but that as he must do something to earn money, he had to go to
+work at once. His chance came with an opportunity to join a group of men
+who will be read about as long as there is any history<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> of the United
+States. Their work only lasted a few years, but it was so extraordinary,
+so exciting, so near to the ideal of a life of adventure, that it stands
+out more important than many an era in this country&#8217;s history which had
+greater results and extended over a longer time.</p>
+
+<p>The firm of Russell, Majors &amp; Waddell, who have already been mentioned,
+increased in importance because they were the only men who carried out on
+a large scale successfully the business of transporting freight across the
+desert and the mountains to California. But as California grew&mdash;and it
+grew very fast in a few years&mdash;there came a demand for a speedier method
+of communication between the Western frontier in the East and the Eastern
+frontier in the West. Those two thousand miles of waste land consumed a
+month or more when transportation was by means of bull trains. It did not
+matter very much with freight, but in the transportation of money, of
+letters, of business arrangements that time grew to be too long for
+advancing civilization.</p>
+
+<p>The great freight transporters, therefore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> conceived the idea of getting
+up a scheme for carrying a few letters at a much faster rate from St.
+Joseph to San Francisco by means of a single horseman riding a pony at
+full speed. Their idea was that a man should mount a swift pony, well
+tried for his endurance before starting; that this man should ride fifteen
+miles straight out into the desert, and that at the end of the fifteen
+miles there should be a station, a house with a couple of men in it, who
+would have another pony ready. The horseman was to ride up to this shanty,
+jump to the ground with his bag of letters, immediately jump on the fresh
+pony, and rush along another fifteen miles to a similar station. Some of
+these stations were in settlements, some were in towns, but most of them
+were on the bleak prairies or in the hills of the Rocky Mountains. The
+trail was the same as that used by the freight bull trains. The bull-train
+stations were of course used, but it was necessary to increase the number
+of stations. Some of the divisions were longer than others. But the
+average was a distance of forty-five miles; that is, the man who rode one
+of these divisions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> of the two thousand miles, rode fifteen miles on one
+pony, fifteen miles on the second, and fifteen miles on the third. Then he
+began his return trip of forty-five miles. The longest division was two
+hundred and fifty miles.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes the country was open and moderately easy for riding. Sometimes
+it was up rocky gulches or through forests where the riding was hard. It
+required in the men the hardest kind of physique and endurance, in the
+ponies surefootedness as well as swiftness. Sometimes in order to keep up
+the schedule the men were obliged to cover twenty-five miles in an hour on
+flat country, in order to make up for slower going in the hills. They
+received about one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month, which was very
+high pay. But that gave the promoters of the scheme their choice among the
+best men of the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>The letters were carried in mail pouches or bags that hung over the
+saddle, and no rider was allowed to carry more than twenty pounds. In
+order to get as much mail within the twenty pounds as possible letters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+were written on tissue paper. Whatever money was carried was in paper, and
+one Eastern newspaper printed a special edition on tissue paper for use
+only on this famous Pony Express. So in the twenty pounds there were
+hundreds of letters. In fact, the paper was so thin that even a hundred
+letters would not occupy a space larger than that occupied by an ordinary
+monthly magazine to-day. The mail pouches were waterproof, and once locked
+at St. Joseph, Missouri, they were not opened until they were delivered in
+Sacramento, California, two thousand miles away.</p>
+
+<p>It seems almost incredible, but that distance was covered in a time that
+was extraordinarily short for those days, when one remembers that the
+whole journey was made by running ponies. It was an exciting time when the
+first pony was ready and saddled at the offices of Russell, Majors &amp;
+Waddell, in St. Joseph. A large crowd gathered long before the appointed
+time for starting, and when the pony was brought forth he was greeted with
+cheers. At the exact moment a frontiersman came out of the office,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> threw
+the pouch over the saddle, leaped on the pony, and started off at the top
+speed the pony was capable of, followed by the cries and cheers of the
+crowd. This first trip was started on the 3d of April, 1860. That journey,
+where the mail bags were thrown across the ponies and carried by a number
+of riders, took ten days to do the two thousand miles. It was an average
+of two hundred miles a day, or between eight and nine miles an hour for
+every hour of the twenty-four for ten days, including all stops and all
+delays. But in a short time the average trip was made regularly in nine
+days, and the fastest trip was made when President Lincoln&#8217;s inaugural
+address was carried over the two thousand miles in seven days and
+seventeen hours.</p>
+
+<p>When Cody was looking for work he conceived the idea of enlisting as one
+of the Pony Express riders, and he went to the office of the company and
+asked if he could not be one of the riders. They told him that he was too
+young, as he was then only a little over fourteen. But he insisted he
+could do it, and finally they gave him the shortest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> trip, a ride of
+thirty-five miles with three changes of ponies.</p>
+
+<p>When the time came for him to be ready for the first trip the boy was
+outside of his station with his pony ready, looking across the prairie for
+the rider who was to bring the mail pouches from the next station. Close
+upon time the man appeared. Drawing up to the station he jumped off, threw
+the bag to Cody, who in turn leaped into his saddle with it and started on
+his fifteen miles. He reached his first station on time, dismounted, and
+mounted a fresh pony which was standing ready, and started on the second
+relay. And so with the third, until he finished his thirty-five miles and
+threw the bag to the next man, who was waiting. And within an hour he was
+ready again for the rider coming from the direction of San Francisco. As
+soon as he had the mail he mounted a fresh pony and rode back over the
+same thirty-five miles.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the boy did seventy miles every day for three months. But endurance
+was not the only quality the rider must have. Through most of the whole
+route there was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> constant danger of a &#8220;hold up&#8221; either from Indians or
+from outlaws, who knew that the bag frequently contained money. He must be
+as alert and as good a frontiersman in the knowledge of Indian warfare as
+he was a good horseman. It was some time before the boy had any incident
+other than the ordinary episodes of the long ride. However, the time came.</p>
+
+<p>He was riding as fast as his pony could go through a ravine one day when
+there sprang out in front of him in the narrow track a man with his rifle
+at his shoulder. Young Cody knew enough to know that the man had what was
+called the &#8220;drop&#8221; on him. There was nothing to do but pull up and await
+events. It was a white man&mdash;a desperado of the plains. He told the boy
+that he meant him no harm, but that he wanted the money in the bag. Cody
+could do nothing but sit quietly on his pony. But always alert, always on
+the watch for every opportunity, in a situation that, young as he was, he
+had been in many times before, he kept a keen eye on the man while
+appearing to submit. The outlaw was careless enough to approach the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> pony
+from the front, and as he got within reach the young horseman by a trick
+that he had used many times before made the pony rear so suddenly that his
+fore foot struck the man in the head and knocked him senseless.</p>
+
+<p>Bill knew that somewhere in the vicinity the highwayman had a horse. He at
+once dismounted, bound the man hand and foot while he was insensible, and
+then began to hunt for the horse in the bushes. He found him a few rods
+away, and when he got back his opponent had come to. Unbinding his legs,
+Bill forced him to mount his own horse, and then strapped him on. Although
+the young Pony Expressman was late at the next station, the fact that he
+had brought in a robber and had saved his mail pouch was quite sufficient
+excuse for the delay of the mail that day.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of a few months the work proved too severe for him to continue,
+and he was laid off as supernumerary&mdash;that is, a man who could be called
+on to ride in any emergency. It was not long, however, before he made
+application for another job on the Pony Express. He went to Fort Laramie<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>
+and looked up a man named Slade, who was agent of the line there. Slade
+told him he was too young, but on hearing his name he slapped him on the
+shoulder and said that he had heard of him before and that he would give
+him a job. This run was from Red Buttes to a place called Three Crossings,
+and the distance was seventy-six miles. The boy started running this route
+regularly each day, and for a time had no unusual experience. One day,
+however, having made the run out of seventy-six miles, he found, when he
+arrived at his last station, that the man who was supposed to carry the
+bag to the next station, a distance of eighty-five miles, had been wounded
+by Indians. Bill offered to go on and carry the bag over that man&#8217;s
+section, and as there was no one else to do it he was sent on. This second
+division covered a distance of one hundred and sixty-one miles. That made
+one continuous route of three hundred and twenty-two miles out and back
+without stopping. In that time he rode twenty-one ponies and made the
+longest trip ever made by a Pony Express rider.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>It was while on this route that one day he suddenly came upon a man who
+appeared from behind a large rock as Cody passed. There was no time for
+thought, and Bill immediately reached for his revolver, but upon seeing
+him the man dropped his rifle and came forward. He turned out to be a
+famous character of the plains named &#8220;California Joe,&#8221; and on seeing the
+young boy he immediately asked him if he were not Bill Cody. Then the
+frontiersman told him that a little way back on the road he had what he
+called &#8220;a little misunderstandin&#8217; with two men, and now I has to plant
+&#8217;em.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was only a little later that, as Bill left one of the stations, the
+boss called to him to look out, there were reports of Indians in the
+vicinity. Cody said he would, and started away at breakneck pace. Here
+again, as many times before and after, the boy&#8217;s instinctive knowledge and
+immediate perception of anything, no matter how small, that was unusual or
+unnatural on the plains saved his life. Always keeping a keen watch, he
+suddenly saw above the top of a pile of rocks something that he knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> was
+not put there by nature. It was a little speck of color, and long before
+any average human being would have seen it at all he knew that it was a
+feather in the headdress of an Indian in war paint. He did not stop or
+turn. He kept on at his furious pace until he was within rifle shot. Then
+ducking behind his pony, he turned him instantly off the trail, and at the
+same moment a puff of smoke from behind the rock showed that his guess had
+been true. The bullet went where the rider should have been, but it missed
+by the swerve which he had caused the pony to make. Out sprang two
+warriors, and a party of Indians appeared from a little distance further
+away. And now it became a ride for life. As he approached the end of the
+valley, which narrowed into a point, he saw that some of the Indians on
+the slopes were riding down to cut off his track. He watched his
+opportunity, and luckily for him those Indians had no rifles. He saw them
+fit the arrows to their bows, waited for the right moment, and just before
+the leading Indian fired his arrow the boy shot him with his revolver.
+When he reached the next station<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> he found that his pony had two arrows
+sticking in its flesh.</p>
+
+<p>At this time the Pony Express had to be stopped for some time on account
+of the number of Indians who were lying in wait all along the trails to
+capture the riders, and so the boy was once more out of a job.</p>
+
+<p>He became a supernumerary again, and as there were days in which he had
+nothing to do, he was in the habit of going out hunting, selling the skins
+of the animals he shot. On one of these trips he came upon a group of
+horses tied near a stream, and hearing voices in a dugout cave near by, he
+went to investigate. It turned out that the men were a group of prairie
+ruffians. They supposed him to be an advance scout in search of
+themselves, and for a few moments there was a quick play of wit against
+wit.</p>
+
+<p>They asked him where he came from. He pointed backward. They asked where
+his horse was. He said it was down by the stream. They asked him to go and
+get it and join them. He said he would, volunteering, with the keenness of
+men whose lives are always at stake, to leave his gun with them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> That
+allayed suspicion for the moment, but they even went so far as to send two
+of their number with him. The boy, as they reached the horse, carelessly
+said that he had shot some game and would pick it up, in the meantime
+asking the men to lead his horse on ahead. Then turning behind the second
+man, he struck him a blow with his revolver and shot the other. Mounting
+his pony, Cody then dashed down the ravine. In a moment the whole party
+were after him. It was certain that he would soon be overtaken, as his own
+pony was tired and theirs were fresh. Bill turned the corner of some rocks
+and, dismounting, gave the pony a slap and sent him tearing down the
+ravine, while he himself hid in the bushes and watched the whole party
+tear by in the pursuit of the riderless horse. He then calmly walked back
+to the station at Horseshoe and told of the adventure. Such experiences as
+this followed one after another, until in 1863, with the Civil War in full
+progress, Cody, then seventeen years old, received word that his mother
+was dying. He went immediately to their home, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>arrived in time to see
+his mother before she died.</p>
+
+<p>It was a sad household that gathered together after the burial, and when
+the children talked over what they should do, they were astonished to hear
+that Cody had made up his mind to enlist at once in the Northern army. He
+had kept his word with his mother and had not become a soldier as long as
+she lived; but now that she was dead and the family homestead out of debt,
+he was free from all promises.</p>
+
+<p>He at once enlisted, and his regiment was soon ordered to the front, but
+the young man was so able as a scout that he soon came to be used on
+special duty. Then, too, his fame as a plainsman was well known, and it
+reached military headquarters long before he himself arrived. He was at
+once selected, therefore, as a bearer of military dispatches at Fort
+Larned, and one of his first escapades took place soon after he was put
+upon this work. Some of the Southerners bore a grudge against him that
+dated back to the time when he had saved his father from them. These
+men&mdash;now on the Southern <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>side&mdash;heard of his journey and laid in ambush by
+a stream in a gulch where it was necessary for him to cross on account of
+the ford. They hid their horses in a clump of trees and went to a cabin
+near the ford to wait for his arrival. Darkness came on before he reached
+the spot, and as by this time the young man had acquired the habit of
+absolutely observing everything at all times about him, he soon discovered
+the fresh tracks of horses. Without any other object than the natural
+instinct to find the reason for everything that presented itself, he
+quietly dismounted, followed the trail, and found the five horses. It was
+evident that there were five men near by watching for him.</p>
+
+<p>The only thing to do was to ride on as quietly as possible and try to make
+the ford. He was in the act of entering the water when he heard their
+cries, and, urging his horse into the stream, he turned in his saddle, and
+before any of the five could pull a trigger he had shot one of them. Still
+he spurred the horse on, turned again and shot another. But the others
+were firing now, and so Cody<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> fell forward across his horse and was lucky
+enough to make the other side of the stream. There he was safe, because
+the other three were not mounted.</p>
+
+<p>When the scout returned with answers to the dispatches he became very wary
+as he approached the ford. There were no signs, however, of an attacking
+party, and, coming up to the shanty, he found one of the men whom he had
+shot dying there alone. The man had been left by his pals with enough food
+to last him until he should die, and Bill discovered that he was a man
+whom he had known from his earliest boyhood, and who had been a supposed
+friend of his father. As the man was near his end, the boy gave him water
+and sat by him until he died. He then returned to Fort Larned.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II.4" id="II.4"></a>IV</h2>
+<p class="title">&#8220;<span class="smcap">Bill Cody, the Scout</span>&#8221;</p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">With</span> his entrance into the United States army &#8220;Bill Cody,&#8221; as he had come
+to be known, arrived at man&#8217;s estate, although he was scarcely eighteen
+years of age. He was known not only all over the West, but every army
+headquarters knew of the skillful frontiersman, and even at that early
+date most boys of the United States had read some part of his life in the
+newspapers.</p>
+
+<p>Now his work became that of a man, and he had plenty of narrow escapes
+during the war, which in their way were as remarkable as his experiences
+on the plains. For example, once General Smith, who was in charge of
+headquarters at Memphis, got hold of him and told him that he wished to
+get some information and have some maps drawn of the position of the
+Confederate troops; and that it was impossible to secure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> this unless he
+could find a man who would go into the Confederate camp in disguise. Cody
+immediately consented to go. It did not seem any more dangerous or any
+less honorable than carrying out the regular life of a scout and Indian
+hunter of the plains.</p>
+
+<p>Just before the trip he had captured a man whom he knew, but who sided
+with the Southerners&mdash;a man named Nat Golden, who had been one of Russell,
+Majors &amp; Waddell&#8217;s freightmen. On this man he found some dispatches, which
+he promptly read. Golden was such an old friend that Cody took the papers
+from him, and when the man was arrested, nothing being found on him to
+make him a spy, he was simply imprisoned. Bill never told. With these
+papers in his possession and dressed in the Confederate uniform, the spy
+entered the Confederate lines, after telling General Smith what was in the
+dispatches.</p>
+
+<p>He was, of course, immediately halted by the pickets, to whom he stated
+that he was a Confederate soldier with information for the general. After
+being disarmed he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> taken to General Forrest, and a conversation then
+took place in which Cody told Forest that Golden had been captured, and
+that as he was being taken prisoner he had handed Cody the dispatches,
+asking him to take them to General Forrest. The story seemed so plausible
+that the General allowed him to stay in camp. And for two days he kept his
+eyes open, drew plans, and was ready to leave, when he came near losing
+his presence of mind, as well as his life, by discovering General Forrest
+talking with Golden himself, who had escaped from the Union lines. He knew
+that there was no time for delay. Golden, having no idea that Cody was in
+the Confederate lines, would tell Forrest the whole story as it actually
+happened, and the General would at once have him arrested. He went,
+therefore, apparently in great calmness, to his tent, got his horse
+saddled, and rode quietly toward the picket line. No one suspected that
+anything was the matter. No one paid any attention to him. As he got to
+the picket the sergeant spoke to him, recognized him, and allowed him to
+pass.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>He was outside the lines&mdash;in fact, he was between the Union and the
+Confederate lines&mdash;when he heard the sound of a squad of cavalry
+approaching. Then he put his horse to the run and in a moment discovered
+that a troop of Confederate cavalry was approaching from behind to meet a
+troop of Union cavalry approaching from the front. The one thought a spy
+was escaping; the other thought that a deserter or a spy was approaching.
+It was a hard situation. Fortunately, he got into some timber, and as he
+came out on the other side he discovered the Union lines. But it was not
+safe for him to approach in Confederate uniform, and so, with the
+knowledge that the Confederate cavalry was looking for him in the woods,
+Cody calmly dismounted at the spot where he had left his uniform, changed
+his clothes, and was able to lay his maps and report before General Smith
+within forty-eight hours from the time he had left.</p>
+
+<p>After some further experiences with the force at the front, Cody was
+assigned to duty at St. Louis. Office work palled on him, however, and he
+soon procured his release,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> as the war was practically over. He then
+returned to Fort Leavenworth and looked again for a job. This time it
+turned out to be the work of driving the famous overland stage which ran
+from St. Joseph to Sacramento, doing the two thousand miles in nineteen
+days on the average. This stage was another of the enterprises of the
+great firm of Russell, Majors &amp; Waddell. It was a difficult enterprise,
+too. The stage frequently carried large sums of money, and was therefore
+frequently held up by desperadoes or Indians.</p>
+
+<p>No one seemed very anxious to undertake the work of driver, although it
+was well paid. And the now famous Indian scout saw his opportunity again
+of making relatively large sums of money by taking risks that few others
+would take. He was at once offered the opportunity on his application, and
+started driving the coach for what was called a division&mdash;that is, two
+hundred and fifty miles.</p>
+
+<p>Those were strange old coaches. One of them may be seen to-day by any boy
+who will go to Buffalo Bill&#8217;s famous Wild West<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> Show and watch the old
+Deadwood coach drive around the ring. They were large-wheeled wagons swung
+on braces. They had to be strong, for they went over the most frightful
+roads one can imagine. Passengers could ride inside or on top, and every
+one who traveled went as fully armed as he could. There never was a time
+in the night or day when the coach was not apt to be attacked. And if it
+were attacked, the man on the box was the first one shot. Cody&#8217;s run was
+from Fort Kearny to Plum Creek, and he drove six horses. When he took hold
+of the job he was warned that Indians were all about, and rumors came
+thicker and thicker in the first month of his driving.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing happened, however, with the exception of one trip, where he saved
+the coach and the lives of all in it by a daring rush through a stream in
+the face of a party of Indians. But shortly after this he was told by the
+division superintendent, as he left Fort Kearny, that in the coach was a
+very large amount of money being sent in a box to Plum Creek. It was a
+question whether the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> existence of this treasure had become known or not.
+At any rate, Cody said he would be on the watch. First, before mounting on
+the box, he looked over the passengers&mdash;and here again was the same habit
+of looking at everything and everybody that might have any relation to the
+situation. He did not like the looks of two of the passengers, and as the
+conductor, who always traveled with the driver on the trip, was suddenly
+prevented from going, his suspicions became keener.</p>
+
+<p>Again the keen boy decided that the thing to do was to take time by the
+forelock. He had proceeded only a part of the distance after all but the
+two passengers had left when he pulled up the coach and got down as if to
+examine the running gear. Then he asked the two men to help him. As they
+started to come out of the coach Cody pointed two revolvers at them and
+held them up in the most approved fashion. He made them throw out their
+revolvers, then bound them and put them back in the coach.</p>
+
+<p>Something that one of the men had said made him think that they were part
+of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> gang, the other members of which were somewhere in ambush along the
+trail. On reaching the first relay station he deposited his prisoners with
+the agent and then started on.</p>
+
+<p>There were no other passengers. He had no sooner gotten away from the
+station than, stopping again, he cut open one of the cushions of the
+coach, and taking the money from the box, put it inside the cushions and
+then patched up the opening. After that he remounted the box and rode on.</p>
+
+<p>Within an hour, while driving through a bit of timber, the expected
+happened. The coach was held up by half a dozen men. They started to look
+for the treasure. Cody told them a long story of two men who had been
+riding as passengers, who had held him up in a lonely spot, taken the
+treasure, and disappeared into the timber. The gang immediately recognized
+their confederates, and in a fury at being thus deceived, they waited only
+long enough to ask him if they were mounted. On receiving an answer that
+they were not and also a description of the direction they had taken, the
+highwaymen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> left him in peace and rode in hot haste after their
+confederates.</p>
+
+<p>And the driver of the overland stage finished his journey and deposited
+the treasure into the hands that it was intended for.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II.5" id="II.5"></a>V</h2>
+<p class="title"><span class="smcap">The Indian Campaigns with the Army</span></p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Anyone</span> who will read the history of the United States after the Civil War
+will come upon a long series of campaigns of the United States army in the
+West against the American Indians. These Indians, as has already been
+said, constantly being more and more confined, had now only the great
+American desert and the Rocky Mountains to live upon. They existed there
+in enormous numbers. They hunted the almost limitless herds of buffalo and
+deer. They fought, whenever opportunity offered, whatever white men came
+upon them. The attempt of the government was to give the Indians certain
+territories on which they could live in different parts of that country.
+These territories were called Indian reservations, and some of them still
+exist; but at that time&mdash;that is, between 1870 and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>1880&mdash;the Indians were
+still in their native wild civilization, and declined to be limited to
+these reservations.</p>
+
+<p>They had no desire to become farmers. They wanted to roam over the plains,
+and hunt, and fish, and live as they were born to live. They could not be
+made like white men. And hence the result was a series of campaigns which
+gradually exterminated most of them and killed the spirit of the others.
+One of these campaigns was the famous fight of General Custer, whose
+command was practically annihilated in the famous battle of Little Big
+Horn. Here again the qualities of Cody came into great demand. He was one
+of the greatest scouts in these Indian campaigns. His experiences, his
+fights, would number into the hundreds in a short decade. General
+Sheridan, who was put in command of the troops to quell the Indian
+uprising, made him the chief of his scouts, and during these years he was
+constantly at work leading the American troops against the Indians.</p>
+
+<p>Some time before he had acquired the name which now every boy in this
+country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> and almost every boy in the civilized world knows him
+by&mdash;&#8220;Buffalo Bill&#8221;&mdash;and the story of how this name was given to him is
+well worth the telling.</p>
+
+<p>Cody had always been a great shot&mdash;not only an accurate, but a wonderfully
+quick shooter. This skill and quickness had saved his life many times.
+When he was not at work at some specific duty he would hunt buffaloes,
+riding forth over the plains on a horse he had trained to hunt. As a herd
+of buffaloes&mdash;and there were hundreds of them&mdash;was seen approaching some
+camp where Cody was, he would mount his horse, throw the reins on his
+neck, and sit quietly while the animal ran diagonally toward the herd at
+full speed, selected of his own will the last of the herd, and worked with
+all his keen, nervous ability until he brought his rider close alongside
+the shaggy animal. There is but one spot that is very vulnerable in a
+buffalo. You may shoot a dozen times and hardly wound him, but if one shot
+reaches the vital spot, the animal drops dead in his tracks. Again and
+again the men of the plains have seen Cody start out on his horse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> and
+within a few minutes from the firing of the first shot drop ten or a dozen
+of the wild beasts of the prairie.</p>
+
+<p>The story of how the name of Buffalo Bill came to be given to him by
+common consent is this: There was a man named William Comstock who had
+been called by his friends &#8220;Buffalo Bill&#8221; because he was such a successful
+buffalo hunter. When he heard that Cody was being called &#8220;Buffalo Bill&#8221;
+too, he disputed his right to that title. Cody heard of it, and told some
+of the officers of the army post that if there was any dispute, he for one
+was willing to settle it by an actual contest in buffalo killing. Comstock
+was as game as Cody, and accepted the challenge. And so the plainsmen
+arranged the contest.</p>
+
+<p>They settled upon a huge tract of prairie near Sheridan, Kansas, and when
+the appointed day arrived everybody who could reach the spot came to
+witness the contest. Officers, soldiers, railroadmen, scouts, pioneers,
+and all the inhabitants of that country gathered in a large crowd. Judges
+were appointed and the two claimants to the title were on hand. It was an
+easy matter in those<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> days and in that place to find a herd of buffaloes,
+so that within an hour after the start they had sighted a herd and started
+for the hunt.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the herd was sighted the two men separated, each working on his
+own account and getting all the buffaloes he could. Cody killed
+thirty-eight, to twenty-three for Comstock, and the sight of sixty-one
+buffaloes lying dead upon the plain must have been a wonderful one.</p>
+
+<p>Then they had a gala lunch, and in the afternoon started again. And then
+the final crowning feat was apparent. In the second contest Cody, in order
+to leave no doubt of the matter, rode his horse without either saddle or
+bridle, and even then he killed eighteen to the other&#8217;s fourteen. From
+that time on to this day no one has questioned his right to the title of
+&#8220;Buffalo Bill.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It would be impossible here to go into the many episodes that occurred
+while Bill, under the title of Colonel William F. Cody, was chief of the
+United States Army Scouts. It is only possible to say that in that
+capacity he not only made it possible for the United<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> States army to
+accomplish a work impossible without scouts who had been brought up in
+that kind of fight, but it is safe to say that if General Custer had had
+him with him, the frightful massacre of Little Big Horn would never have
+occurred. But in all that time Buffalo Bill was at work upon his chosen
+profession, with the exception of a short time when, against his will, he
+was made a justice of the peace.</p>
+
+<p>There is an interesting and amusing episode told of his short legal career
+that is worth mentioning briefly here. Shortly after his appointment,
+which was made because of the necessity of having a justice of the peace
+at hand in the army post, a couple came to him to be married. He was very
+much disturbed and embarrassed, scarcely knowing what to do, but he got
+along all right until the end of the service, and then, to the amazement
+of the assembled party, he ended all by saying:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Whom God and Buffalo Bill hath joined together, let no man put asunder.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of these years of scouting in the Indian fights the great
+Western scout<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> was always in difficulty as to the management of his
+financial affairs. He always has said that he was not born a business man.
+When he had money he spent it like a gentleman, no matter how much it was.
+Once when he was not busy in Indian campaigning he conceived the idea of
+representing on the stage certain phases of life on the plains in order to
+make some money. The first venture took place in Rochester, New York. In
+order to make the show as realistic as possible, he himself and two other
+scouts were put into a play written especially for them, and the
+descriptions of the first performance make an episode in Buffalo Bill&#8217;s
+life that must have been as amusing and as extraordinary as the episodes
+of his life on the plains were exciting and dangerous. The three were
+stagestruck from the time the curtain went up, and all of them forgot
+their lines. But Buffalo Bill, finding that nothing was going to happen
+and realizing that the audience were sitting in their seats expecting
+something to happen, answered the questions put to him by the manager and
+told a story. That poor manager must have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> had a bad quarter of an hour.
+He was also taking part in the piece, and was utterly at a loss what to
+say or do. Bill told a story of one of his experiences on the plains in
+his own language. This proving to meet with the approval of the audience,
+the manager continued asking questions, drawing forth story after story,
+so that when the play ended the audience felt full of enthusiasm for the
+extraordinary show, which in reality did not contain one single line of
+the original drama.</p>
+
+<p>The scheme was not successful, however, and some years later Buffalo Bill
+got together some friendly Indian chiefs and some frontiersmen and
+constructed a simple play of the plains which was an immense success. At
+different times for five years this play&mdash;&#8220;The Scout of the Plains&#8221;&mdash;was
+played in nearly every city of any size in the United States. Frequently
+it would be having a run in some town when word would come from a
+commanding officer at a Western army post that the Indians were on the
+warpath again. Then the play would be closed, and the scouts, with their
+chief at their head,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> would hasten to the plains and begin again their
+real warfare, returning to the sham fights of the play when the real ones
+were over.</p>
+
+<p>And it was this remarkable success in representing to people in Eastern
+cities the actual life on the plains that gave Colonel Cody the courage to
+carry out an idea which had been in his mind for many years&mdash;that is, of
+putting before people a true representation of the different phases of the
+life in that immense country, thousands of miles in length and width,
+which existed between 1840 and 1870, and which has now gone forever.</p>
+
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr style="width: 50%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II.6" id="II.6"></a>VI</h2>
+<p class="title"><span class="smcap">Buffalo Bill and His Show</span></p>
+
+<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">There</span> is only a word to be said of Buffalo Bill&#8217;s &#8220;Wild West,&#8221; because the
+space at our command does not make it possible to tell the whole story in
+detail. The enterprise is now one of huge proportions, but it started much
+smaller. The reason for its enormous popularity and increase is that it is
+almost unique among plays or shows of every kind. For it gives to the
+audience a real picture, with real characters, of a most exciting period
+of civilization in this country that never has existed anywhere else, and
+that never will exist again. The Indians that have mock fights in Buffalo
+Bill&#8217;s arena to-day are absolutely the same men who used to track him and
+try to kill him in the Indian campaigns twenty or thirty years ago. The
+Deadwood coach that is attacked in the arena by Indians with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> shooting
+of guns is the same coach that used to run across the plains and that has
+time and time again been attacked in the same way, but with very different
+intent. The cowboys and frontiersmen who ride are the same men who used to
+live on the plains and herd cattle, and the ponies they ride are the
+bucking bronchos of the West.</p>
+
+<p>There have often been doubts expressed as to the reality of some of this.
+One instance is enough to show the contrary. When the great Wild West Show
+went to Europe and traveled about in the ancient cities of Italy, they
+came finally to Rome and gave their daily exhibition there. In one of the
+boxes sat an Italian nobleman, the Prince of Sermonetta, who made the
+statement to his friends that he doubted whether the broncho busters&mdash;the
+men who ride the bucking bronchos&mdash;were really as good riders as they
+seemed. He thought the ponies were trained to buck.</p>
+
+<p>This came to the ears of Buffalo Bill, and he answered it in his usual
+polite but sturdy fashion. Then the nobleman met him and told him that he
+had some wild horses on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> his estate in the country that had never been
+ridden and could not be controlled except in a mass. Buffalo Bill at once
+said that if he would have the horses brought to his arena some afternoon
+during the show he would like to have his men make a try at riding them.
+Nothing pleased the nobleman more, and of course the experiment was
+advertised all over Italy.</p>
+
+<p>On the appointed day the horses were brought on in cars. There was
+considerable difficulty and a good deal of excitement in getting them out
+of the cars and into the arena. As soon as they found themselves loose
+after being cooped up in such undignified fashion, they were wild indeed.
+The arena was cleared of everything except those furious beasts, and then
+half a dozen cowboys calmly walked in with their lariats to make the
+trial. It was probably the most interesting exhibition ever given by the
+Wild West Show. Quietly and warily the cow punchers threw their lassoes,
+wound them about the feet of the horses, threw them, and held them down.
+Then they saddled and bridled them, and then the riding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> began. The show
+was not materially delayed; the audience left and got home at the usual
+time; but before they had quitted the arena every one of the wild horses
+was ridden quietly and in dignified fashion around the ring and up in
+front of the nobleman&#8217;s box, and it was reported that no one was more
+pleased than that same nobleman himself.</p>
+
+<p>There are many additional and interesting features to Buffalo Bill&#8217;s show
+to-day, such as the Cossack riders, the San Juan battle, and the regiments
+of different European armies. But they do not add to the value of what
+will go down in history as &#8220;Buffalo Bill&#8217;s Wild West.&#8221; That is all true as
+gold. That is justly remarkable because of the real way in which it tells
+a real story, and if the boy of to-day who reads this would like to see
+what the Indians and the white men of the Western plains were in those
+days, how they fought, how they traveled, and how they lived, he may see
+it still by going to see the show. He will never see it anywhere else
+again.</p>
+
+<p>In ending this little sketch of a remarkable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> man it is worth telling an
+episode of the experience of these natives of the wilderness in the midst
+of the centuries-old cities of the Old World. Everywhere the company went
+in England, in Europe, the famous scout was entertained by royalty and
+entertained them in return. One day after they had opened in London the
+King, then the Prince of Wales, expressed a desire to see the show. A box
+was prepared and the royal party attended. The whole exhibition was so new
+and interesting that in a short time the Prince went again, and expressed
+a desire to ride around the ring in the Deadwood coach. Buffalo Bill was
+ready and called for five passengers. The five passengers who accepted
+were the Prince of Wales himself on the box beside Buffalo Bill, and four
+kings who happened to be visiting in England&mdash;the King of Denmark, the
+King of Saxony, the King of Greece, and the Crown Prince of Austria. As
+usual, the coach started. But this time the Indians who attacked and the
+cowboys who rescued the coach had been instructed to &#8220;do something a
+little extra,&#8221; to give a little louder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> yells, to fire a few more shots.
+And it is no wonder if, as the rumor goes&mdash;though proof does not
+exist&mdash;that before the ride was over some of the four kings were under the
+seats. When the trip was finished and the Prince of Wales congratulated
+Buffalo Bill, he said to him:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Colonel, did you ever hold four kings like that before?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And Cody replied: &#8220;I have held four kings more than once. But, your Royal
+Highness, I never held four kings and a royal joker before.&#8221;</p>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center">THE END</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
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+</body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Buffalo Bill, by Col. William F. Cody
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Adventures of Buffalo Bill
+
+Author: Col. William F. Cody
+
+Release Date: February 13, 2012 [EBook #38840]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: HE SAW THE FEATHERED HEAD OF AN INDIAN POKE OVER THE BANK
+BEFORE HIM.]
+
+
+
+
+  The Adventures of
+  Buffalo Bill
+
+
+  BY COL. WILLIAM F. CODY
+  (BUFFALO BILL)
+
+
+  HARPER & ROW, PUBLISHERS
+  NEW YORK, EVANSTON, and LONDON
+
+
+
+
+_Harper's Young People's Series_
+
+New Large Type Edition
+
+Illustrated--Jackets Printed in Colors
+
+
+  TOBY TYLER. By James Otis
+  MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER. By James Otis
+  TIM AND TIP. By James Otis
+  RAISING THE PEARL. By James Otis
+  ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL. By W. F. Cody
+  DIDDIE, DUMPS, AND TOT. By Mrs. L. C. Pyrnelle
+  MUSIC AND MUSICIANS. By Lucy C. Lillie
+  THE CRUISE OF THE CANOE CLUB. By W. L. Alden
+  THE CRUISE OF THE "GHOST." By W. L. Alden
+  MORAL PIRATES. By W. L. Alden
+  A NEW ROBINSON CRUSOE. By W. L. Alden
+  THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY BROWN. By W. L. Alden
+  PRINCE LAZYBONES. By Mrs. W. J. Hays
+  THE FLAMINGO FEATHER. By Kirk Munroe
+  DERRICK STERLING. By Kirk Munroe
+  CHRYSTAL, JACK & CO. By Kirk Munroe
+  WAKULLA. By Kirk Munroe
+  THE ICE QUEEN. By Ernest Ingersoll
+  THE RED MUSTANG. By W. O. Stoddard
+  TALKING LEAVES. By W. O. Stoddard
+  TWO ARROWS. By W. O. Stoddard
+  THE HOUSEHOLD OF GLEN HOLLY. By Lucy C. Lillie
+  MILDRED'S BARGAIN. By Lucy C. Lillie
+  NAN. By Lucy C. Lillie
+  ROLF HOUSE. By Lucy C. Lillie
+
+
+
+
+  THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+
+  Copyright 1904
+  By Harper & Brothers
+  Printed in the U.S.A.
+
+  D-E
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                    PAGE
+  THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+      I. CROSSING THE PLAINS                           1
+
+     II. ROUNDING UP INDIANS                          29
+
+    III. PURSUING THE SIOUX                           51
+
+     IV. MY DUEL WITH YELLOW HAND                     76
+
+
+  THE LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+      I. THE LITTLE BOY OF THE PRAIRIE               101
+
+     II. LITTLE BILL AT SCHOOL AND AT THE TRAPS      118
+
+    III. THE PONY EXPRESS RIDER                      134
+
+     IV. "BILL CODY, THE SCOUT"                      151
+
+      V. THE INDIAN CAMPAIGNS WITH THE ARMY          160
+
+     VI. BUFFALO BILL AND HIS SHOW                   169
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  HE SAW THE FEATHERED HEAD OF AN INDIAN POKE
+  OVER THE BANK BEFORE HIM                        _Frontispiece_
+
+  I DISENTANGLED MYSELF AND JUMPED BEHIND
+  THE DEAD BODY OF MY HORSE                       _Facing p._ 46
+
+  IN THE DISTANCE I SAW A LARGE HERD OF
+  BUFFALOES WHICH WERE BEING CHASED AND
+  FIRED AT BY TWENTY OR THIRTY INDIANS                "       96
+
+  HE LOOKED UP AND SAW INDIANS IN WAR PAINT
+  STANDING INSIDE THE CAVE, GAZING AT HIM             "      128
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+With the death of William Frederick Cody, at Denver on January 10, 1917,
+there passed away the last of that intrepid band of pathfinders who gave
+their lives to the taming of the West, a gallant company of brave men
+steadfastly pushing back the frontier year by year and mile by mile, and
+ceasing from their labors only when the young and vigorous life of the
+Pacific States had been linked up for all time with the older civilization
+of the Atlantic seaboard.
+
+The fame of Colonel Cody, or Buffalo Bill as he was popularly called,
+recalls that of Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Kit Carson, but he cannot
+be said to rank with those earlier heroes in point of actual national
+service. He played no large part in the upbuilding of our Continental
+Empire. Yet he was made of the same stern stuff, and, on his more
+circumscribed stage, he was a gallant and picturesque figure, a true
+superman of the brave old days. When, in 1883, Cody gave up his roving
+life and organized the Wild West show it meant that the Wild West itself
+was gone for good and all. Together with Boone, Crockett, and Carson his
+life rounds out the century of continental occupation, counting from the
+year Boone crossed the mountains into Kentucky to the final completion of
+the Union Pacific Railway. Boone was born in Pennsylvania and died in
+Missouri; Crockett was born west of the Alleghanies, in Tennessee, and
+died in Texas; Carson and Cody were born west of the Mississippi, and died
+in Colorado.
+
+Perhaps the most picturesque period in Buffalo Bill's life was his service
+as a rider in the service of the famous Pony Express just before the Civil
+War. This was perhaps the most perilous job that a man could undertake,
+and young Cody was barely fifteen years old. Yet he had had previous
+experience in Indian fighting and at the age of eleven he had killed his
+first Indian. Shortly afterward the Civil War began and Cody enlisted in
+the Union Army, serving as a scout. When the fighting was over he
+returned to the Far West. The transcontinental railways were in process of
+construction, a romantic episode in American history fittingly depicted in
+the glowing pages of Zane Grey's _The U. P. Trail_. The builders of the
+Kansas Pacific Railroad wanted buffalo meat to feed their laborers and
+Cody undertook the contract. In eighteen months (1867-68) he killed 4,280
+buffaloes, and thereby earned his title of Buffalo Bill.
+
+In 1868 Cody rejoined the army as scout and guide, and quickly made a
+reputation as a man of infinite endurance and daring. He was attached to
+General Sheridan's headquarters at Hays City, Kansas; and soon after
+reporting for duty he learned that the commander wanted a dispatch sent to
+Fort Dodge, a distance of ninety-five miles. The Indians had recently
+killed two or three dispatch riders on this route, and none of the scouts
+was anxious to take on the job. Even a promised bonus of several hundred
+dollars found no takers. Cody volunteered and made the dangerous trip in
+safety. But at Fort Dodge he found that the commanding officer there was
+very anxious to send dispatches to Fort Larned, and again the regular
+scouts shunned the task. On went Buffalo Bill to Fort Larned, sixty-five
+miles farther. About half-way he stopped to water his mule and the animal
+got away from him. For thirty-five miles Cody trailed the obstinate brute
+on foot, never quite able to get within clutch of his bridle rein. At
+daybreak Fort Larned came in sight and the danger from roving Indians was
+over. "Now, Mr. Mule, it is my turn," exclaimed the exhausted and
+thoroughly infuriated scout, raising his gun to his shoulder. Like the
+majority of Government mules he was not easy to kill. He died hard, but he
+died.
+
+After a few hours' sleep it was necessary to begin the return journey, as
+answering dispatches had to be sent to General Sheridan. Again the ride
+was made in safety, and one of the greatest feats in all scout history had
+been accomplished. It should be explained that, previous to beginning the
+ride to Fort Dodge, Cody had been in the saddle for twenty hours, covering
+a distance of 140 miles. His grand total for a period of fifty-eight
+hours was 365 miles (including thirty-five miles on foot), an average of
+over six miles an hour.
+
+A little later Cody was appointed chief scout and guide for the Fifth
+Cavalry in a campaign against the hostile Sioux and Cheyennes, and he had
+many narrow escapes from the tight places into which his adventurous
+disposition was always leading him. He also served as chief scout for the
+Republican River Expedition of 1869.
+
+While living near Fort McPherson, Nebraska, in 1870, Cody was appointed
+justice of the peace by General Emory to take care of certain civilian
+offenders against the common law. Buffalo Bill protested that he knew
+nothing about law, but General Emory was insistent and Cody went over to
+North Platte and was sworn in. That very night he was aroused by a man who
+had a complaint to make. One of his horses had been stolen by the boss of
+a passing herd, and he wanted a writ of replevin. "I don't know what a
+replevin is," answered 'Squire Cody, as he took down his old Lucretia
+rifle and patted it gently, "but I guess this will do as well." In
+company with the complainant Cody galloped after the cavalcade and soon
+overtook the offender against the ethical code. At first the boss was
+defiant, but when he realized who the 'Squire was he quickly weakened. "I
+didn't care a blank about you being justice of the peace and constable
+combined," he explained, "but when I found out you were Buffalo Bill it
+was time to lay down my hand." The 'Squire read the fellow a lecture on
+the iniquity of horse stealing, collected a fine of one hundred and fifty
+dollars, reclaimed the animal, and declared that court was adjourned.
+
+In 1872 the Russian Grand Duke Alexis visited this country, and a Far West
+hunting expedition was arranged in his honor. Buffalo Bill acted as guide
+and chief huntsman. The Grand Duke, under Cody's tutelage, succeeded in
+bagging several handsome heads, and, in token of his appreciation, he
+presented to Buffalo Bill his almost priceless fur overcoat and a
+wonderful set of sleeve links and scarfpin studded with diamonds and
+rubies. In this same year Cody was elected a member of the Nebraska
+Legislature. Later on he resigned and went to Chicago, where he made his
+first appearance on the stage as an actor in a play written around himself
+and entitled, "The Scout of the Plains."
+
+In 1874 Cody acted as guide to a grand hunting party given by General
+Sheridan to a number of wealthy and distinguished Eastern men. Cody became
+a great favorite with everybody, and the next winter he went on to New
+York to visit his new friends. He wore his famous sombrero and his fringed
+hunting suit of buckskin everywhere, and they created a mild sensation on
+Broadway and Fifth Avenue. Then he went back to the West and tried the
+hum-drum life of a farmer and ranchman.
+
+The famous Wild West show was staged for the first time at Omaha on May
+17, 1883. It was a tremendous success from the start, and Colonel Cody was
+besieged with applications from all over the country. He went to England
+in 1887; royalty patronized this truly original and thrilling
+entertainment, and Buffalo Bill's fortune was made. In later years
+several successful European tours were undertaken.
+
+In November, 1911, Colonel Cody announced his retirement. He was then
+sixty-seven years old and reputed to be worth $3,000,000. He went to his
+ranch at Cody, Wyoming, and tried to settle down. But the old spirit of
+adventure lured him back to the sawdust arena. This time he was not so
+fortunate. He lost money on every hand, and finally the celebrated show
+went under the auctioneer's hammer. Friends came to his rescue, however,
+and bid in his famous white horse, Ishan, which the Colonel always rode at
+the head of his roughriders.
+
+The old scout had kept his courage, too, and he announced his intention of
+trying it again; he even joined a circus company as one of the regular
+troupe of performers. But his race was run, his day was done. Even his
+iron constitution had been weakened by the trials and privations of
+seventy-two years of strenuous life. He had lived up to the very last inch
+of his allotted span. He had played hard and he had fought hard and in the
+end he died hard, amazing even his experienced physicians by his
+extraordinary vitality. The doctors had told him that the end was near,
+but he only laughed and called for a pack of cards. "You can't kill the
+old scout," he said, smilingly. "Let's have a game of high-five." Yet even
+this undaunted spirit was forced to bow to mortal necessity, and a day or
+two later he relapsed into a state of unconsciousness from which he was
+never to emerge.
+
+His death attracted the notice of two continents. The newspapers printed
+columns of obituaries; the State of Colorado ordered a public funeral in
+his honor; it was the passing of a heroic figure in American annals. All
+in all, he must rank as the greatest of scouts and the most gallant of
+Indian fighters. He never knew fear. His life was in danger hundreds of
+times, and yet he always had the better of his adversary. He lived a free
+life among wild surroundings, but he was always to be found on the side of
+law and order. He was a dead shot, a splendid horseman, and an absolutely
+fearless fighter. The men who knew him best, including many well-known
+officers of the army, all united in praising the bravery, honesty, and
+modesty of this true product of the old wild West. His place can never be
+filled; he was a relic of the days that are gone, never to return.
+
+
+
+
+THE ADVENTURES OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+CROSSING THE PLAINS
+
+
+In the early settlement of Kansas common-school advantages were denied us,
+and to provide a means for educating the few boys and girls in the
+neighborhood of my home, a subscription school was started in a small log
+cabin that was built on the bank of a creek that ran near our house. My
+mother took great interest in this school, and at her persuasion I
+returned home and became enrolled as a pupil, where I made satisfactory
+progress until, as the result of a quarrel with a schoolmate, I left the
+town and started across the plains with one of Russell, Majors & Waddell's
+freight trains.
+
+The trip proved a most enjoyable one to me, although no incidents worthy
+of note occurred on the way. On my return from Fort Kearny I was paid off
+the same as the rest of the employes. The remainder of the summer and fall
+I spent in herding cattle and working for Russell, Majors & Waddell.
+
+In May, 1857, I started for Salt Lake City with a herd of beef cattle, in
+charge of Frank and Bill McCarthy, for General Albert Sidney Johnston's
+army, which was then being sent across the plains to fight the Mormons.
+
+Nothing occurred to interrupt our journey until we reached Plum Creek, on
+the South Platte River, thirty-five miles west of old Fort Kearny. We had
+made a morning drive, and had camped for dinner. The wagon masters and a
+majority of the men had gone to sleep under the mess wagons. The cattle
+were being guarded by three men, and the cook was preparing dinner. No one
+had any idea that Indians were anywhere near us. The first warning we had
+that they were infesting that part of the country was the firing of shots
+and the whoops and yells from a party of them, who, catching us napping,
+gave us a most unwelcome surprise. All the men jumped to their feet and
+seized their guns. They saw with astonishment the cattle running in every
+direction, they having been stampeded by the Indians, who had shot and
+killed the three men who were on day herd duty, and the redmen were now
+charging down upon the rest of us.
+
+The McCarthy boys, at the proper moment, gave orders to fire upon the
+advancing enemy. The volley checked them, although they returned the
+compliment, and shot one of our party through the leg. Frank McCarthy then
+sang out, "Boys, make a break for the slough yonder, and we can then have
+the bank for a breastwork."
+
+We made a run for the slough, which was only a short distance off, and
+succeeded in safely reaching it, bringing with us the wounded man. The
+bank proved to be a very effective breastwork, affording us good
+protection. We had been there but a short time when Frank McCarthy, seeing
+that the longer we were corralled the worse it would be for us, said,
+
+"Well, boys, we'll try to make our way back to Fort Kearny by wading in
+the river and keeping the bank for a breastwork."
+
+We all agreed that this was the best plan, and we accordingly proceeded
+down the river several miles in this way, managing to keep the Indians at
+a safe distance with our guns, until the slough made a junction with the
+main Platte River. From there down we found the river at times quite deep,
+and in order to carry the wounded man along with us, we constructed a raft
+of poles for his accommodation, and in this way he was transported.
+
+Occasionally the water would be too deep for us to wade, and we were
+obliged to put our weapons on the raft and swim. The Indians followed us
+pretty closely, and were continually watching for an opportunity to get a
+good range and give us a raking fire. Covering ourselves by keeping well
+under the bank, we pushed ahead as rapidly as possible, and made pretty
+good progress, the night finding us still on the way and our enemies yet
+on our track.
+
+I, being the youngest and smallest of the party, became somewhat tired,
+and, without noticing it, I had fallen behind the others for some little
+distance. It was about ten o'clock, and we were keeping very quiet and
+hugging close to the bank, when I happened to look up to the moonlit sky
+and saw the plumed head of an Indian peeping over the bank. Instead of
+hurrying ahead and alarming the men in a quiet way, I instantly aimed my
+gun at his head and fired. The report rang out sharp and loud on the night
+air, and was immediately followed by an Indian whoop, and the next moment
+about six feet of dead Indian came tumbling into the river. I was not only
+overcome with astonishment, but was badly scared, as I could hardly
+realize what I had done. I expected to see the whole force of Indians come
+down upon us. While I was standing thus bewildered, the men, who had heard
+the shot and the war whoop, and had seen the Indian take a tumble, came
+rushing back.
+
+"Who fired that shot?" cried Frank McCarthy.
+
+"I did," replied I, rather proudly, as my confidence returned, and I saw
+the men coming up.
+
+"Yes, and little Billy has killed an Indian stone dead--too dead to skin,"
+said one of the men, who had approached nearer than the rest, and had
+almost stumbled upon the Indian. From that time forward I became a hero
+and an Indian-killer. This was, of course, the first Indian I had ever
+shot, and as I was not then more than eleven years of age, my exploit
+created quite a sensation.
+
+The other Indians, upon learning what had happened to their advance, fired
+several shots without effect, but which hastened our retreat down the
+river. We reached Fort Kearny just as the reveille was being sounded,
+bringing the wounded man with us. After the peril through which we had
+passed, it was a relief to feel that once more I was safe after such a
+dangerous initiation.
+
+Frank McCarthy immediately reported to the commanding officer and informed
+him of all that had happened. The commandant at once ordered a company of
+cavalry and one of infantry to proceed to Plum Creek on a forced march,
+taking a howitzer with them--to endeavor to recapture the cattle from the
+Indians.
+
+The firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell had a division agent at Kearny, and
+this agent mounted us on mules so that we could accompany the troops. On
+reaching the place where the Indians had surprised us, we found the bodies
+of the three men, whom they had killed and scalped and literally cut into
+pieces. We of course buried the remains. We caught but few of the cattle,
+most of them having been driven off and stampeded with the buffaloes,
+there being numerous immense herds of the latter in that section of the
+country at the time. The Indians' trail was discovered running south
+toward the Republican River, and the troops followed it to the head of
+Plum Creek, and there abandoned it, returning to Fort Kearny without
+having seen a single redskin.
+
+The company's agent, seeing that there was no further use for us in that
+vicinity--as we had lost our cattle and mules--sent us back to Fort
+Leavenworth. The company, it is proper to state, did not have to stand the
+loss of the expedition, as the government held itself responsible for such
+depredations by the Indians.
+
+On the day that I got into Leavenworth, some time in July, I was
+interviewed for the first time in my life by a newspaper reporter, and the
+next morning I found my name in print as "the youngest Indian-slayer on
+the plains." I am candid enough to admit that I felt very much elated over
+this notoriety. Again and again I read with eager interest the long and
+sensational account of our adventure. My exploit was related in a very
+graphic manner, and for a long time afterward I was considerable of a
+hero.
+
+In the following summer, Russell, Majors & Waddell entered upon a contract
+with the government for General Albert Sidney Johnston's army that was
+sent against the Mormons. A large number of teams and teamsters were
+required for the purpose, and as the route was considered a dangerous one,
+men were not easily engaged for the service, though the pay was forty
+dollars a month in gold. An old wagon master named Lew Simpson, one of the
+best that ever commanded a bull train, was upon the point of starting with
+about ten wagons for the company, direct for Salt Lake, and as he had
+known me for some time as an ambitious youth, requested me to accompany
+him as an extra hand. My duties would be light, and, in fact, I would have
+nothing to do, unless some one of the drivers became sick, in which case I
+would be required to take his place. But even more seductive than this
+inducement was the promise that I should be provided with a mule of my own
+to ride, and be subject to the orders of no one save Simpson himself.
+
+As a matter of interest to the general reader, it may be well to give a
+brief description of a freight train. The wagons used in those days by
+Russell, Majors & Waddell were known as the "J. Murphy wagons," made at
+St. Louis especially for the plains business. They were very large and
+very strongly built, being capable of carrying seven thousand pounds of
+freight each. The wagon boxes were very commodious, being about as large
+as the rooms of an ordinary house, and were covered with two heavy canvas
+sheets to protect the merchandise from the rain. These wagons were
+generally sent out from Leavenworth, each loaded with six thousand pounds
+of freight, and each drawn by several yoke of oxen in charge of one
+driver. A train consisted of twenty-five wagons, all in charge of one man,
+who was known as the wagon master. The second man in command was the
+assistant wagon master. Then came the "extra hand," next the night herder,
+and lastly the cavayard driver, whose duty it was to drive the loose and
+lame cattle. There were thirty-one men all told in a train. The men did
+their own cooking, being divided into messes of seven. One man cooked,
+another brought wood and water, another stood guard, and so on, each
+having some duty to perform while getting meals. All were heavily armed
+with Colt's pistols and Mississippi yagers, and every one always had his
+weapons handy so as to be prepared for any emergency.
+
+The wagon master, in the language of the plains, was called the
+"bull-wagon boss"; the teamsters were known as "bull-whackers"; and the
+whole train was denominated a "bull outfit." Everything at that time was
+called an "outfit." The men of the plains were always full of a droll
+humor and exciting stories of their own experiences, and many an hour I
+spent in listening to the recitals of thrilling adventures and hairbreadth
+escapes.
+
+The trail to Salt Lake ran through Kansas northwestwardly, crossing the
+Big Blue River, then over the Big and Little Sandy, coming into Nebraska
+near the Big Sandy. The next stream of any importance was the Little Blue,
+along which the trail ran for sixty miles, then crossed a range of sand
+hills, and struck the Platte River ten miles below Fort Kearny; thence the
+course lay up the South Platte to the old Ash Hollow Crossing; thence
+eighteen miles across to the North Platte, near the mouth of the Blue
+Water, where General Harney had his great battle in 1855 with the Sioux
+and Cheyenne Indians. From this point the North Platte was followed,
+passing Courthouse Rock, Chimney Rock, and Scott's Bluffs, and then on to
+Fort Laramie, where the Laramie River was crossed. Still following the
+North Platte for some considerable distance, the trail crossed the river
+at old Richard's Bridge, and followed it up to the celebrated Red Buttes,
+crossing the Willow Creeks to the Sweet Water, thence past the Cold
+Springs, where, three feet under the sod, on the hottest day of summer,
+ice can be found; thence to the Hot Springs and the Rocky Ridge, and
+through the Rocky Mountains and Echo Canyon, and thence on to the great
+Salt Lake Valley.
+
+Nothing occurred on the trip to delay or give us any trouble whatever,
+until the train struck the South Platte River. One day we camped on the
+same ground where the Indians had surprised the cattle herd in charge of
+the McCarthy brothers. It was with difficulty that we discovered any
+traces of anybody ever having camped there before, the only landmark being
+the single grave, now covered with grass, in which we had buried the three
+men who had been killed. The country was alive with buffaloes, and having
+a day of rare sport, we captured ten or twelve head of cattle, they being
+a portion of the herd which had been stampeded by the Indians two months
+before. The next day we pulled out of the camp, and the train was strung
+out to a considerable length along the road which ran near the foot of the
+sand hills two miles from the river. Between the road and the river we saw
+a large herd of buffaloes grazing quietly, they having been down to the
+stream for a drink.
+
+Just at this time we observed a party of returning Californians coming
+from the West. They too noticed the buffalo herd, and in another moment
+they were dashing down upon them, urging their steeds to the greatest
+speed. The buffalo herd stampeded at once, and broke down the hills. So
+hotly were they pursued by the hunters that about five hundred of them
+rushed through our train pell-mell, frightening both men and oxen. Some of
+the wagons were turned clear around, and many of the terrified oxen
+attempted to run to the hills, with the heavy wagons attached to them.
+Others turned around so short that they broke the wagon tongues off.
+Nearly all the teams got entangled in their gearing, and became wild and
+unruly, so that the perplexed drivers were unable to manage them.
+
+The buffaloes, the cattle, and the drivers were soon running in every
+direction, and the excitement upset nearly everybody and everything. Many
+of the cattle broke their yokes and stampeded. One big buffalo bull became
+entangled in one of the heavy wagon chains, and it is a fact that in his
+desperate efforts to free himself he not only actually snapped the strong
+chain in two, but broke the ox yoke to which it was attached, and the last
+seen of him he was running toward the hills with it hanging from his
+horns. A dozen other equally remarkable incidents happened during the
+short time that the frantic buffaloes were playing havoc with our train,
+and when they got through and left us our outfit was badly crippled and
+scattered. This caused us to go into camp and spend a day in replacing the
+broken tongues and repairing other damages, and gathering up our scattered
+ox teams.
+
+The next day we rolled out of camp, and proceeded on our way toward the
+setting sun. Everything ran along smoothly with us from that point until
+we came within about eighteen miles of Green River, in the Rocky
+Mountains, where we camped at noon. At this place we had to drive our
+cattle about a mile and a half to a creek to water them. Simpson, his
+assistant George Wood, and myself, accompanied by the usual number of
+guards, drove the cattle over to the creek, and while on our way back to
+camp we suddenly observed a party of twenty horsemen rapidly approaching
+us. We were not yet in view of our wagons, as a rise of ground intervened,
+and therefore we could not signal the trainmen in case of any unexpected
+danger befalling us. We had no suspicion, however, that we were about to
+be trapped, as the strangers were white men. When they had come up to us,
+one of the party, who evidently was the leader, rode out in front, and
+said,
+
+"How are you, Mr. Simpson?"
+
+"You've got the best of me, sir," said Simpson, who did not know him.
+
+"Well, I rather think I have," coolly replied the stranger, whose words
+conveyed a double meaning, as we soon learned. We had all come to a halt
+by this time, and the strange horsemen had surrounded us. They were all
+armed with double-barreled shotguns, rifles, and revolvers. We also were
+armed with revolvers, but we had no idea of danger, and these men, much to
+our surprise, had "got the drop" on us, and had covered us with their
+weapons, so that we were completely at their mercy. The whole movement of
+corralling us was done so quietly and quickly that it was accomplished
+before we knew it.
+
+"I'll trouble you for your six-shooters, gentlemen," now said the leader.
+
+"I'll give 'em to you in a way you don't want," replied Simpson.
+
+The next moment three guns were leveled at Simpson. "If you make a move
+you are a dead man," said the leader.
+
+Simpson saw at a glance that he was taken at a great disadvantage, and
+thinking it advisable not to risk the lives of the party by any rash act
+on his part, he said, "I see now that you have the best of me; but who are
+you, anyhow?"
+
+"I am Joe Smith," was the reply.
+
+"What! the leader of the Danites?" asked Simpson.
+
+"You are correct," said Smith, for he it was.
+
+"Yes," said Simpson, "I know you now; you are a spying scoundrel."
+
+Simpson had good reason for calling him this, for only a short time before
+this Joe Smith had visited our train in the disguise of a teamster, and
+had remained with us two days. He suddenly disappeared, no one knowing
+where he had gone or why he had come among us. But it was all explained to
+us, now that he had returned with his Mormon Danites. After they had
+disarmed us, Simpson asked,
+
+"Well, Smith, what are you going to do with us?"
+
+"Ride back with us and I'll soon show you," said Smith.
+
+We had no idea of the surprise which awaited us. As we came upon the top
+of the ridge from which we could view our camp, we were astonished to see
+the remainder of the trainmen disarmed and stationed in a group, and
+surrounded by another squad of Danites, while other Mormons were
+searching our wagons for such articles as they wanted.
+
+"How is this?" inquired Simpson. "How did you surprise my camp without a
+struggle? I can't understand it?"
+
+"Easily enough," said Smith. "Your men were all asleep under the wagons,
+except the cooks, who saw us coming, and took us for returning
+Californians or emigrants, and paid no attention to us until we rode up
+and surrounded your train. With our arms covering the men, we woke them
+up, and told them all they had to do was to walk out and drop their
+pistols, which they saw was the best thing they could do under
+circumstances over which they had no control, and you can just bet they
+did it."
+
+"And what do you propose to do with us now?" asked Simpson.
+
+"I intend to burn your train," said he. "You are loaded with supplies and
+ammunition for Sidney Johnston, and as I have no way to convey the stuff
+to my own people, I'll see that it does not reach the United States
+troops."
+
+"Are you going to turn us adrift here?" asked Simpson, who was anxious to
+learn what was to become of himself and his men.
+
+"No; I am hardly as bad as that. I'll give you enough provisions to last
+you until you can reach Fort Bridger," replied Smith. "And as soon as your
+cooks can get the stuff out of the wagons you can start."
+
+"On foot?" was the laconic inquiry of Simpson.
+
+"Yes, sir," was the equally short reply.
+
+"Smith, that's too rough on us men. Put yourself in our place, and see how
+you would like it," said Simpson. "You can well afford to give us at least
+one wagon and six yokes of oxen to convey us and our clothing and
+provisions to Fort Bridger. You're a brute if you don't do this."
+
+"Well," said Smith, after consulting a minute or two with some of his
+company, "I'll do that much for you."
+
+The cattle and the wagon were brought up according to his orders, and the
+clothing and provisions were loaded on.
+
+"Now you can go," said Smith, after everything had been arranged.
+
+"Joe Smith, I think you are a mean coward to set us afloat in a hostile
+country without giving us our arms," said Simpson, who had once before
+asked for the weapons, and had had his request denied.
+
+Smith, after further consultation with his comrades, said: "Simpson, you
+are too brave a man to be turned adrift here without any means of defense.
+You shall have your revolvers and guns."
+
+Our weapons were accordingly handed over to Simpson, and we at once
+started for Fort Bridger, knowing that it would be useless to attempt the
+recapture of the train.
+
+When we had traveled about two miles we saw the smoke arising from our old
+camp. The Mormons, after taking what goods they wanted and could carry
+off, had set fire to the wagons, many of which were loaded with bacon,
+lard, hardtack, and other provisions, which made a very hot, fierce fire,
+and the smoke to roll up in dense clouds. Some of the wagons were loaded
+with ammunition, and it was not long before loud explosions followed in
+rapid succession. We waited and witnessed the burning of the train, and
+then pushed on to Fort Bridger. Arriving at this post, we learned that two
+other trains had been captured and destroyed in the same way by the
+Mormons. This made seventy-five wagonloads, or four hundred and fifty
+thousand pounds of supplies, mostly provisions, which never reached
+General Johnston's command, to which they had been consigned.
+
+After reaching the fort, it being far in November, we decided to spend the
+winter there, with about four hundred other employes of Russell, Majors &
+Waddell, rather than attempt a return, which would have exposed us to many
+dangers and the severity of the rapidly approaching winter. During this
+period of hibernation, however, the larders of the commissary became so
+depleted that we were placed on one-quarter rations, and at length, as a
+final resort, the poor, dreadfully emaciated mules and oxen were killed to
+afford sustenance for our famishing party.
+
+Fort Bridger being located in a prairie, all fuel there used had to be
+carried for a distance of nearly two miles, and after our mules and oxen
+were butchered, we had no other recourse than to carry the wood on our
+backs or haul it on sleds--a very tedious and laborious alternative.
+
+Starvation was beginning to lurk about the post when spring approached,
+and but for the timely arrival of a westward-bound train loaded with
+provisions for Johnston's army, some of our party must certainly have
+fallen victims to deadly hunger.
+
+The winter finally passed away, and early in the spring, as soon as we
+could travel, the civil employes of the government, with the teamsters and
+freighters, started for the Missouri River, the Johnston expedition having
+been abandoned.
+
+On the way up we stopped at Fort Laramie, and there met a supply train
+bound westward. Of course we all had a square meal once more, consisting
+of hardtack, bacon, coffee, and beans. I can honestly say that I thought
+it was the best meal that I had ever eaten; at least I relished it more
+than any other, and I think the rest of the party did the same.
+
+On leaving Fort Laramie, Simpson was made brigadier wagon master, and was
+put in charge of two large trains, with about four hundred extra men who
+were bound for Fort Leavenworth. When we came to Ash Hollow, instead of
+taking the usual trail over to the South Platte, Simpson concluded to
+follow the North Platte down to its junction with the South Platte. The
+two trains were traveling about fifteen miles apart, when one morning,
+while Simpson was with the rear train, he told his assistant wagon master
+George Wood and myself to saddle up our mules, as he wanted us to go with
+him and overtake the head train.
+
+We started off at about eleven o'clock, and had ridden about seven miles,
+when, while we were on a big plateau back of Cedar Bluffs, we suddenly
+discovered a band of Indians coming out of the head of the ravine half a
+mile distant, and charging down upon us at full speed. I thought that our
+end had come this time. Simpson, however, was equal to the occasion, for
+with wonderful promptness he jumped from his jaded mule, and in a trice
+shot his own animal and ours also, and ordered us to assist him to jerk
+their bodies into a triangle. This being quickly done, we got inside the
+barricade of mule-flesh, and were prepared to receive the Indians. We were
+each armed with a Mississippi yager and two revolvers, and as the Indians
+came swooping down on our improvised fort, we opened fire with such good
+effect that three fell dead at the first volley. This caused them to
+retreat out of range, as with two exceptions they were armed with bows and
+arrows, and therefore to approach near enough to do execution would expose
+at least several of them to certain death. Seeing that they could not take
+our little fortification or drive us from it, they circled around several
+times, shooting their arrows at us. One of these struck George Wood in the
+left shoulder, inflicting only a slight wound, however, and several lodged
+in the bodies of the dead mules; otherwise they did us no harm. The
+Indians finally galloped off to a safe distance, where our bullets could
+not reach them, and seemed to be holding a council. This was a lucky move
+for us, for it gave us an opportunity to reload our guns and pistols and
+prepare for the next charge of the enemy. During the brief cessation of
+hostilities Simpson extracted the arrow from Wood's shoulder, and put an
+immense quid of tobacco on the wound. Wood was then ready for business
+again.
+
+The Indians did not give us a very long rest, for with another desperate
+charge, as if to ride over us, they came dashing toward the mule
+barricade. We gave them a hot reception from our yagers and revolvers.
+They could not stand or understand the rapidly repeating fire of the
+revolver, and we checked them again. They circled around us once more, and
+gave us a few parting shots as they rode off, leaving behind them another
+dead Indian and a horse.
+
+For two hours afterward they did not seem to be doing anything but holding
+a council. We made good use of this time by digging up the ground inside
+the barricade with our knives, and throwing the loose earth around and
+over the mules, and we soon had a very respectable fortification. We were
+not troubled any more that day, but during the night the cunning rascals
+tried to burn us out by setting fire to the prairie. The buffalo grass
+was so short that the fire did not trouble us much, but the smoke
+concealed the Indians from our view, and they thought they could approach
+to us without being seen. We were aware of this, and kept a sharp lookout,
+being prepared all the time to receive them. They finally abandoned the
+idea of surprising us.
+
+Next morning, bright and early, they gave us one more grand charge, and
+again we "stood them off." They then rode away half a mile or so, and
+formed a circle around us. Each man dismounted and sat down, as if to wait
+and starve us out. They had evidently seen the advance train pass on the
+morning of the previous day, and believed that we belonged to that outfit,
+and were trying to overtake it. They had no idea that another train was on
+its way after us.
+
+Our hopes of escape from this unpleasant and perilous situation now
+depended upon the arrival of the rear train, and when we saw that the
+Indians were going to besiege us instead of renewing their attacks, we
+felt rather confident of receiving timely assistance. We had expected that
+the train would be along late in the afternoon of the previous day, and
+as the morning wore away we were somewhat anxious and uneasy at its
+nonarrival.
+
+At last, about ten o'clock, we began to hear in the distance the loud and
+sharp reports of the big bull-whips, which were handled with great
+dexterity by the teamsters, and cracked like rifle shots. These were
+welcome sounds to us, as were the notes of the bagpipes to the besieged
+garrison at Lucknow when the re-enforcements were coming up, and the
+pipers were heard playing "The Campbells are Coming." In a few moments we
+saw the head wagon coming slowly over the ridge which had concealed the
+train from our view, and soon the whole outfit made its appearance. The
+Indians observed the approaching train, and assembling in a group, they
+held a short consultation. They then charged upon us once more, for the
+last time, and as they turned and dashed away over the prairie, we sent
+our farewell shots rattling after them. The teamsters, seeing the Indians
+and hearing the shots, came rushing forward to our assistance, but by
+that time the redskins had almost disappeared from view. The teamsters
+eagerly asked us a hundred questions concerning our fight, admired our
+fort, and praised our pluck. Simpson's remarkable presence of mind in
+planning the defense was the general topic of conversation among all the
+men.
+
+When the teams came up we obtained some water and bandages with which to
+dress Wood's wound, which had become quite inflamed and painful, and we
+then put him into one of the wagons. Simpson and myself obtained a
+remount, bade good-by to our dead mules which had served us so well, and
+after collecting the ornaments and other plunder from the dead Indians, we
+left their bodies and bones to bleach on the prairie. The train moved on
+again, and we had no other adventures, except several exciting buffalo
+hunts on the South Platte near Plum Creek.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+ROUNDING UP INDIANS
+
+
+In October, 1867, General Sheridan organized an expedition to operate
+against the Indians who infested the Republican River region. "Cody," said
+he, "I have decided to appoint you as guide and chief of scouts with the
+command. How does that suit you?"
+
+"First rate, General, and thank you for the honor," I replied, as
+gracefully as I knew how.
+
+The Dog Soldier Indians were a band of Cheyennes and unruly, turbulent
+members of other tribes, who would not enter into any treaty, or keep a
+treaty if they made one, and who had always refused to go upon a
+reservation. They were a warlike body of well-built, daring, and restless
+braves, and were determined to hold possession of the country in the
+vicinity of the Republican and Solomon rivers. They were called "Dog
+Soldiers" because they were principally Cheyennes--a name derived from the
+French _chien_, a dog.
+
+On the 3d of October the Fifth Cavalry arrived at Fort Hays. General
+Sheridan, being anxious to punish the Indians who had lately fought
+General Forsyth, did not give the regiment much of a rest, and accordingly
+on the 5th of October it began its march for the 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 pretty well acquainted with Major
+Brown and Captain Sweetman, who invited me to mess with them on this
+expedition, and a jolly mess we had. There were other scouts in the
+command besides myself, and I particularly remember Tom Renahan, Hank
+Fields, and a character called "Nosey," on account of his long nose.
+
+The next day we marched thirty miles, and late in the afternoon we came
+into camp on the south fork of the Solomon. At this encampment Colonel
+Royal asked me to go out and kill some buffaloes for the boys.
+
+"All right, Colonel; send along a wagon or two to bring in the meat," I
+said.
+
+"I am not in the habit of sending out my wagons until I know that there is
+something to be hauled in; kill your buffaloes first, and then I'll send
+out the wagons," was the Colonel's reply. I said no more, but went out on
+a hunt, and after a short absence returned and asked the Colonel to send
+out his wagons over the hill for the half-dozen buffaloes I had killed.
+
+The following afternoon he again requested me to go out and get some fresh
+buffalo meat. I didn't ask him for any wagons this time, but rode out some
+distance, and coming up with a small herd I managed to get seven of them
+headed straight for the encampment, and instead of shooting them just
+then, I ran them at full speed right into the camp, and then killed them
+all, one after another, in rapid succession. Colonel Royal witnessed the
+whole proceeding, which puzzled him somewhat, as he could see no reason
+why I had not killed them on the prairie. He came up rather angrily, and
+demanded an explanation.
+
+"I can't allow any such business as this, Cody," said he. "What do you
+mean by it?"
+
+"I didn't care about asking for any wagons this time, Colonel, so I
+thought I would make the buffaloes furnish their own transportation," was
+my reply. The Colonel saw the point in a moment, and had no more to say on
+the subject.
+
+No Indians had been seen in the vicinity during the day, and Colonel
+Royal, having carefully posted his pickets, supposed everything was serene
+for the night. But before morning we were aroused from our slumbers by
+hearing shots fired, and immediately afterward one of the mounted pickets
+came galloping into camp, saying that there were Indians close at hand.
+The companies all fell into line, and were soon prepared and anxious to
+give the redskins battle; but as the men were yet new in the Indian
+country a great many of them were considerably excited. No Indians,
+however, made their appearance, and upon going to the picket-post where
+the picket said he had seen them none could be found, nor could any traces
+of them be discovered. The sentinel, who was an Irishman, insisted that
+there had certainly been redskins there.
+
+"But you must be mistaken," said Colonel Royal.
+
+"Upon me sowl, Colonel, I'm not. As shure ez me name's Pat Maloney, one of
+them redskins hit me on the head with a club, so he did," said Pat.
+
+And so when morning came the mystery was further investigated, and was
+easily solved. Elk tracks were found in the vicinity, and it was
+undoubtedly a herd of elks that had frightened Pat. As he had turned to
+run he had gone under a limb of a tree against which he hit his head, and
+supposed he had been struck by a club in the hands of an Indian. It was
+hard to convince Pat, however, of the truth.
+
+A three days' uninteresting march brought us to Beaver Creek, where we
+were camped, and from which point scouting parties were sent out in
+different directions. None of these, however, discovering Indians, they
+all returned to camp about the same time, finding it in a state of great
+excitement, it having been attacked a few hours previously by a party of
+Indians, who had succeeded in killing two men and in making off with sixty
+horses belonging to Company H.
+
+That evening the command started on the trail of these Indian horse
+thieves, Major Brown with two companies and three days' rations pushing
+ahead in advance of the main command. Being unsuccessful, however, in
+overtaking the Indians, and getting nearly out of provisions--it being our
+eighteenth day out--the entire command marched toward the nearest railway
+point, and camped on the Saline River, distant three miles from Buffalo
+Tank. While waiting for supplies we received a new commanding officer,
+Brevet Major General E. A. Carr, who was the senior major of the regiment,
+and who ranked Colonel Royal. He brought with him the celebrated Forsyth
+scouts, who were commanded by Lieutenant Pepoon, a regular army officer.
+
+The next morning, at an early hour, the command started out on a hunt for
+Indians. General Carr, having a pretty good idea where he would be most
+likely to find them, directed me to guide them by the nearest route to
+Elephant Rock on Beaver Creek. Upon arriving at the south fork of the
+Beaver on the second day's march, we discovered a large fresh Indian
+trail, which we hurriedly followed for a distance of eight miles, when
+suddenly we saw on the bluffs ahead of us quite a large number of Indians.
+
+General Carr ordered Lieutenant Pepoon's scouts and Company M to the
+front. This company was commanded by Lieutenant Schinosky, a Frenchman by
+birth and reckless by nature. Having advanced his company nearly a mile
+ahead of the main command, about four hundred Indians suddenly charged
+down upon him and gave him a lively little fight, until he was supported
+by our full force. The Indians kept increasing in numbers all the while,
+until it was estimated that we were fighting from eight hundred to one
+thousand of them. The engagement became quite general, and several were
+killed and wounded on each side. The Indians were evidently fighting to
+give their families and village a chance to get away. We had undoubtedly
+surprised them with a larger force than they had expected to see in that
+part of the country. We fought them until dark, all the time driving them
+before us. At night they annoyed us considerably by firing down into our
+camp from the higher hills, and several times the command was ordered to
+dislodge them from their position and drive them back.
+
+After having returned from one of these sallies, Major Brown, Captain
+Sweetman, Lieutenant Bache, and myself were taking supper together, when
+"whang!" came a bullet into Lieutenant Bache's plate, breaking a hole
+through it. The bullet came from the gun of one of the Indians, who had
+returned to the high bluff overlooking our camp. Major Brown declared it
+was a crack shot, because it broke the plate. We finished our supper
+without having any more such close calls.
+
+At daylight next morning we struck out on the trail, and soon came to the
+spot where the Indians had camped the day before. We could see that their
+village was a very large one, consisting of about five hundred lodges; and
+we pushed forward rapidly from this point on the trail which ran back
+toward Prairie Dog Creek. About two o'clock we came in sight of the
+retreating village, and soon the warriors turned back to give us battle.
+They set fire to the prairie grass in front of us and on all sides in
+order to delay us as much as possible. We kept up a running fight for the
+remainder of the afternoon, and the Indians repeatedly attempted to lead
+us off the track of their flying village; but their trail was easily
+followed, as they were continually dropping tepee-poles, camp-kettles,
+robes, furs, and all heavy articles belonging to them. They were evidently
+scattering, and it finally became difficult for us to keep on the main
+trail. When darkness set in we went into camp, it being useless to try to
+follow the Indians after nightfall.
+
+Next morning we were again on the trail. The Indians soon scattered in
+every direction, but we followed the main trail to the Republican River,
+where we made a cut-off, and then went north toward the Platte River. We
+found, however, that the Indians by traveling night and day had got a
+long start, and the General concluded that it was useless to follow them
+any farther.
+
+The General told me that the next day's march would be toward the
+headwaters of the Beaver, and asked me the distance. I replied that it was
+about twenty-five miles, and he said he would make it the next day.
+Getting an early start in the morning, we struck out across the prairie,
+my position as guide being ahead of the advance guard. About two o'clock
+General Carr overtook me, and asked me how far I supposed it was to water.
+I thought it was about eight miles, although we could see no sign or
+indication of any stream in front.
+
+"Pepoon's scouts say you are going in the wrong direction," said the
+General; "and in the way you are bearing it will be fifteen miles before
+you can strike any of the branches of the Beaver; and that when you do,
+you will find no water, for the Beavers are dry at this time of the year
+at that point."
+
+"General, I think the scouts are mistaken," said I, "for the Beaver has
+more water near its head than it has below; and at the place where we will
+strike the stream we will find immense beaver dams, large enough and
+strong enough to cross the whole command, if you wish."
+
+"Well, Cody, go ahead," said he; "I'll leave it to you; but remember that
+I don't want a dry camp."
+
+"No danger of that," said I; and then I rode on, leaving him to return to
+the command. As I had predicted, we found water seven or eight miles
+farther on, where we came upon a beautiful little stream, a tributary of
+the Beaver, hidden in the hills. We had no difficulty in selecting a good
+halting-place, and obtaining fresh spring water and grass. The General,
+upon learning from me that the stream--which was only eight or nine miles
+long--had no name, took out his map and located it, and named it Cody's
+Creek, which name it still bears.
+
+We pulled out early next morning for the Beaver, and when we were
+approaching the stream I rode on ahead of the advance guard in order to
+find the crossing. Just as I turned a bend of the creek, "bang!" went a
+shot, and down went my horse--myself with him. I disentangled myself, and
+jumped behind the dead body. Looking in the direction whence the shot had
+come I saw two Indians, and at once turned my gun loose on them, but in
+the excitement of the moment I missed my aim. They fired two or three more
+shots, and I returned the compliment, wounding one of their horses.
+
+On the opposite side of the creek, going over the hill, I observed a few
+lodges moving rapidly away, and also some mounted warriors, who could see
+me, and who kept blazing away with their guns. The two Indians who had
+fired at me, and had killed my horse, were retreating across the creek on
+a beaver dam. I sent a few shots after them to accelerate their speed, and
+also fired at the ones on the other side of the stream. I was undecided as
+to whether it was best to run back to the command on foot or hold my
+position. I knew that within a few minutes the troops would come up, and I
+therefore decided to hold my position. The Indians, seeing that I was
+alone, turned, and charged down the hill, and were about to recross the
+creek to corral me, when the advance guard of the command put in an
+appearance on the ridge, and dashed forward to my rescue. The redskins
+whirled and made off.
+
+When General Carr came up, he ordered Company I to go in pursuit of the
+band. I accompanied Lieutenant Brady, who commanded, and we had a running
+fight with the Indians, lasting several hours. We captured several head of
+their horses and most of their lodges. At night we returned to the
+command, which by this time had crossed the creek on the beaver dam.
+
+We scouted for several days along the river, and had two or three lively
+skirmishes. Finally our supplies began to run low, and General Carr gave
+orders to return to Fort Wallace, which we reached three days afterward,
+and where we remained several days.
+
+Very soon after, General Carr received orders from General Sheridan for a
+winter's campaign in the Canadian River country, instructing him to
+proceed at once to Fort Lyon, Colorado, and there to fit out for the
+expedition. Leaving Fort Wallace in November, 1868, we arrived at Fort
+Lyon in the latter part of the month without special incident, and at
+once began our preparations for invading the enemy's country. General
+Penrose had left his post three weeks previously with a command of some
+three hundred men. He had taken no wagons with him, and his supply train
+was composed only of pack mules. General Carr was ordered to follow with
+supplies on his trail and 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. We followed the trail very easily for the
+first three days, and then we were caught in Freeze-Out Canyon by a
+fearful snowstorm, which compelled us to go into camp for a day. The
+ground now being covered with snow, we found it would be impossible to
+follow Penrose's trail any farther, especially as he had left no sign to
+indicate the direction he was going. General Carr sent for me, and said
+that as it was very important that we should not lose the trail, he wished
+that I would take some scouts with me, and while the command remained in
+camp, push on as far as possible, and see if I could not discover some
+traces of Penrose or where he had camped at any time.
+
+Accompanied by four men, I started out in the blinding snowstorm, taking a
+southerly direction. We rode twenty-four miles, and upon reaching a
+tributary of the Cimarron, we scouted up and down the stream for a few
+miles, and finally found one of Penrose's old camps. It was now late in
+the afternoon, and as the command would come up the next day, it was not
+necessary for all of us to return with the information to General Carr. So
+riding down into a sheltered place in the bend of the creek, we built a
+fire and broiled some venison from a deer which we had shot during the
+day, and after eating a substantial meal, I left the four men there while
+I returned to bring up the troops.
+
+It was eleven o'clock at night when I got back to the camp. A light was
+still burning in the General's tent, he having remained awake, anxiously
+awaiting my return. He was glad to see me, and was overjoyed at the
+information I brought, for he had great fears concerning the safety of
+General Penrose.
+
+The command took up its march next day for the Cimarron, and had a hard
+tramp of it on account of the snow having drifted to a great depth in many
+of the ravines, and in some places the teamsters had to shovel their way
+through. We arrived at the Cimarron at sundown, and went into camp. Upon
+looking around next morning, we found that Penrose, having been
+unencumbered by wagons, had kept on the west side of the Cimarron, and the
+country was so rough that it was impossible for us to stay on his trail
+with our wagons; but knowing that we would certainly follow down the
+river, General Carr concluded to take the best wagon route along the
+stream, which I discovered to be on the east side. Before we could make
+any headway with our wagon train we had to leave the river and get out on
+the divide. We were very fortunate that day in finding a splendid road for
+some distance, until we were all at once brought to a standstill on a high
+tableland, overlooking a beautiful winding creek that lay far below us in
+the valley. The question that troubled us was how we were to get the
+wagons down. We were now in the foothills of the Rattoon Mountains, and
+the bluff we were on was very steep.
+
+"Cody, we're in a nice fix now," said General Carr.
+
+"Oh, that's nothing," was my reply.
+
+"But you can never take the train down," said he.
+
+"Never you mind the train, General. You say you are looking for a good
+camp. How does that beautiful spot down in the valley suit you?" I asked
+him.
+
+"That will do. I can easily descend with the cavalry, but how to get the
+wagons down there is a puzzler to me," said he.
+
+"By the time you are located in your camp, your wagons shall be there,"
+said I.
+
+"All right, Cody, I'll leave it to you, as you seem to want to be boss,"
+he replied, pleasantly. He at once ordered the command to dismount and
+lead the horses down the mountain side. The wagon train was a mile in the
+rear, and when it came up one of the drivers asked, "How are we going down
+there?"
+
+"Run down, slide down, or fall down; any way to get down," said I.
+
+"We can never do it; it's too steep; the wagons will run over the mules,"
+said another wagon master.
+
+"I guess not; the mules have got to keep out of the way," was my reply.
+
+I told Wilson, the chief wagon master, to bring on his mess wagon, which
+was at the head of the train, and I would try the experiment at least.
+Wilson drove the team and wagon to the brink of the hill, and following my
+directions he brought out some extra chains with which we locked the
+wheels on each side, and then rough-locked them. We now started the wagon
+down the hill. The wheel horses--or rather the wheel mules--were good on
+the hold back, and we got along finely until we nearly reached the bottom,
+when the wagon crowded the mules so hard that they started on a run and
+galloped down into the valley and to the place where General Carr had
+located his camp. Three other wagons immediately followed in the same way,
+and in half an hour every wagon was in camp, without the least accident
+having occurred. It was indeed an exciting sight to see the six mule teams
+come straight down the mountain and finally break into a full run. At
+times it looked as if the wagons would turn a somersault and land on the
+mules.
+
+[Illustration: I DISENTANGLED MYSELF AND JUMPED BEHIND THE DEAD BODY OF
+THE HORSE.]
+
+This proved to be a lucky march for us, as far as gaining on Penrose was
+concerned; for the route he had taken on the west side of the stream
+turned out to be a bad one, and we went with our immense wagon train as
+far in one day as Penrose had in seven. His command had marched on to a
+plateau or high tableland so steep that not even a pack mule could descend
+it, and he was obliged to retrace his steps a long way, thus losing three
+days' time, as we afterward learned.
+
+From this point on, for several days, we had no trouble in following
+Penrose's trail, which led us in a southeasterly direction toward the
+Canadian River. No Indians were seen, nor any signs of them found. 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, and upon looking closely at the spot, I saw a negro.
+
+"Sakes alive! Massa Bill, am dat you?" asked the man, whom I recognized as
+one of the colored soldiers of the Tenth Cavalry. I next heard him say to
+some one in the brush: "Come out o' heah. Dar's Massa Buffalo Bill." Then
+he sang out, "Massa Bill, is you got any hawdtack?"
+
+"Nary a hardtack; but the wagons will be along presently, and then you can
+get all you want," said I.
+
+"Dat's de best news I's heerd foah sixteen long days, Massa Bill," said
+he.
+
+"Where's your command? Where's General Penrose?" I asked.
+
+"I dun'no'," said the darky; "we got lost and we's been starvin' eber
+since."
+
+By this time two other negroes had emerged from their place of
+concealment. They had deserted Penrose's command--which was out of rations
+and nearly in a starving condition--and were trying to make their way back
+to Fort Lyon. General Carr concluded, from what they could tell him, that
+General Penrose was somewhere on Palladora Creek; but we could not learn
+anything definite, for they knew not where they were themselves.
+
+Having learned that General Penrose's troops were in such bad shape,
+General Carr 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
+accompanied this detachment, and on the third day out we found the
+half-famished soldiers camped on the Palladora. The camp presented a
+pitiful sight, indeed. For over two weeks the men had had only quarter
+rations, and were now nearly starved to death. Over two hundred horses and
+mules were lying dead, having died from fatigue and starvation. General
+Penrose, fearing that General Carr would not find him, had sent back a
+company of the Seventh Cavalry to Fort Lyon for supplies; but no word had
+as yet been heard from them. The rations which Major Brown brought to the
+command came none too soon, and were the means of saving many lives.
+
+General Carr, upon arriving with his force, took command of all the
+troops, he being the senior officer and ranking General Penrose. After
+selecting a good camp, he unloaded the wagons and sent them back to Fort
+Lyon for fresh 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, leaving the rest of the troops at the supply camp.
+
+For several days we scouted along the Canadian River, but found no signs
+of Indians. General Carr then went back to his camp, and soon afterward
+our wagon train came in from Fort Lyon with a fresh load of provisions. At
+length, our horses and mules having become sufficiently recruited to
+return, we returned to Fort Lyon, arriving there in March, 1869, where the
+command was to rest and recruit for thirty days before proceeding to the
+Department of the Platte, whither it had been ordered.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+PURSUING THE SIOUX
+
+
+When the Fifth Cavalry was ordered to the Department of the Platte, we
+moved from Fort Wallace down to Sheridan, and in a few days started on
+another expedition after the hostile Indians. The second day out, on
+reaching the North Fork of the Beaver and riding down the valley toward
+the stream, I suddenly discovered a large fresh Indian trail. On
+examination I found it to be scattered all over the valley on both sides
+of the creek, as if a very large village had recently passed that way.
+Judging from the size of the trail, I thought that there could not be less
+than four hundred lodges, or between twenty-five hundred and three
+thousand warriors, women, and children in the band. I galloped back to the
+command, distant about three miles, and reported the news to General Carr,
+who halted the regiment, and after consulting a few minutes, ordered me
+to select a ravine, or as low ground as possible, so that he could keep
+the troops out of sight until we could strike the creek.
+
+We went into camp on the Beaver, and the General ordered Lieutenant Ward
+to take twelve men and myself and follow up the trail for several miles,
+and find out how fast the Indians were traveling. I was soon convinced, by
+the many camps they had made, that they were traveling slowly, and hunting
+as they journeyed. We went down the Beaver on this scout about twelve
+miles, keeping our horses well concealed under the banks of the creek, so
+as not to be discovered.
+
+At this point, Lieutenant Ward and myself, leaving our horses behind us,
+crawled to the top of a high knoll, where we could have a good view for
+some miles distant down the stream. We peeped over the summit of the hill,
+and not over three miles away we could see a whole Indian village in plain
+sight, and thousands of ponies grazing around on the prairie. Looking over
+to our left, on the opposite side of the creek we observed two or three
+parties of Indians coming in, loaded down with buffalo meat.
+
+"This is no place for us, Lieutenant," said I; "I think we have important
+business at the camp to attend to as soon as possible."
+
+"I agree with you," said he, "and the quicker we get there the better it
+will be for us."
+
+We quickly descended the hill and joined the men below. Lieutenant Ward
+hurriedly wrote a note to General Carr, and handing it to a corporal,
+ordered him to make all possible haste back to the command and deliver the
+message. The man started off on a gallop, and Lieutenant Ward said, "We
+will march slowly back until we meet the troops, as I think the General
+will soon be here, for he will start immediately upon receiving my note."
+
+In a few minutes we heard two or three shots in the direction in which our
+dispatch courier had gone, and soon after we saw him come running around
+the bend of the creek, pursued by four or five Indians. The Lieutenant,
+with his squad of soldiers and myself, at once charged upon them, when
+they turned and ran across the stream.
+
+"This will not do," said Lieutenant Ward; "the whole Indian village will
+now know that soldiers are near by."
+
+"Lieutenant, give me that note, and I will take it to the General," said
+I.
+
+He gladly handed me the dispatch, and spurring my horse I dashed up the
+creek. After having ridden a short distance, I observed another party of
+Indians, also going to the village with meat; but instead of waiting for
+them to fire upon me, I gave them a shot at long range. Seeing one man
+firing at them so boldly, it surprised them, and they did not know what to
+make of it. While they were thus considering, I got between them and our
+camp. By this time they had recovered from their surprise, and cutting
+their buffalo meat loose from their horses, they came after me at the top
+of their speed; but as their steeds were tired out, it did not take me
+long to leave them far in the rear.
+
+I reached the command in less than an hour, delivered the dispatch to
+General Carr, and informed him of what I had seen. He instantly had the
+bugler sound "boots and saddles," and all the troops, with the exception
+of two companies which we left to guard the train, were soon galloping in
+the direction of the Indian camp.
+
+We had ridden about three miles, when we met Lieutenant Ward, who was
+coming slowly toward us. He reported that he had run into a party of
+Indian buffalo hunters, and had killed one of the number, and had had one
+of his horses wounded. We immediately pushed forward, and after marching
+about five miles came within sight of hundreds of mounted Indians
+advancing up the creek to meet us. They formed a complete line in front of
+us. General Carr, being desirous of striking their village, ordered the
+troops to charge, break through their line, and keep straight on. This
+movement would no doubt have been successfully accomplished had it not
+been for the rattle-brained and dare-devil French Lieutenant Schinosky,
+commanding Company B, who, misunderstanding General Carr's orders, charged
+upon some Indians at the left, while the rest of the command dashed
+through the enemy's line, and was keeping straight on, when it was
+observed that Schinosky and his company were surrounded by four or five
+hundred Indians. The General, to save the company, was obliged to sound a
+halt and charge back to the rescue. The company during this short fight
+had several men and quite a number of horses killed.
+
+All this took up valuable time, and night was coming on. The Indians were
+fighting desperately to keep us from reaching their village, which, being
+informed by couriers of what was taking place, was packing up and getting
+away. During that afternoon it was all that we could do to hold our own in
+fighting the mounted warriors, who were in our front and contesting every
+inch of the ground. The General had left word for our wagon train to
+follow up with its escort of two companies, but as it had not made its
+appearance, he entertained some fears that it had been surrounded, and to
+prevent the possible loss of the supply train we had to go back and look
+for it. About nine o'clock that evening we found it and went into camp for
+the night.
+
+Early the next day we broke camp and passed down the creek, but there was
+not an Indian to be seen. They had all disappeared and gone on with their
+village. Two miles farther we came to where a village had been located,
+and here we found nearly everything belonging to or pertaining to an
+Indian camp, which had been left in the great hurry to get away. These
+articles were all gathered up and burned. We then pushed out on the trail
+as fast as possible. It led us to the northeast toward the Republican; but
+as the Indians had a night the start of us, we entertained but little hope
+of overtaking them that day. Upon reaching the Republican in the afternoon
+the General called a halt, and as the trail was running more to the east,
+he concluded to send his wagon train on to Fort McPherson by the most
+direct route, while he would follow on the trail of the redskins.
+
+Next morning at daylight we again pulled out, and were evidently gaining
+rapidly on the Indians, for we could occasionally see them in the
+distance. About eleven o'clock that day, while Major Babcock was ahead of
+the main command with his company, and while we were crossing a deep
+ravine, we were surprised by about three hundred warriors, who commenced a
+lively fire upon us. Galloping out of the ravine on to the rough prairie,
+the men dismounted and returned the fire. We soon succeeded in driving the
+Indians before us and were so close to them at one time that they
+abandoned and threw away nearly all their lodges and camp equipage, and
+everything that had any considerable weight. They left behind them their
+played-out horses, and for miles we could see Indian furniture strewn
+along in every direction. The trail became divided, and the Indians
+scattered in small bodies all over the prairie. As night was approaching
+and our horses were about giving out, a halt was called. A company was
+detailed to collect all the Indian horses running loose over the country,
+and to burn the other Indian property.
+
+The command being nearly out of rations, I was sent to the nearest point,
+old Fort Kearny, about sixty miles distant, for supplies.
+
+Shortly after we reached Fort McPherson, which continued to be the
+headquarters of the Fifth Cavalry for some time, we fitted out for a new
+expedition to the Republican River country, and were re-enforced by three
+companies of the celebrated Pawnee Indian scouts, commanded by Major Frank
+North. General Carr recommended at this time to General Augur, who was in
+command of the department, that I be made chief of scouts in the
+Department of the Platte, and informed me that in this position I would
+receive higher wages than I had been getting in the Department of the
+Missouri. This appointment I had not asked for.
+
+I made the acquaintance of Major Frank North, and I found him and his
+officers perfect gentlemen, and we were all good friends from the very
+start. The Pawnee scouts had made quite a reputation for themselves, as
+they had performed brave and valuable services in fighting against the
+Sioux, whose bitter enemies they were; being thoroughly acquainted with
+the Republican and Beaver country, I was glad that they were to be with
+the expedition, and my expectation of the aid they would render was not
+disappointed.
+
+During our stay at Fort McPherson I made the acquaintance of Lieutenant
+George P. Belden, known as the "White Chief." I found him to be an
+intelligent, dashing fellow, a splendid rider, and an excellent shot. An
+hour after our introduction he challenged me for a rifle match, the
+preliminaries of which were soon arranged. We were to shoot ten shots each
+for fifty dollars, at two hundred yards, off-hand. Belden was to use a
+Henry rifle, while I was to shoot my old "Lucretia." This match I won, and
+then Belden proposed to shoot a one-hundred-yard match, as I was shooting
+over his distance. In this match Belden was victorious. We were now even,
+and we stopped right there.
+
+While we were at this post General Augur and several of his officers paid
+us a visit for the purpose of reviewing the command. The regiment turned
+out in fine style and showed themselves to be well-drilled soldiers,
+thoroughly understanding military tactics. The Pawnee scouts were also
+reviewed, and it was very amusing to see them in their full regular
+uniform. They had been furnished a regulation cavalry uniform, and on this
+parade some of them had their heavy overcoats on, others their large black
+hats, with all the brass accouterments attached; some of them were minus
+pantaloons, and only wore a breech-clout. Others wore regulation
+pantaloons, but no shirts, and were bareheaded; others again had the seat
+of the pantaloons cut out, leaving only leggings; but for all this they
+seemed to understand the drill remarkably well for Indians. The commands,
+of course, were given to them in their own language by Major North, who
+could talk it as well as any full-blooded Pawnee. The Indians were well
+mounted, and felt proud and elated because they had been made United
+States soldiers. Major North had for years complete control over these
+Indians, and could do more with them than any man living. That evening,
+after the parade was over, the officers and quite a number of ladies
+visited a grand Indian dance given by the Pawnees, and of all the Indians
+I have seen, their dances excel those of any other tribe.
+
+Next day the command started. When encamped, several days after, on the
+Republican River, near the mouth of the Beaver, we heard the whoops of
+Indians, followed by shots in the vicinity of the mule herd, which had
+been taken down to water. One of the herders came dashing into camp with
+an arrow sticking in him. My horse was close at hand, and mounting him
+bareback, I at once dashed off after the mule herd, which had been
+stampeded. I supposed certainly that I would be the first man on the
+ground, but I was mistaken, however, for the Pawnee Indians, unlike
+regular soldiers, had not waited to receive orders from their officers,
+but had jumped on their ponies without bridles or saddles, and placing
+ropes in their mouths, had dashed off in the direction whence the shots
+came, and had got there ahead of me. It proved to be a party of about
+fifty Sioux who had endeavored to stampede our mules, and it took them by
+surprise to see their inveterate enemies, the Pawnees, coming at full
+gallop at them. They were not aware that the Pawnees were with the
+command, and as they knew it would take regular soldiers some time to turn
+out, they thought they would have ample opportunity to secure the herd
+before the troops could give chase.
+
+We had a running fight of fifteen miles, and several of the enemy were
+killed. During this chase I was mounted on an excellent horse, which
+Colonel Royal had picked out for me, and for the first mile or two I was
+in advance of the Pawnees. Presently a Pawnee shot by me like an arrow,
+and I could not help admiring the horse he was riding. Seeing that he
+possessed rare running qualities, I determined to get possession of the
+animal in some way. It was a large buckskin or yellow horse, and I took a
+careful view of him, so that I would know him when I returned to camp.
+
+After the chase was over I rode up to Major North and inquired about the
+buckskin horse.
+
+"Oh yes," said the Major; "that is one of our favorite steeds."
+
+"What chance is there to trade for him?" I asked.
+
+"It is a government horse," said he, "and the Indian who is riding him is
+very much attached to the animal."
+
+"I have fallen in love with the horse myself," said I, "and I would like
+to know if you have any objections to my trading for him if I can arrange
+it satisfactorily with the Indians?"
+
+He replied, "None whatever, and I will help you to do it; you can give the
+Indian another horse in his place."
+
+A few days after this I persuaded the Indian, by making him several
+presents, to trade horses with me, and in this way I became the owner of
+the buckskin steed; not as my own property, however, but as a government
+horse that I could ride. I gave him the name of "Buckskin Joe," and he
+proved to be a fine buffalo hunter. In the winter of 1872, after I had
+left Fort McPherson, Buckskin Joe was condemned and sold at public sale,
+and was bought by Dave Perry, at North Platte, who in 1877 presented him
+to me, and I owned him until his death in 1879.
+
+The command scouted several days up the Beaver and Prairie Dog rivers,
+occasionally having running fights with way parties of Indians, but did
+not succeed in getting them into a general battle. At the end of twenty
+days we found ourselves back on the Republican.
+
+Hitherto the Pawnees had not taken much interest in me, but while at this
+camp I gained their respect and admiration by showing them how I killed
+buffaloes. Although the Pawnees were excellent buffalo hunters, for
+Indians, I have never seen one of them kill more than four or five in a
+single run. A number of them generally surround the herd and then dash in
+upon them, and in this way each one kills from one to four buffaloes. I
+had gone out in company with Major North and some of the officers, and saw
+them make a "surround." Twenty of the Pawnees circled a herd and succeeded
+in killing only thirty-two.
+
+While they were cutting up the animals another herd appeared in sight. The
+Indians were preparing to surround it, when I asked Major North to keep
+them back and let me show them what I could do. He accordingly informed
+the Indians of my wish, and they readily consented to let me have the
+opportunity. I had learned that Buckskin Joe was an excellent buffalo
+horse, and felt confident that I would astonish the natives. Galloping in
+among the buffaloes, I certainly did so by killing thirty-six in less than
+a half-mile run. At nearly every shot I killed a buffalo, stringing the
+dead animals out on the prairie, not over fifty feet apart. This manner of
+killing was greatly admired by the Indians, who called me a big chief, and
+from that time on I stood high in their estimation.
+
+On leaving camp the command took a westward course up the Republican, and
+Major North, with two companies of cavalry, under the command of Colonel
+Royal, made a scout to the north of the river. Shortly after we had gone
+into camp, on the Black Tail 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. At first we supposed them to be Sioux, and
+all was excitement for a few moments. We noticed, however, that our
+Pawnee Indians made no hostile demonstrations or preparations toward going
+out to fight them, but began singing and yelling themselves. Captain Lute
+North stepped up to General Carr and said: "General, those are our men who
+are coming, and they have had a fight. That is the way they act when they
+come back from a battle and have taken any scalps."
+
+The Pawnees came into camp on the run. Captain North, calling to one of
+them, a sergeant, soon found out that they had run across a party of Sioux
+who were following a large Indian trail. These Indians had evidently been
+in a fight, for two or three of them had been wounded, and they were
+conveying the injured persons on _travoix_. The Pawnees had "jumped" them,
+and had killed three or four after a sharp fight, in which much ammunition
+was expended.
+
+Next morning the command, at an early hour, started out to take up this
+Indian trail, which they followed for two days as rapidly as possible, it
+becoming evident from the many camp fires which we passed that we were
+gaining on the Indians. Wherever they had encamped we found the print of a
+woman's shoe, and we concluded that they had with them some white captive.
+This made us all the more anxious to overtake them, and General Carr
+selected all his best horses which could stand a long run, and gave orders
+for the wagon train to follow as fast as possible, while he pushed ahead
+on a forced march. At the same time I was ordered to pick out five or six
+of the best Pawnees and go in advance of the command, keeping ten or
+twelve miles ahead on the trail, so that when we overtook the Indians we
+could find out the location of their camp, and send word to the troops
+before they came in sight, thus affording ample time to arrange a plan for
+the capture of the village.
+
+After having gone about ten miles in advance of the regiment, we began to
+move very cautiously, as we were now evidently nearing the Indians. We
+looked carefully over the summits of the hills before exposing ourselves
+to plain view, and at last we discovered the village, encamped in the sand
+hills south of the South Platte River at Summit Springs. Here I left the
+Pawnee scouts to keep watch, while I went back and informed General Carr
+that the Indians were in sight.
+
+The General at once ordered his men to tighten their saddles and otherwise
+prepare for action. Soon all was excitement among the officers and
+soldiers, every one being anxious to charge the village. I now changed my
+horse for old Buckskin Joe, who had been led for me thus far, and was
+comparatively fresh. Acting on my suggestion, the General made a circuit
+to the north, believing that if the Indians had their scouts out they
+would naturally be watching in the direction whence they had come. When we
+had passed the Indians, and were between them and the Platte River, we
+turned toward the left and started toward the village.
+
+By this manoeuver we had avoided discovery by the Sioux scouts, and we
+were confident of giving them a complete surprise. Keeping the command
+wholly out of sight until we were within a mile of the Indians, the
+General halted the advance guard until all closed up, and then issued an
+order that when he sounded the charge the whole command was to rush into
+the village.
+
+As we halted on the top of the hill overlooking the camp of unsuspecting
+Indians, General Carr called out to his bugler, "Sound the charge!"
+
+The bugler for a moment became intensely excited, and actually forgot the
+notes. The General again sang out, "Sound the charge!" and yet the bugler
+was unable to obey the command. Quartermaster Hays--who had obtained
+permission to accompany the expedition--was riding near the General, and
+comprehending the dilemma of the man, rushed up to him, jerked the bugle
+from his hands, and sounded the charge himself in clear, distinct notes.
+As the troops rushed forward, he threw the bugle away, then drawing his
+pistols, was among the first men that entered the village.
+
+The Indians had just driven up their horses, and were preparing to make a
+move of the camp, when they saw the soldiers coming down upon them. A
+great many of them succeeded in jumping upon their ponies and, leaving
+everything behind them, advanced out of the village and prepared to meet
+the charge; but, upon second thought, they quickly concluded that it was
+useless to try to check us, and those who were mounted rapidly rode away,
+while the others on foot fled for safety to the neighboring hills. We went
+through their village, shooting right and left at everything we saw. The
+Pawnees, the regular soldiers, and officers were all mixed up together,
+and the Sioux were flying in every direction.
+
+The pursuit continued until darkness made it impossible to longer follow
+the Indians, who had scattered and were leading off in every direction
+like a brood of young quails. The expedition went into camp along the
+South Platte, much exhausted by so long a chase, and though very tired,
+every trooper seemed anxious for the morrow.
+
+It was nearly sunrise when "boots and saddles" was sounded, breakfast
+having been disposed of at break of day. The command started in a most
+seasonable time, but finding that the trail was all broken up, it was
+deemed advisable to separate into companies, each to follow a different
+trail.
+
+The company which I headed struck out toward the northwest, over a route
+indicating the march of about one hundred Indians, and followed this for
+nearly two days. At a short bend of the Platte a new trail was discovered
+leading into the one the company was following, and at this point it was
+evident that a junction had been made. Farther along evidences of a
+reunion of the entire village increased, and now it began to appear that
+further pursuit would be somewhat hazardous, owing to the largely
+increased force of Indians. But there were plenty of brave men in the
+company, and nearly all were anxious to meet the Indians, however great
+their numbers might be. This anxiety was appeased on the third day, when a
+party of about six hundred Sioux was discovered riding in close ranks near
+the Platte. The discovery was mutual, and there was immediate preparation
+for battle on both sides. Owing to the overwhelming force of Indians,
+extreme caution became necessary, and instead of advancing boldly, the
+soldiers sought advantageous ground. Seeing this, the Indians became
+convinced that there had been a division in General Carr's command, and
+that the company before them was a fragmentary part of the expedition.
+They therefore assumed the aggressive, charging us until we were compelled
+to retire to a ravine and act on the defensive. The attack was made with
+such caution that the soldiers fell back without undue haste, and had
+ample opportunity to secure their horses in the natural pit, which was a
+ravine that during wet seasons formed a branch of the Platte.
+
+After circling about the soldiers with a view of measuring their full
+strength, the Indians, comprehending how small was the number, made a
+desperate charge from two sides, getting so near us that several of the
+soldiers were badly wounded by arrows. But the Indians were received with
+such withering fire that they fell back in confusion, leaving twenty of
+their warriors on the ground. Another charge resulted like the first, with
+heavy loss to the redskins, which so discouraged them that they drew off
+and held a long council. After discussing the situation among themselves,
+they separated, one body making off as though they intended to leave; but
+I understood their motions too well to allow the soldiers to be deceived.
+
+The Indians that remained again began to ride in a circle around us, but
+maintained a safe distance out of rifle range. Seeing an especially
+well-mounted Indian riding at the head of a squad, passing around in the
+same circle more than a dozen times, I decided to take my chances for
+dismounting the chief (as he proved to be), and to accomplish this purpose
+I crawled on my hands and knees three hundred yards up the ravine,
+stopping at a point which I considered would be in range of the Indian
+when he should again make the circuit. My judgment proved correct, for
+soon the Indian was seen loping his pony through the grass, and as he
+slackened speed to cross the ravine I rose up and fired, the aim being so
+well taken that the chief tumbled to the ground, while his horse, after
+running a few hundred yards, approached the soldiers, one of whom ran out
+and caught hold of the long lariat attached to the bridle, and thus
+secured the animal. When I returned to the company, all of whom had
+witnessed my feat of killing an Indian at a range of fully four hundred
+yards, by general consent the horse of my victim was given to me.
+
+This Indian whom I killed proved to be Tall Bull, one of the most cunning
+and able chiefs the Sioux ever had, and his death so affected the Indians
+that they at once retreated without further attempt to dislodge us.
+
+Some days after this occurrence General Carr's command was brought
+together again and had an engagement with the Sioux, in which more than
+three hundred warriors and a large number of ponies were captured,
+together with several hundred squaws, among the latter being Tall Bull's
+widow, who told with pathetic interest how the Prairie Chief had killed
+her husband. But instead of being moved with hatred against me, as most
+civilized women would have been under like circumstances, she regarded me
+with special favor, and esteemed it quite an honor that her husband, a
+great warrior himself, should have met his death at my hands.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+MY DUEL WITH YELLOW HAND
+
+
+When the news of the terrible massacre of Custer was learned, preparations
+were immediately made to avenge his death. The whole Cheyenne and Sioux
+tribes were in revolt, and a lively, if not very dangerous, campaign was
+in prospective. Two days before receipt of the news of the massacre,
+Colonel Stanton, who was with the Fifth Cavalry, had been sent to Red
+Cloud agency, and on the evening of the receipt of news of the Custer
+fight a scout arrived in our camp with a message from the Colonel,
+informing General Merritt that eight hundred Cheyenne warriors had that
+day left Red Cloud agency to join Sitting Bull's hostile forces in the Big
+Horn country.
+
+Notwithstanding the instructions to proceed immediately to join General
+Crook by the way of Fort Fetterman, General Merritt took the
+responsibility of endeavoring to intercept the Cheyennes, and, as the
+sequel shows, he performed a very important service.
+
+He selected five hundred men and horses, and in two hours we were making a
+forced march back to Hat, or War-Bonnet Creek, the intention being to
+reach the main Indian trail running to the north across that creek before
+the Cheyennes could get there. We arrived there the next night, and at
+daylight the following morning, July 17, 1876, I went out on a scout, and
+found that the Indians had not yet crossed the creek. On my way back to
+the command I discovered a large party of Indians, which proved to be the
+Cheyennes, coming up from the south, and I hurried to the camp with this
+important information.
+
+The cavalrymen quietly mounted their horses and were ordered to remain out
+of sight, while General Merritt, accompanied by two or three aids and
+myself, went out on a little tour of observation to a neighboring hill,
+from the summit of which we saw that the Indians were approaching almost
+directly toward us. Presently fifteen or twenty of them dashed off to the
+west, in the direction from which we had come the night before; and upon
+closer observation with our field glasses we discovered two mounted
+soldiers, evidently carrying dispatches for us, pushing forward on our
+trail.
+
+The Indians were evidently trying to intercept these two men, and General
+Merritt feared that they would accomplish their object. He did not think
+it advisable to send out any soldiers to the assistance of the couriers,
+for fear that they would show to the Indians that there were troops in the
+vicinity who were waiting for them. I finally suggested that the best plan
+was to wait until the couriers came closer to the command, and then, just
+as the Indians were about to charge, to let me take the scouts and cut
+them off from the main body of the Cheyennes who were coming over the
+divide.
+
+"All right, Cody," said the General. "If you can do that, go ahead."
+
+I rushed back to the command, jumped on my horse, picked out fifteen men,
+and returned with them to the point of observation. I told General Merritt
+to give us the word to start out at the proper time, and presently he sang
+out:
+
+"Go in now, Cody, and be quick about it. They are going to charge on the
+couriers."
+
+The two messengers were not over four hundred yards from us, and the
+Indians were only about two hundred yards behind them. We instantly dashed
+over the bluffs, and advanced on a gallop toward the Indians. A running
+fight lasted several minutes, during which we drove the enemy some little
+distance and killed three of their number. The rest of them rode off
+toward the main body, which had come into plain sight and halted, upon
+seeing the skirmish that was going on. We were about half a mile from
+General Merritt, and the Indians whom we were chasing suddenly turned upon
+us, and another lively skirmish took place. One of the Indians, who was
+handsomely decorated with all the ornaments usually worn by a war chief
+when engaged in a fight, sang out to me, in his own tongue, "I know you,
+Pa-he-haska; if you want to fight, come ahead and fight me."
+
+The chief was riding his horse back and forth in front of his men as if to
+banter me, and I concluded to accept the challenge. I galloped toward him
+for fifty yards, and he advanced toward me about the same distance, both
+of us riding at full speed, and then, when we were only about thirty yards
+apart, I raised my rifle and fired; his horse fell to the ground, having
+been killed by a bullet. Almost at the same moment my own horse went down,
+he having stepped into a gopher hole. The fall did not hurt me much, and I
+instantly sprang to my feet. The Indian had also recovered himself, and we
+were now both on foot, and not more than twenty paces apart. We fired at
+each other simultaneously. My usual luck did not desert me on this
+occasion, for his bullet missed me, while mine struck him in the breast.
+He reeled and fell, but before he had fairly touched the ground I was upon
+him, knife in hand, and had driven the keen-edged weapon to its hilt in
+his heart. Jerking his war bonnet off, I scientifically scalped him in
+about five seconds.
+
+The whole affair from beginning to end occupied but little time, and the
+Indians, seeing that I was some little distance from my company, now came
+charging down upon me from a hill, in hopes 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. The order came none
+too soon, for had it been one minute later I would have had not less than
+two hundred Indians upon me. As the soldiers came up I swung the Indian
+chieftain's topknot and bonnet in the air and shouted, "the first scalp
+for Custer."
+
+General Merritt, seeing that he could not now ambush the Indians, ordered
+the whole regiment to charge upon them. They made a stubborn resistance
+for a little while, but it was no use for any eight hundred, or even
+sixteen hundred, Indians to try to check a charge of the gallant old Fifth
+Cavalry, and they soon came to that conclusion, and began a running
+retreat toward Red Cloud agency. For thirty-five miles we drove them,
+pushing them so hard that they were obliged to abandon their loose horses,
+their camp equipage, and everything else. We drove them into the agency,
+and followed in ourselves, notwithstanding the possibility of our having
+to encounter the thousands of Indians at that point. We were uncertain
+whether or not the agency Indians had determined to follow the example of
+the Cheyennes and strike out upon the warpath; but that made no difference
+with the Fifth Cavalry, for they would have fought them all if necessary.
+It was dark when we rode into the agency, where we found thousands of
+Indians collected together; but they manifested no disposition to fight.
+
+While at the agency I learned the name of the Indian chief whom I had
+killed that morning; it was Yellow Hand, a son of old Cut Nose, a leading
+chief of the Cheyennes. Cut Nose having learned that I had killed his son,
+sent a white interpreter to me with a message to the effect that he would
+give me four mules if I would turn over to him Yellow Hand's war-bonnet,
+guns, pistols, ornaments, and other paraphernalia which I had captured. I
+sent back word to the old gentleman that it would give me pleasure to
+accommodate him, but I could not do it this time.
+
+The next morning we started to join General Crook, who was camped near the
+foot of Cloud Peak in the Big Horn Mountains, awaiting the arrival of the
+Fifth Cavalry before proceeding against the Sioux, who were somewhere near
+the head of the Little Big Horn--as his scouts informed him. We made rapid
+marches, and reached General Crook's camp on Goose Creek about the 3d of
+August.
+
+At this camp I met many old friends, among whom was Colonel Royal, who had
+received his promotion to the lieutenant colonelcy of the Third Cavalry.
+He introduced me to General Crook, whom I had never met before, but of
+whom I had often heard. He also introduced me to the General's chief
+guide, Frank Grouard, a half-breed, who had lived six years with Sitting
+Bull, and knew the country thoroughly.
+
+We remained in this camp only one day, and the whole troop pulled out for
+the Tongue River, leaving our wagons behind, but taking with us a large
+pack train. We marched down the Tongue River for two days, thence in a
+westerly direction over to the Rosebud, where we struck the main Indian
+trail leading down this stream. From the size of the trail, which appeared
+to be about four days old, we estimated that there must have been in the
+neighborhood of seven thousand Indians in the war party.
+
+For two or three days we pushed on, but we did not seem to gain much on
+the Indians, as they were evidently making about the same marches that we
+were. On the fourth or fifth morning of our pursuit, I rode ahead of the
+command about ten miles, and mounting a hill, I scanned the country far
+and wide with my field glass, and discovered a column of dust rising about
+ten miles farther down the creek, and soon I noticed a body of men
+marching toward me that at first I believed to be the Indians of whom we
+were in pursuit; but subsequently they proved to be General Terry's
+command. I sent back word to that effect to General Crook by a scout who
+had accompanied me, but after he had departed I observed a band of Indians
+on the opposite side of the creek, and also another party directly in
+front of me. This led me to believe that I had made a mistake. But shortly
+afterward my attention was attracted by the appearance of a body of
+soldiers who were forming into a skirmish line and then I became convinced
+that it was General Terry's command, after all, and that the redskins whom
+I had seen were some of his friendly Indian scouts, who had mistaken me
+for a Sioux, and fled back to their command terribly excited, shouting,
+"The Sioux are coming!"
+
+General Terry at once came to the post, and ordered the Seventh Cavalry to
+form line of battle across the Rosebud; he also ordered up his artillery
+and had them prepare for action, doubtless dreading another "Custer
+massacre." I afterward learned that the Indian had seen the dust raised by
+General Crook's forces, and had reported that the Sioux were coming.
+
+These manoeuvers I witnessed from my position with considerable
+amusement, thinking the command must be badly demoralized when one man
+could cause a whole army to form line of battle and prepare for action.
+Having enjoyed the situation to my heart's content, I galloped down toward
+the skirmish line, waving my hat, and when within about one hundred yards
+of the troops, Colonel Weir, of the Seventh Cavalry, galloped out and met
+me. He recognized me at once, and accompanied me inside the line; then he
+sang out: "Boys, here's Buffalo Bill. Some of you old soldiers know him;
+give him a cheer!" Thereupon the regiment gave three rousing cheers, and
+it was followed up all along the line.
+
+Colonel Weir presented me to General Terry, and in answer to his question
+I informed him that the alarm of Indians had been a false one, as the dust
+seen by his scouts was caused by General Crook's troops. General Terry
+thereupon rode forward to meet General Crook, and I accompanied him at his
+request. That night both commands went into camp on the Rosebud. General
+Terry had his wagon train with him, and everything to make life
+comfortable on an Indian campaign. He had large wall tents and portable
+beds to sleep in, and commodious hospital tents for dining rooms. His camp
+looked very comfortable and attractive, and presented a great contrast to
+that of General Crook, who had for his headquarters only one small fly
+tent, and whose cooking utensils consisted of a quart cup--in which he
+made his coffee himself--and a stick upon which he broiled his bacon. When
+I compared the two camps, I came to the conclusion that General Crook was
+an Indian-fighter; for it was evident that he had learned that to follow
+and fight Indians a body of men must travel lightly, and not be detained
+by a wagon train or heavy luggage of any kind.
+
+That evening General Terry ordered General Miles to take his regiment, the
+Fifth Infantry, and return by a forced march to Yellowstone, and proceed
+down the river by steamboat to the mouth of the Powder River, to intercept
+the Indians, in case they attempted to cross the Yellowstone. General
+Miles 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 that evening and the next day in council,
+and on the following morning both commands moved out on the Indian trail.
+Although General Terry was the senior officer, he did not assume command
+of both expeditions, but left General Crook in command of his own troops,
+although they operated together. We crossed the Tongue River to Powder
+River, and proceeded down the latter stream to a point twenty miles from
+its junction with the Yellowstone, where the Indian trail turned to the
+southeast in the direction of the Black Hills. The two commands now being
+nearly out of supplies, the trail was abandoned, and the troops kept on
+down Powder River to its confluence with the Yellowstone, and remained
+there several days. Here we met General Miles, who reported that no
+Indians had as yet crossed the Yellowstone. Several steamboats soon
+arrived with a large quantity of supplies, and once more the "Boys in
+Blue" were made happy.
+
+One evening, while we were in camp on the Yellowstone at the mouth of
+Powder River, I was informed that the commanding officer had selected
+Louis Richard, a half-breed, and myself to accompany General Miles on a
+scouting expedition on the steamer _Far West_, down the Yellowstone as far
+as Glendive Creek. We were to ride on the pilot house and keep a sharp
+lookout on both sides of the river for Indian trails that might have
+crossed the stream. The idea of scouting on a steamboat was indeed a novel
+one to me, and I anticipated a pleasant trip.
+
+At daylight next morning we reported on board the steamer to General
+Miles, who had with him four or five companies of his regiment. We were
+somewhat surprised when he asked us where our horses were, as we had not
+supposed that horses would be needed if the scouting was to be done on the
+steamer. He said we might need them before we got back, and thereupon we
+had the animals brought on board. In a few minutes we were booming down
+the river at the rate of about twenty miles an hour.
+
+The steamer _Far West_ was commanded by Captain Grant Marsh, whom I found
+to be an interesting character. I had often heard of him, for he was, and
+is yet, one of the best-known river captains in the country. He it was
+who, with his steamer _Far West_, transported the wounded men from the
+battle of the Little Big Horn to Fort Abraham Lincoln on the Missouri
+River, and on that trip he made the fastest steamboat time on record. He
+was a skillful and experienced pilot, handling his boat with remarkable
+dexterity.
+
+While Richard and myself were at our stations on the pilot house, the
+steamer, with a full head of steam, went flying past islands, around
+bends, over sand bars, at a rate that was exhilarating. Presently I
+thought I could see horses grazing in a distant bend of the river, and I
+reported the fact to General Miles, who asked Captain Marsh if he could
+land the boat near a large tree which he pointed out to him. "Yes, sir; I
+can land her there, and make her climb the tree if necessary," said he.
+
+On reaching the spot designated, General Miles ordered two companies
+ashore, while Richard and myself were instructed to take our horses off
+the boat and push out as rapidly as possible to see if there were Indians
+in the vicinity. While we were getting ashore, Captain Marsh remarked that
+if there were only a good heavy dew on the grass he would shoot the
+steamer ashore, and take us on the scout without the trouble of leaving
+the boat.
+
+It was a false alarm, however, as the objects we had seen proved to be
+Indian graves. Quite a large number of braves, who had probably been
+killed in some battle, were laid on scaffolds, according to the Indian
+custom, and some of their clothing had been torn from the bodies by the
+wolves and was waving in the air.
+
+On arriving at Glendive Creek we found that Colonel Rice and his company
+of the Fifth Infantry, who had been sent there by General Miles, had built
+quite a good little fort with their trowel-bayonets, a weapon which
+Colonel Rice was the inventor of, and which is, by the way, a very useful
+implement of war, as it can be used for a shovel in throwing up
+intrenchments, and can be profitably utilized in several other ways. On
+the day previous to our arrival Colonel Rice had a fight with a party of
+Indians, and had killed two or three of them at long range with his Rodman
+cannon.
+
+The _Far West_ was to remain at Glendive overnight, and General Miles
+wished to send dispatches back to General Terry at once. At his request I
+took the dispatches, and rode seventy-five miles that night through the
+bad lands of the Yellowstone, and reached General Terry's camp next
+morning, after having nearly broken my neck a dozen times or more.
+
+There being but little prospect of any more fighting, I determined to go
+East as soon as possible to engage in other pursuits. So I started down
+the river on the steamer _Yellowstone_, _en route_ to Fort Beaufort. On
+the same morning Generals Terry and Crook pulled out for Powder River, to
+take up the old Indian trail which we had left.
+
+The steamer had proceeded down the stream about twenty miles when it was
+met by another boat on its way up the river, having on board General
+Whistler and some fresh troops for General Terry's command. Both boats
+landed, and I met several old friends among the soldiers.
+
+General Whistler, upon learning that General Terry had left the
+Yellowstone, asked me to carry to him some important dispatches from
+General Sheridan, and although I objected, he insisted upon my performing
+this duty, saying that it would only detain me a few hours longer; as an
+extra inducement he offered me the use of his own thoroughbred horse,
+which was on the boat. I finally consented to go, and was soon speeding
+over the rough and hilly country toward Powder River, and delivered the
+dispatches to General Terry the same evening. General Whistler's horse,
+although a good animal, was not used to such hard riding, and was far more
+exhausted by the journey than I was.
+
+After I had taken a lunch, General Terry asked me if I would carry some
+dispatches back to General Whistler, and I replied that I would. Captain
+Smith, General Terry's aid-de-camp, offered me his horse for the trip, and
+it proved to be an excellent animal; for I rode him that same night forty
+miles over the bad lands in four hours, and reached General Whistler's
+steamboat at one o'clock. During my absence the Indians had made their
+appearance on the different hills of the vicinity, and the troops from the
+boat had had several skirmishes with them. When General Whistler had
+finished reading the dispatches, he said: "Cody, I want to send some
+information to General Terry concerning the Indians who have been
+skirmishing around here all day. I have been trying all the evening long
+to induce some one to carry my dispatches to him, but no one seems willing
+to undertake the trip, and I have got to fall back on you. It is asking a
+great deal, I know, as you have just ridden eighty miles; but it is a case
+of necessity, and if you'll go, Cody, I'll see that you are well paid for
+it."
+
+"Never mind about the pay," said I, "but get your dispatches ready and
+I'll start at once."
+
+In a few minutes he handed me the package, and, mounting the same horse
+which I had ridden from General Terry's camp, I struck out for my
+destination. It was two o'clock in the morning when I left the boat, and
+at eight o'clock I rode into General Terry's camp, just as he was about to
+march, having made one hundred and twenty miles in twenty-two hours.
+
+General Terry, after reading the dispatches, halted his command, and then
+rode on and overtook General Crook, with whom he held a council; the
+result was that Crook's command moved on in the direction which they had
+been pursuing, while Terry's forces marched back to the Yellowstone and
+crossed the river on steamboats. At the urgent request of General Terry I
+accompanied the command on a scout in the direction of the Dry Fork of the
+Missouri, where it was expected we would strike some Indians.
+
+The first march out from the Yellowstone was made in the night, as we
+wished to get into the hills without being discovered by the Sioux scouts.
+After marching three days a little to the east of north, we reached the
+buffalo range and discovered fresh signs of Indians, who had evidently
+been killing buffaloes. General Terry now called on me to carry
+dispatches to Colonel Rice, who was still encamped at the mouth of
+Glendive Creek, on the Yellowstone--distant about eighty miles from us.
+
+Night had set in with a storm, and a drizzling rain was falling when, at
+ten o'clock, I started on this ride through a section of country with
+which I was entirely unacquainted. I traveled through the darkness a
+distance of about thirty-five miles, and at daylight I rode into a
+secluded spot at the head of a ravine where stood a bunch of ash trees,
+and there I concluded to remain till night, for I considered it a
+dangerous undertaking to cross the wide prairies in broad
+daylight--especially as my horse was a poor one. I accordingly unsaddled
+my animal and ate a hearty breakfast of bacon and hardtack which I had
+stored in the saddle pockets; then, after taking a smoke, I lay down to
+sleep, with my saddle for a pillow. In a few minutes I was in the land of
+dreams.
+
+After sleeping some time--I cannot tell how long--I was suddenly awakened
+by a roaring, rumbling sound. I instantly seized my gun, sprang to my
+horse, and hurriedly secreted him in the brush. Then I climbed up the
+steep side of the bank and cautiously looked over the summit; in the
+distance I saw a large herd of buffaloes which were being chased and fired
+at by twenty or thirty Indians. Occasionally a buffalo would drop out of
+the herd, but the Indians kept on until they had killed ten or fifteen.
+Then they turned back and began to cut up the game.
+
+[Illustration: IN THE DISTANCE I SAW A LARGE HERD OF BUFFALOES WHICH WERE
+BEING CHASED AND FIRED AT BY TWENTY OR THIRTY INDIANS.]
+
+I saddled my horse and tied him to a small tree where I could reach him
+conveniently in case the Indians should discover me by finding my trail
+and following it. I then crawled carefully back to the summit of the
+bluff, and in a concealed position watched the Indians for two hours,
+during which time they were occupied in cutting up the buffaloes and
+packing the meat on their ponies. When they had finished this work they
+rode off in the direction whence they had come.
+
+I waited till nightfall before resuming my journey, and then I bore off to
+the east for several miles, and by making a semicircle to avoid the
+Indians, I got back on my original course, and then pushed on rapidly to
+Colonel Rice's camp, which I reached just at daylight.
+
+Colonel Rice had been fighting Indians almost every day since he had been
+encamped at this point, and he was very anxious to notify General Terry of
+the fact. Of course I was requested to carry his dispatches. After
+remaining at Glendive a single day, I started back to find General Terry,
+and on the third day I overhauled him at the head of Deer Creek, while on
+his way to Colonel Rice's camp. He was not, however, going in the right
+direction, but bearing too far to the east, and so I informed him. He then
+asked me to guide the command, and I did so.
+
+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 to Rochester, New
+York, where I met my family.
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFE OF BUFFALO BILL
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE LITTLE BOY OF THE PRAIRIE
+
+
+Once when Buffalo Bill was a tiny boy of seven or eight his father's
+family were camping on their way to Kansas. It happened that both his
+father and the guide were away from the little camp in search of food. It
+was at night and young Bill Cody was asleep. He was suddenly awakened by
+hearing a noise, and saw an Indian in the act of untying and leading away
+his own pet pony. The boy jumped up, grasped his rifle, and said,
+
+"What are you doing with my horse?"
+
+The Indian did not seem to be much disturbed at the little fellow's
+appearance, and said he would swap horses. Little Bill said he would not
+swap. The Indian only laughed at him. Then the boy held his gun ready,
+and said again that he would not swap; and in the end the big Indian,
+after watching him keenly for a few minutes, quietly mounted his old pony
+and rode away. This is a good example of the nerve and courage which have
+made him as a grown man the best plainsman in our history.
+
+Every boy, perhaps every man, loves to read about the days of Indian
+fights, the camping along the trails, the crossing of the plains in
+prairie schooners, and the wild life that belonged to what was once called
+the Great American Desert--which now contains thousands of farms and
+hundreds of cities. It was a hard life; but it was so full of real
+adventure, of actual danger, that it had its own interest to those who
+lived it. And although it is gone now forever, it will always remain the
+most interesting part of American history to the boys of our country.
+
+That was the time when a man saved his own life day by day, absolutely and
+solely because he had greater courage or quicker wit than his opponent,
+whether that opponent was an Indian, a stage robber, a flood, a prairie
+fire, or any other form of danger. To understand those days and the
+events and episodes as they occurred to the men who lived them, one must
+first get into one's mind the country they lived in and traveled over. It
+was a flat land stretching thousands of miles across the middle of the
+United States from the Missouri River to California, with here and there a
+huge range of mountains running north and south, guarded on either side by
+long lines of foothills. Sometimes there were stretches of forest;
+generally there was nothing but the flat plains covered with a rough wild
+grass. Between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada there were the
+alkali plains, unfit for human habitation. All this country was inhabited
+by Indians who had been gradually driven westward from the Atlantic coast,
+who had been treated badly by white men, and who had become a fierce race
+of fighters and hunters. They considered the white man their natural prey.
+Whenever they saw a "pale face" it was fair and right in their minds to
+try to get his scalp; for hundreds of stories had been handed down from
+their fathers and grandfathers of the way in which the white man had
+killed their people and driven them from the land that had been theirs for
+centuries.
+
+Over this country--a distance of two thousand miles--the buffaloes and the
+Indians roamed, and no white man had a home. There were no cities. There
+were practically no towns. The white man gradually moving west had got as
+far as the western counties of Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa in 1850; the
+white men had settled the Pacific coast in California; there were no
+railroads; there was no way to communicate between the Missouri River and
+California, except on horseback or by driving huge wagons across these
+wild plains.
+
+Any day, any moment, while the travelers were sitting in their great
+wagons, they might see some little specks coming toward them across the
+flat plain. Then came a scurrying to put the wagons in a circle with the
+horses and mules, men and women, in the center. In a moment a band of
+mounted Indians would rush down upon them; and unless they were ready
+these wild red men would ride through the train between the wagons,
+frighten the mules and horses, separate one wagon from another, and after
+killing all the human beings, carry their goods away. Sometimes it
+happened in the night. Sometimes it happened in the day. And as those who
+were not ready were always killed, the result was that those who lived and
+traveled across those plains were the keenest and shrewdest of their
+kind--quicker and shrewder than the Indians themselves. Even if the
+Indians did not appear, it took a good hunter to keep his little caravan
+supplied with food. For the journey was a long one; there were many
+breakdowns and delays; and in order to supply food for the company the
+buffalo and deer of the plains had to be hunted and killed.
+
+That was the country and the people between 1850 and 1860. After the rush
+to California for gold, it became evident that there must be some regular
+system of communication between the outskirts of civilization in the East,
+and the outskirts of civilization in the West in California. It was just
+at this time that the man who is known all over the world as Buffalo Bill
+was born.
+
+Buffalo Bill's father was named Isaac Cody. He lived on a farm in Scott
+County, Iowa, near a town named Le Clair, and there William Frederick Cody
+was born on the 26th of February, 1846.
+
+When the California gold craze came in 1849, Isaac Cody, with thousands of
+other people, made up his mind to go across the plains to California and
+look for gold. But before he had much more than started he changed his
+mind and moved toward Kansas, where he hoped to find some place to settle
+on the frontier. Instead of taking his wife and children on such a
+dangerous expedition he left them with his brother, Elijah Cody, in Platt
+County, Missouri, and then started out in search of a new home. Finally,
+when young William was only seven or eight years old, his father settled
+near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and here the boy grew up in the midst of
+Indians and the wild life of the plains, and in the very thick of the
+early fights that occurred between the Northerners and Southerners over
+the question of slavery. It was a hard life and only those who were
+naturally fitted for it lived through it. Even at the age of seven or
+eight little Bill Cody naturally took to this sort of life. He loved
+adventure. He loved stories of Indians, scouts, and desperadoes, and he
+could fire a rifle pretty accurately almost as soon as he could carry one.
+
+Finally the family settled in Salt Creek Valley in Kansas, which was on
+the line of one of the two trails, or roads--if they could be called
+roads--that stretched for two thousand miles or more across this waste of
+plain and mountain to California.
+
+Day after day little Bill Cody would go out with his father, taking his
+rifle, to hunt, and he always had with him a famous dog named "Turk." The
+boy, and in fact all the children, loved Turk. He was as much one of the
+family as any of the children, and again and again gave warning of danger.
+There are many instances in which the dog practically saved the lives of
+at least one member of the family group. One day when Cody's two sisters
+were walking some distance from their home they heard a snarl, and looking
+up into a tree they saw a panther getting ready to spring upon them. Old
+Turk, who was with them, was quite as well aware of the danger as they
+were; and while they hid in the bushes, he sat in front of them and
+grappled with the panther as it jumped to reach them. The whole incident
+took place in a moment, and before they realized what had happened, they
+saw their favorite dog in the act of being killed by the panther. Suddenly
+off in the distance they heard their brother Bill's familiar whistle
+calling his dog. Then on the instant, as they crouched there, expecting
+every moment to see the fight end with the death of the dog, a rifle shot
+rang out and the panther rolled over dead. That was a famous shot in
+itself for a boy of less than eight years, for both animals were rolling
+over and over in their fight, and it took not only nerve, but accurate
+aim, to hit the one and avoid the other.
+
+The family had scarcely got settled in their new home when the father, who
+did not believe in slavery, got into discussions with other people of the
+county who had been brought up to hold slaves. Those were hard, dangerous
+men. They got angry quickly; they shot their pistols at one another
+without much provocation, and they feared neither death nor anything else
+because they were living in the midst of danger always. In one of these
+excited discussions as to whether slaves should be held in the new State
+of Kansas or not, Isaac Cody took a firm stand on his side, and was
+thereupon notified that if he did not leave the country he would be shot.
+He had to hide frequently in different parts of his own house at night
+when a body of men would come to kill him, and for days and days he lived
+in thickets near the house, his little son bringing him food every day.
+
+Once when a party had come to the house in search of his father and had
+failed to find him, young Bill discovered that his pony was missing. He
+went out to look for it, and found that it had been stolen by a member of
+the lynching party named Sharp. He cried out to the man that that was his
+pony; whereupon the desperado laughed at him. Bill called him a coward and
+told him he would get even with him some day; and then suddenly getting an
+idea, he whistled for Turk, and set the dog on the man. The dog ran up to
+the pony and bit his hind legs, whereupon the little horse kicked
+vigorously and bucked until he had thrown Sharp off. Then began a hot
+discussion between Will and Sharp, the one setting the dog on, the other
+yelling to have him called off. But in the end Sharp was obliged to
+temporize. He returned the pony and went away as fast as he could run.
+
+So the days went on until Isaac Cody was obliged to leave the country. One
+of the famous scout's first real adventures occurred at this time. The boy
+was scarcely ten years old when one night the family received information
+that their father was coming home to see them and to stay for one night,
+returning to Fort Leavenworth in the morning. In some way the men of the
+community discovered that he was coming. A party was sent out to capture
+him as he came through a wooded gulch, and the little family sat around
+the hearth, most of them in tears, with the certainty that their father
+would be killed that night.
+
+Then the instinct of the young scout came to the surface. Young Bill
+proposed that he should ride his pony to a place called Grasshopper Falls,
+where his father was staying, and warn him. The boy had been sick with a
+fever; but he got out of bed, mounted his pony, and started in the night
+to ride the thirty miles. He had only gone four or five when he heard a
+cry of, "Halt!" Instead of stopping, he leaned over Indian fashion behind
+his pony, so that nothing but one leg showed on the side from which the
+call came, and there he hung as the good horse rushed at his top speed
+through the ambuscade. As he did not stop, the men began firing at him,
+and he could hear the bullets flying over him. He got through safely,
+however, and succeeded in getting to Grasshopper Falls just as his father
+was starting. It is interesting to know that this ride taken in the night
+by a sick boy not old enough to go to school was ten miles longer than the
+famous ride of General Philip Sheridan in the Civil War.
+
+Then came hard times for the little Cody family. The father died, and the
+mother had no means of supporting her children and keeping up the farm.
+Young Bill, then eleven years old, made up his mind that it was his duty
+to support them. He could not stay at home, as he was not big enough to
+attend to the work of the farm.
+
+It seemed an almost impossible task, because in addition to all their
+poverty there was a mortgage of one thousand dollars against their farm,
+and if they did not pay this shortly their own home would be taken away
+from them. Mrs. Cody was a brave woman, and she felt that if it were not
+for that mortgage she could have managed to scrape along and keep the
+family alive. In the many talks which they had as to what they should do,
+the boy told his mother that if she could fight this claim he would try to
+earn the money.
+
+This was his idea. There was a firm--a famous one in the history of that
+part of the United States--named Russell, Majors & Waddell, frontiersmen
+who had gradually built up a line of freight wagons that went from St.
+Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, two thousand miles across the plains
+and mountains, carrying the freight that was shipped from the East to the
+West and bringing back freight from California to the East. These goods
+were packed in huge wagons with big canvas tops, drawn by sometimes ten
+and sometimes twenty teams of oxen. There was so much danger in these
+trips from Indians and outlaws that they never started without several
+wagons in a little caravan, with a guard of frontiersmen all armed and
+ready to repel any attack from whatever source. Each night they camped in
+certain places along the trail where there was water and, if possible,
+wood. They cooked their own meals. They set up their pickets and guards,
+and started on again in the morning to the next camp. The journey took
+about a month; and time and time again the whole outfit would fail to
+appear at the other end. It had been attacked and all the men killed by
+Indians or by the robbers of the plains. And sometimes the next caravan
+would find the remnants of the wagons and the dead bodies of men and oxen.
+It was Bill Cody's idea to see if he could not get a chance to travel as
+what is called an "extra" on one of these caravans, and forthwith he
+presented himself at the office of the firm in Fort Leavenworth. One of
+the members of the firm had known his father, and so he treated the boy
+kindly. But he told him frankly that a boy of his age would be of no use.
+Bill, however, said that he could ride and shoot, that he could herd
+cattle and do a lot of other things. He wanted to be an "extra." Finally,
+he was so earnest in his desire, that Mr. Majors consented; and there is
+an interesting document which was signed by the two which shows what was
+expected and what were the dangers of such work. This paper reads as
+follows:
+
+"I, Wm. F. Cody, do hereby solemnly swear before the great and living God,
+that during my engagement with, and while I am in the employ of, Russell,
+Majors & Waddell, I will not, under any circumstances, use profane
+language, that I will not quarrel or fight with any other employe of the
+firm, and that in every respect I will conduct myself honestly, be
+faithful to my duties, and shall direct all my acts so as to win the
+confidence of my employers. So help me God."
+
+And so the "boy extra" began his work. At night he slept in a blanket
+under a wagon, and by day he did whatever he was given to do.
+
+Day after day, week after week, they traveled slowly over the huge plains,
+the "bull whackers"--the men who drove the huge oxen--constantly snapping
+their enormous whips and urging the beasts on as fast as possible. It was
+a monotonous life, except when some incident occurred, and then the
+incident was likely to be one of life and death, depending on the
+quickness, accuracy of aim, and alertness of the men in the "bull train."
+They had gone only about thirty-five miles from Fort Kearny, one of the
+places where they stopped near the Platte River, when young Bill suddenly
+saw the three pickets drop flat on the ground, and the next moment he
+heard shots and saw a band of Indians riding toward them. Instantly the
+men in the bull train--all frontiersmen--made a circle of the wagons, got
+into the circle themselves, and began firing at the Indians. The red men
+wheeled in a big curve, firing as they went, and then rode off a short
+distance on the plain out of gun shot and stood watching the white men.
+Buffalo Bill has already told this story in his own words earlier in the
+book. But he does not tell what it seems impossible to believe--that this
+boy of eleven years saved the lives of the entire outfit; and so it is
+well to mention the fact here. The consultation which the men had while
+the Indians waited proved that it was useless to stay where they were.
+Indians began to come from all quarters and outnumbered the whites ten to
+one. It was therefore decided to leave the train to the mercy of the
+Indians and make a dash for a creek where they could hide behind the
+embankment. This was successfully carried out and they then started for
+Fort Kearny, walking in the water and keeping watch over the top of the
+bank. As night came on the little boy began to get tired and weak. He
+could not keep up with the others, and in the excitement and darkness they
+did not miss him as he gradually fell behind. So the little fellow was
+trudging along, his rifle over his shoulder, perhaps a hundred yards
+behind the party, when to his amazement he saw the feathered head of an
+Indian poke over the bank before him and behind the others of his party.
+The Indian did not see him, for he was looking toward the others. With the
+quickness and instinct which made Buffalo Bill what he was, the lad put up
+his rifle, and the first warning his friends had of any attack in the rear
+was the sound of a shot, and the sound, too, of the body of the dead
+Indian rolling down into the creek. That was Buffalo Bill's first Indian,
+and the story of the boy who had saved the bull train went all over the
+frontier country in an incredibly short space of time.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+LITTLE BILL AT SCHOOL AND AT THE TRAPS
+
+
+Now began days of trouble for the young frontier boy. The family
+difficulties were not so serious as they had seemed at first. Mrs. Cody
+was able to keep the farm, and realizing that her boy, while promising to
+make a good frontiersman, was not getting any education, she showed him
+the necessity of having the "man of the family" go to school.
+
+Near their home some of the settlers had contributed money for the
+building of a little schoolhouse and for the payment of a teacher who was
+to come from the East and teach their children. Mrs. Cody made up her mind
+that Bill should go there to school, and after much discussion he began
+his school days.
+
+Those must have been strange school days as we think of school now. The
+little one-room shanty on the plain had nothing in it but a few boards of
+the simplest kind that would serve as desks, a stove, and a few, very few,
+books. The scholars were a wild lot, quite unused to any kind of
+discipline. There was no idea in their minds of promptness, of getting to
+school on time, of behaving while they were in school, or of studying very
+hard over their lessons. In fact, their parents had had very little
+education, and there was nothing in all that country that made people
+believe in any discipline. Then, too, the teacher was not a very good one.
+In fact, it would have been hard to get a man to go out on that wild
+frontier who could make a living in the East. So the school was a somewhat
+uproarious affair. The boys had numerous fights. They came when they
+liked. They went hunting or fishing as they saw fit. They got a good many
+beatings from the teacher and laughed over them afterward. They teased the
+girls, and again and again the school teacher, unable to cope with them,
+settled matters by driving them out of the little house and locking the
+door.
+
+In the midst of this crowd of youngsters young Bill began his first day.
+He was known to them all and to all their parents for miles around as the
+boy who had saved the bull train, as a fine shot, and as a good deal of a
+hero. Besides this he was a terrible tease, not only to his own sisters,
+but to every one else's sisters.
+
+Not many days had passed when a feud grew up between him and another boy
+of the school. This soon developed into fights, finally ending in the
+arrival of old Turk at the school. The school, like all other houses, had
+no cellar. It rested a foot or two above the ground. Bill's rival in the
+school was a boy named Gobel, and he, too, owned a dog. When Turk arrived
+in search of his young master the school was in session, and a moderate
+amount of order had been maintained for some time. Then suddenly the
+scholars and the teacher heard beneath them a fierce growl, then another,
+then a series of howls and cries. And everyone knew that within a few
+inches of them, only separated by the floor, there was a fine dogfight in
+progress. That was enough for the scholars. They jumped over their seats,
+crowded out through the door, and stood around the schoolhouse watching
+Turk and Gobel's dog fight. Each dog was urged on by one of the two
+factions. It was not long before Turk had beaten his rival and driven him
+away with his tail between his legs. Whereupon young Gobel said that
+although his dog might be beaten, he could lick Will Cody. That was enough
+for the young frontier boy, and, in spite of all the teacher could do, a
+ring was soon formed by the scholars and a thoroughbred prize fight
+started. Gobel was much larger and older than Will, and the latter knew
+that he would be beaten shortly. He must resort to some stratagem, and
+though it seems strange to us now, out on that frontier, and especially to
+a boy who had actually been obliged to kill men to save his own life, any
+means of winning the fight was right. So the little fellow thinking all
+the time while he was in the midst of his struggle, drew his knife and
+stuck it into the fleshy part of Steve Gobel's leg. The moment Steve saw
+the blood he screamed with terror and cried out that he was killed.
+
+Thereupon all the children took to their heels and ran to tell their
+parents that Will Cody had killed Gobel. Then the teacher took a hand, and
+so did the parents of many of the children, and it looked as if it would
+go hard with poor Bill. At all events, he did not care to stay at home,
+and not knowing what else to do, he ran away down the trail, happening to
+come upon one of the wagon trains of his first employers, Russell, Majors
+& Waddell, as he ran. The boss of the outfit was a man named Willis, and
+when the boy told his story Willis promised to look after him and take him
+again as a boy extra, first offering to go back to the school with him and
+lick Gobel, and the teacher too, if Bill said so. It was only a few
+moments when Gobel's father and a couple of men came up to arrest the boy,
+but they had to deal with men who were used to that sort of thing every
+day of their lives, and the pursuers soon discovered that it was wise for
+them to turn around and go home. But there was no more school for young
+Cody at present, and so he again became a member of a bull train.
+
+During this short term of service with the freighters the boy had another
+experience which nearly ended his career, and which to any boy who lives
+in a pleasant home and never sees any such life can scarcely be much more
+than a fairy tale, it is so terrible and seems so impossible. The boy had
+a short time with nothing to do between trips in the winter, and he
+decided, as money was necessary, to go on a hunting trip with a party of
+trappers. There was a chance of making considerable money by trapping
+animals and selling their furs. As a matter of fact, the trapping was very
+successful, and young Bill contributed distinctly his part to the family
+treasury. It was in the midst of this trip, while he was in an absolutely
+uninhabited country, making a round of his traps, that he came upon three
+Indians, each leading a pony loaded with skins. It was a case of three to
+one, and the moment he discovered them they discovered him. He saw the
+leading Indian put up his rifle and aim it at him. Here was a case, one of
+the many that came later, when the young frontier boy unquestionably saved
+his life by his own quickness and skill. Actually before the Indian, who
+was no greenhorn at such matters, could aim his rifle and fire, Will Cody
+had shot him dead. The other two Indians fired arrows, one of which went
+through the boy's hat; but without stopping, he turned around and cried,
+as if to his companions:
+
+"Here they are! This way! This way!"
+
+And then--all this taking place in an incredibly short space of time--he
+wounded one Indian with his revolver as the two turned and fled; so that,
+instead of being killed himself, he killed one Indian, wounded another,
+overcame the third, and marched into camp with their three ponies and all
+the skins that they had gathered.
+
+It was on a similar trapping expedition that the following episode
+occurred. The boy had been so successful and had made so much money that
+he decided on another trip. Not finding any party of men starting out, he
+got up an expedition of his own with a friend of his named David Phillips.
+The two youngsters bought an ox-team wagon and started out. They were
+after beaver, and when they were somewhere in the vicinity of Fort
+Leavenworth they struck a country full of beaver dams. Here they camped in
+a cave in the hillside which they fixed up for a permanent home. They
+stored the food they had brought and went to work setting their traps. At
+every hour of the day and night they were likely to run upon Indians, who
+never waited to parley, but killed whatever white men they saw as soon as
+they came upon them, scalping them and leaving them dead or dying wherever
+they might have fallen.
+
+These two boys, therefore, were constantly on the watch. Every bush, every
+tree, every rock, might conceal an Indian, and by practicing this
+instinct, just as a sailor on a ship will see a sail that anyone else
+might think was a cloud or a speck on the horizon, these boys of the
+plains could discover, in a range of many miles over plain or rolling
+country, the slightest thing that was unusual or unexplainable. A little
+spot of color in a tree or bush that was not exactly the color of a winter
+leaf would mean to them an ambuscade of Indians. The slightest impression
+in the earth which was different from impressions left there by nature
+meant the trail of a party of Indians. Every instant while they were
+moving along in the day or night their eyes were roaming over the country
+round about to pick out any one of these tiny but unusual signs.
+
+The boys had been attending to their work of trapping for many days
+without seeing any unusual sign. One night they came to their camp and had
+eaten supper, when their oxen began to bellow and leap about. The boys
+grabbed their rifles, ran to the corral, and discovered that a bear was in
+the vicinity. Phillips fired first and wounded the animal. But that only
+made him the more savage. The boy just managed to leap out of the bear's
+way when Bill fired into his mouth and killed him. But it was a close
+call, as the dead beast fell actually on the body of Phillips. It was a
+case of having saved the boy's life, and the chance of returning the favor
+came only too soon.
+
+It was the next day, when Bill Cody slipped and broke his leg. The other
+boy carried him back to the camp, made splints, bound up his leg, and
+stopped the bleeding; and then the two sat down to decide what should be
+done. The nearest settlement was a hundred miles away. It was absolutely
+impossible for Cody to walk that distance. His friend could not carry him,
+and in the fright which the bear had given the two oxen one had killed
+itself, and the other had become so maimed that it had to be shot. What
+the youngsters were to do they did not know. No one was nearer than a
+hundred miles, and there was no way of getting a boy with a broken leg
+that distance. Yet it was a case of starving to death or of doing
+something at once. Therefore the two trappers, hardly fourteen years old,
+decided that Phillips should start at once and walk the hundred miles for
+assistance.
+
+To go and come back would take him twenty days at least. That meant twenty
+days lying in a cave for Bill, without his having the power even to get up
+and go outside. Yet there was nothing else to do, and the good nerve of
+the two boys was sufficient for the occasion.
+
+Phillips made Cody as comfortable as he could and put all the food they
+had near him. They figured out just how much he was to eat each day in
+order to hold out until assistance should be brought, and then shaking
+hands, Phillips left him.
+
+The poor boy felt too lonely and heartbroken to eat much of anything in
+the first day or two. He counted the days as they passed by cutting a
+notch in a stick of wood each day. Gradually his leg healed, and in the
+course of two weeks he could move about a little. That alone relieved the
+pressure of loneliness, for hobbling to the mouth of the cave and looking
+outside was a very different thing from lying perfectly still in one
+position day after day. He tried to use up some of the time by studying
+the school books which his mother had asked him to take with him, and it
+was in the midst of one of these attempts to pass away the hours by
+reading over again what he had already read a dozen times, that he looked
+up and saw an Indian in war paint standing inside the cave gazing at him.
+
+[Illustration: HE LOOKED UP AND SAW INDIANS IN WAR PAINT STANDING INSIDE
+THE CAVE, GAZING AT HIM.]
+
+In a moment a dozen or more warriors had followed the first. The boy
+thought his last day had come, for the delay that had occurred already
+was a longer time than the Indians usually gave any white man to live if
+they were in a position to put him out of existence. The chief in his
+guttural tones, without changing his expression at all, said:
+
+"How?"
+
+Bill said: "How?" and then they looked at one another, the boy's mind
+flying along all the possible schemes which an expert frontiersman could
+think of to prolong a discussion that might possibly save his life. As he
+was thinking, gazing thus at the Indians one after another, he suddenly
+recognized one of them who was a chief named Rain-in-the-Face, an Indian
+whom he had once befriended in a way that the red man appreciates.
+
+It seems that once, some time before, Bill had found the man in difficulty
+and had given him something to eat and a blanket to sleep in. Instantly
+the boy's mind, well aware of the peculiar kind of gratitude Indians feel,
+began to work upon this. First he showed his leg and the bandages and
+told the story of his mishap, gaining as much time as he could in that
+way. Then suddenly he turned to Rain-in-the-Face and reminded him of how
+once their positions had been exactly reversed and how he had helped the
+Indian to get what he most needed. Rain-in-the-Face remembered the episode
+perfectly, and after a consultation he told Cody that although he and his
+friends were out in search of scalps, they would not molest him, but that
+that was the limit of their kindness.
+
+The Indians ransacked the cave, took everything that was of value from it,
+leaving only a small amount of food. And yet after they were gone the boy
+was so thankful for the chance that had thrown this one Indian in his way
+and had saved his life that he could not even complain of the starvation
+which stared him in the face. He took what little food was left and
+divided it up, allowing ten days beyond the twenty for the return of
+Phillips, and kept strictly to the portion each day that would keep him in
+some sort of food until the thirty days were up.
+
+A day or two after the episode of the Indians a heavy snowstorm set in,
+and lasted for so long that when it finally ceased the mouth of the cave
+was entirely covered with snow. That seemed almost the last straw, for
+little or no light came into the cave, the cold was intense, and the boy
+was unable to go out. Hour by hour, day in and day out, he sat there,
+unable to read any more and without any appetite for the little food he
+could allow himself.
+
+Three weeks passed--one day over the time in which Phillips might have
+returned. The little fellow's mind almost gave way from the strain that
+was put on him as he sat there with night following day, and no
+change--only expectancy.
+
+Twenty-eight days passed. He had but a day or so more of food. If help did
+not come within the next three days at the most, he would starve to death.
+To add to his misery, most of the wood that had been left was used up.
+
+So the boy sat on the twenty-ninth day, huddled over the little flame that
+he could spare himself, hardly realizing now the passage of time, when he
+suddenly heard his name called. It seemed to him that he must be dreaming.
+He sat perfectly still listening, unable even to make a reply, and then
+the name rang out again and was repeated time after time. With all the
+strength he had left he answered the call, and it was his answering cry
+that enabled Phillips and the relief party to find the cave and begin
+digging through the snow.
+
+When the two boys came together Bill Cody's nerves gave way and he was
+carried out more dead than alive. But he was alive and bound to have many
+more of these hairbreadth escapes that make perhaps as extraordinary a
+record as could be told of any man who has ever lived.
+
+These adventures, which read to-day as if they came out of a wild, unreal
+story of adventure, happening as they did in the life of this boy not yet
+fifteen years old, prepared the way for a youth and early manhood of such
+extraordinary usefulness to the plains that Cody by the time the Civil War
+came was one of the most expert frontiersmen, guides, and scouts that
+existed in the United States. And yet in 1860 he was but fifteen years
+old, too young, in other words, to go to college to-day, younger than most
+boys now when they get their first shotgun or rifle.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE PONY EXPRESS RIDER
+
+
+At the time when the Civil War broke out Cody was too young to enlist. No
+regiment would take him, and besides, his mother, who was in feeble health
+and who had all the family to look out for, begged and prayed him to stay
+at home, as she said it was more important for him, the man of the family,
+to watch over them than to put his services at his country's disposal. The
+boy wanted to go. It was a natural contingency for a young man brought up
+as he had been brought up. Yet he gave up his ambition for his mother.
+Bill promised his mother that he would never go to war as long as she was
+alive, but that as he must do something to earn money, he had to go to
+work at once. His chance came with an opportunity to join a group of men
+who will be read about as long as there is any history of the United
+States. Their work only lasted a few years, but it was so extraordinary,
+so exciting, so near to the ideal of a life of adventure, that it stands
+out more important than many an era in this country's history which had
+greater results and extended over a longer time.
+
+The firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, who have already been mentioned,
+increased in importance because they were the only men who carried out on
+a large scale successfully the business of transporting freight across the
+desert and the mountains to California. But as California grew--and it
+grew very fast in a few years--there came a demand for a speedier method
+of communication between the Western frontier in the East and the Eastern
+frontier in the West. Those two thousand miles of waste land consumed a
+month or more when transportation was by means of bull trains. It did not
+matter very much with freight, but in the transportation of money, of
+letters, of business arrangements that time grew to be too long for
+advancing civilization.
+
+The great freight transporters, therefore, conceived the idea of getting
+up a scheme for carrying a few letters at a much faster rate from St.
+Joseph to San Francisco by means of a single horseman riding a pony at
+full speed. Their idea was that a man should mount a swift pony, well
+tried for his endurance before starting; that this man should ride fifteen
+miles straight out into the desert, and that at the end of the fifteen
+miles there should be a station, a house with a couple of men in it, who
+would have another pony ready. The horseman was to ride up to this shanty,
+jump to the ground with his bag of letters, immediately jump on the fresh
+pony, and rush along another fifteen miles to a similar station. Some of
+these stations were in settlements, some were in towns, but most of them
+were on the bleak prairies or in the hills of the Rocky Mountains. The
+trail was the same as that used by the freight bull trains. The bull-train
+stations were of course used, but it was necessary to increase the number
+of stations. Some of the divisions were longer than others. But the
+average was a distance of forty-five miles; that is, the man who rode one
+of these divisions of the two thousand miles, rode fifteen miles on one
+pony, fifteen miles on the second, and fifteen miles on the third. Then he
+began his return trip of forty-five miles. The longest division was two
+hundred and fifty miles.
+
+Sometimes the country was open and moderately easy for riding. Sometimes
+it was up rocky gulches or through forests where the riding was hard. It
+required in the men the hardest kind of physique and endurance, in the
+ponies surefootedness as well as swiftness. Sometimes in order to keep up
+the schedule the men were obliged to cover twenty-five miles in an hour on
+flat country, in order to make up for slower going in the hills. They
+received about one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month, which was very
+high pay. But that gave the promoters of the scheme their choice among the
+best men of the frontier.
+
+The letters were carried in mail pouches or bags that hung over the
+saddle, and no rider was allowed to carry more than twenty pounds. In
+order to get as much mail within the twenty pounds as possible letters
+were written on tissue paper. Whatever money was carried was in paper, and
+one Eastern newspaper printed a special edition on tissue paper for use
+only on this famous Pony Express. So in the twenty pounds there were
+hundreds of letters. In fact, the paper was so thin that even a hundred
+letters would not occupy a space larger than that occupied by an ordinary
+monthly magazine to-day. The mail pouches were waterproof, and once locked
+at St. Joseph, Missouri, they were not opened until they were delivered in
+Sacramento, California, two thousand miles away.
+
+It seems almost incredible, but that distance was covered in a time that
+was extraordinarily short for those days, when one remembers that the
+whole journey was made by running ponies. It was an exciting time when the
+first pony was ready and saddled at the offices of Russell, Majors &
+Waddell, in St. Joseph. A large crowd gathered long before the appointed
+time for starting, and when the pony was brought forth he was greeted with
+cheers. At the exact moment a frontiersman came out of the office, threw
+the pouch over the saddle, leaped on the pony, and started off at the top
+speed the pony was capable of, followed by the cries and cheers of the
+crowd. This first trip was started on the 3d of April, 1860. That journey,
+where the mail bags were thrown across the ponies and carried by a number
+of riders, took ten days to do the two thousand miles. It was an average
+of two hundred miles a day, or between eight and nine miles an hour for
+every hour of the twenty-four for ten days, including all stops and all
+delays. But in a short time the average trip was made regularly in nine
+days, and the fastest trip was made when President Lincoln's inaugural
+address was carried over the two thousand miles in seven days and
+seventeen hours.
+
+When Cody was looking for work he conceived the idea of enlisting as one
+of the Pony Express riders, and he went to the office of the company and
+asked if he could not be one of the riders. They told him that he was too
+young, as he was then only a little over fourteen. But he insisted he
+could do it, and finally they gave him the shortest trip, a ride of
+thirty-five miles with three changes of ponies.
+
+When the time came for him to be ready for the first trip the boy was
+outside of his station with his pony ready, looking across the prairie for
+the rider who was to bring the mail pouches from the next station. Close
+upon time the man appeared. Drawing up to the station he jumped off, threw
+the bag to Cody, who in turn leaped into his saddle with it and started on
+his fifteen miles. He reached his first station on time, dismounted, and
+mounted a fresh pony which was standing ready, and started on the second
+relay. And so with the third, until he finished his thirty-five miles and
+threw the bag to the next man, who was waiting. And within an hour he was
+ready again for the rider coming from the direction of San Francisco. As
+soon as he had the mail he mounted a fresh pony and rode back over the
+same thirty-five miles.
+
+Thus the boy did seventy miles every day for three months. But endurance
+was not the only quality the rider must have. Through most of the whole
+route there was constant danger of a "hold up" either from Indians or
+from outlaws, who knew that the bag frequently contained money. He must be
+as alert and as good a frontiersman in the knowledge of Indian warfare as
+he was a good horseman. It was some time before the boy had any incident
+other than the ordinary episodes of the long ride. However, the time came.
+
+He was riding as fast as his pony could go through a ravine one day when
+there sprang out in front of him in the narrow track a man with his rifle
+at his shoulder. Young Cody knew enough to know that the man had what was
+called the "drop" on him. There was nothing to do but pull up and await
+events. It was a white man--a desperado of the plains. He told the boy
+that he meant him no harm, but that he wanted the money in the bag. Cody
+could do nothing but sit quietly on his pony. But always alert, always on
+the watch for every opportunity, in a situation that, young as he was, he
+had been in many times before, he kept a keen eye on the man while
+appearing to submit. The outlaw was careless enough to approach the pony
+from the front, and as he got within reach the young horseman by a trick
+that he had used many times before made the pony rear so suddenly that his
+fore foot struck the man in the head and knocked him senseless.
+
+Bill knew that somewhere in the vicinity the highwayman had a horse. He at
+once dismounted, bound the man hand and foot while he was insensible, and
+then began to hunt for the horse in the bushes. He found him a few rods
+away, and when he got back his opponent had come to. Unbinding his legs,
+Bill forced him to mount his own horse, and then strapped him on. Although
+the young Pony Expressman was late at the next station, the fact that he
+had brought in a robber and had saved his mail pouch was quite sufficient
+excuse for the delay of the mail that day.
+
+At the end of a few months the work proved too severe for him to continue,
+and he was laid off as supernumerary--that is, a man who could be called
+on to ride in any emergency. It was not long, however, before he made
+application for another job on the Pony Express. He went to Fort Laramie
+and looked up a man named Slade, who was agent of the line there. Slade
+told him he was too young, but on hearing his name he slapped him on the
+shoulder and said that he had heard of him before and that he would give
+him a job. This run was from Red Buttes to a place called Three Crossings,
+and the distance was seventy-six miles. The boy started running this route
+regularly each day, and for a time had no unusual experience. One day,
+however, having made the run out of seventy-six miles, he found, when he
+arrived at his last station, that the man who was supposed to carry the
+bag to the next station, a distance of eighty-five miles, had been wounded
+by Indians. Bill offered to go on and carry the bag over that man's
+section, and as there was no one else to do it he was sent on. This second
+division covered a distance of one hundred and sixty-one miles. That made
+one continuous route of three hundred and twenty-two miles out and back
+without stopping. In that time he rode twenty-one ponies and made the
+longest trip ever made by a Pony Express rider.
+
+It was while on this route that one day he suddenly came upon a man who
+appeared from behind a large rock as Cody passed. There was no time for
+thought, and Bill immediately reached for his revolver, but upon seeing
+him the man dropped his rifle and came forward. He turned out to be a
+famous character of the plains named "California Joe," and on seeing the
+young boy he immediately asked him if he were not Bill Cody. Then the
+frontiersman told him that a little way back on the road he had what he
+called "a little misunderstandin' with two men, and now I has to plant
+'em."
+
+It was only a little later that, as Bill left one of the stations, the
+boss called to him to look out, there were reports of Indians in the
+vicinity. Cody said he would, and started away at breakneck pace. Here
+again, as many times before and after, the boy's instinctive knowledge and
+immediate perception of anything, no matter how small, that was unusual or
+unnatural on the plains saved his life. Always keeping a keen watch, he
+suddenly saw above the top of a pile of rocks something that he knew was
+not put there by nature. It was a little speck of color, and long before
+any average human being would have seen it at all he knew that it was a
+feather in the headdress of an Indian in war paint. He did not stop or
+turn. He kept on at his furious pace until he was within rifle shot. Then
+ducking behind his pony, he turned him instantly off the trail, and at the
+same moment a puff of smoke from behind the rock showed that his guess had
+been true. The bullet went where the rider should have been, but it missed
+by the swerve which he had caused the pony to make. Out sprang two
+warriors, and a party of Indians appeared from a little distance further
+away. And now it became a ride for life. As he approached the end of the
+valley, which narrowed into a point, he saw that some of the Indians on
+the slopes were riding down to cut off his track. He watched his
+opportunity, and luckily for him those Indians had no rifles. He saw them
+fit the arrows to their bows, waited for the right moment, and just before
+the leading Indian fired his arrow the boy shot him with his revolver.
+When he reached the next station he found that his pony had two arrows
+sticking in its flesh.
+
+At this time the Pony Express had to be stopped for some time on account
+of the number of Indians who were lying in wait all along the trails to
+capture the riders, and so the boy was once more out of a job.
+
+He became a supernumerary again, and as there were days in which he had
+nothing to do, he was in the habit of going out hunting, selling the skins
+of the animals he shot. On one of these trips he came upon a group of
+horses tied near a stream, and hearing voices in a dugout cave near by, he
+went to investigate. It turned out that the men were a group of prairie
+ruffians. They supposed him to be an advance scout in search of
+themselves, and for a few moments there was a quick play of wit against
+wit.
+
+They asked him where he came from. He pointed backward. They asked where
+his horse was. He said it was down by the stream. They asked him to go and
+get it and join them. He said he would, volunteering, with the keenness of
+men whose lives are always at stake, to leave his gun with them. That
+allayed suspicion for the moment, but they even went so far as to send two
+of their number with him. The boy, as they reached the horse, carelessly
+said that he had shot some game and would pick it up, in the meantime
+asking the men to lead his horse on ahead. Then turning behind the second
+man, he struck him a blow with his revolver and shot the other. Mounting
+his pony, Cody then dashed down the ravine. In a moment the whole party
+were after him. It was certain that he would soon be overtaken, as his own
+pony was tired and theirs were fresh. Bill turned the corner of some rocks
+and, dismounting, gave the pony a slap and sent him tearing down the
+ravine, while he himself hid in the bushes and watched the whole party
+tear by in the pursuit of the riderless horse. He then calmly walked back
+to the station at Horseshoe and told of the adventure. Such experiences as
+this followed one after another, until in 1863, with the Civil War in full
+progress, Cody, then seventeen years old, received word that his mother
+was dying. He went immediately to their home, and arrived in time to see
+his mother before she died.
+
+It was a sad household that gathered together after the burial, and when
+the children talked over what they should do, they were astonished to hear
+that Cody had made up his mind to enlist at once in the Northern army. He
+had kept his word with his mother and had not become a soldier as long as
+she lived; but now that she was dead and the family homestead out of debt,
+he was free from all promises.
+
+He at once enlisted, and his regiment was soon ordered to the front, but
+the young man was so able as a scout that he soon came to be used on
+special duty. Then, too, his fame as a plainsman was well known, and it
+reached military headquarters long before he himself arrived. He was at
+once selected, therefore, as a bearer of military dispatches at Fort
+Larned, and one of his first escapades took place soon after he was put
+upon this work. Some of the Southerners bore a grudge against him that
+dated back to the time when he had saved his father from them. These
+men--now on the Southern side--heard of his journey and laid in ambush by
+a stream in a gulch where it was necessary for him to cross on account of
+the ford. They hid their horses in a clump of trees and went to a cabin
+near the ford to wait for his arrival. Darkness came on before he reached
+the spot, and as by this time the young man had acquired the habit of
+absolutely observing everything at all times about him, he soon discovered
+the fresh tracks of horses. Without any other object than the natural
+instinct to find the reason for everything that presented itself, he
+quietly dismounted, followed the trail, and found the five horses. It was
+evident that there were five men near by watching for him.
+
+The only thing to do was to ride on as quietly as possible and try to make
+the ford. He was in the act of entering the water when he heard their
+cries, and, urging his horse into the stream, he turned in his saddle, and
+before any of the five could pull a trigger he had shot one of them. Still
+he spurred the horse on, turned again and shot another. But the others
+were firing now, and so Cody fell forward across his horse and was lucky
+enough to make the other side of the stream. There he was safe, because
+the other three were not mounted.
+
+When the scout returned with answers to the dispatches he became very wary
+as he approached the ford. There were no signs, however, of an attacking
+party, and, coming up to the shanty, he found one of the men whom he had
+shot dying there alone. The man had been left by his pals with enough food
+to last him until he should die, and Bill discovered that he was a man
+whom he had known from his earliest boyhood, and who had been a supposed
+friend of his father. As the man was near his end, the boy gave him water
+and sat by him until he died. He then returned to Fort Larned.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+"BILL CODY, THE SCOUT"
+
+
+With his entrance into the United States army "Bill Cody," as he had come
+to be known, arrived at man's estate, although he was scarcely eighteen
+years of age. He was known not only all over the West, but every army
+headquarters knew of the skillful frontiersman, and even at that early
+date most boys of the United States had read some part of his life in the
+newspapers.
+
+Now his work became that of a man, and he had plenty of narrow escapes
+during the war, which in their way were as remarkable as his experiences
+on the plains. For example, once General Smith, who was in charge of
+headquarters at Memphis, got hold of him and told him that he wished to
+get some information and have some maps drawn of the position of the
+Confederate troops; and that it was impossible to secure this unless he
+could find a man who would go into the Confederate camp in disguise. Cody
+immediately consented to go. It did not seem any more dangerous or any
+less honorable than carrying out the regular life of a scout and Indian
+hunter of the plains.
+
+Just before the trip he had captured a man whom he knew, but who sided
+with the Southerners--a man named Nat Golden, who had been one of Russell,
+Majors & Waddell's freightmen. On this man he found some dispatches, which
+he promptly read. Golden was such an old friend that Cody took the papers
+from him, and when the man was arrested, nothing being found on him to
+make him a spy, he was simply imprisoned. Bill never told. With these
+papers in his possession and dressed in the Confederate uniform, the spy
+entered the Confederate lines, after telling General Smith what was in the
+dispatches.
+
+He was, of course, immediately halted by the pickets, to whom he stated
+that he was a Confederate soldier with information for the general. After
+being disarmed he was taken to General Forrest, and a conversation then
+took place in which Cody told Forest that Golden had been captured, and
+that as he was being taken prisoner he had handed Cody the dispatches,
+asking him to take them to General Forrest. The story seemed so plausible
+that the General allowed him to stay in camp. And for two days he kept his
+eyes open, drew plans, and was ready to leave, when he came near losing
+his presence of mind, as well as his life, by discovering General Forrest
+talking with Golden himself, who had escaped from the Union lines. He knew
+that there was no time for delay. Golden, having no idea that Cody was in
+the Confederate lines, would tell Forrest the whole story as it actually
+happened, and the General would at once have him arrested. He went,
+therefore, apparently in great calmness, to his tent, got his horse
+saddled, and rode quietly toward the picket line. No one suspected that
+anything was the matter. No one paid any attention to him. As he got to
+the picket the sergeant spoke to him, recognized him, and allowed him to
+pass.
+
+He was outside the lines--in fact, he was between the Union and the
+Confederate lines--when he heard the sound of a squad of cavalry
+approaching. Then he put his horse to the run and in a moment discovered
+that a troop of Confederate cavalry was approaching from behind to meet a
+troop of Union cavalry approaching from the front. The one thought a spy
+was escaping; the other thought that a deserter or a spy was approaching.
+It was a hard situation. Fortunately, he got into some timber, and as he
+came out on the other side he discovered the Union lines. But it was not
+safe for him to approach in Confederate uniform, and so, with the
+knowledge that the Confederate cavalry was looking for him in the woods,
+Cody calmly dismounted at the spot where he had left his uniform, changed
+his clothes, and was able to lay his maps and report before General Smith
+within forty-eight hours from the time he had left.
+
+After some further experiences with the force at the front, Cody was
+assigned to duty at St. Louis. Office work palled on him, however, and he
+soon procured his release, as the war was practically over. He then
+returned to Fort Leavenworth and looked again for a job. This time it
+turned out to be the work of driving the famous overland stage which ran
+from St. Joseph to Sacramento, doing the two thousand miles in nineteen
+days on the average. This stage was another of the enterprises of the
+great firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell. It was a difficult enterprise,
+too. The stage frequently carried large sums of money, and was therefore
+frequently held up by desperadoes or Indians.
+
+No one seemed very anxious to undertake the work of driver, although it
+was well paid. And the now famous Indian scout saw his opportunity again
+of making relatively large sums of money by taking risks that few others
+would take. He was at once offered the opportunity on his application, and
+started driving the coach for what was called a division--that is, two
+hundred and fifty miles.
+
+Those were strange old coaches. One of them may be seen to-day by any boy
+who will go to Buffalo Bill's famous Wild West Show and watch the old
+Deadwood coach drive around the ring. They were large-wheeled wagons swung
+on braces. They had to be strong, for they went over the most frightful
+roads one can imagine. Passengers could ride inside or on top, and every
+one who traveled went as fully armed as he could. There never was a time
+in the night or day when the coach was not apt to be attacked. And if it
+were attacked, the man on the box was the first one shot. Cody's run was
+from Fort Kearny to Plum Creek, and he drove six horses. When he took hold
+of the job he was warned that Indians were all about, and rumors came
+thicker and thicker in the first month of his driving.
+
+Nothing happened, however, with the exception of one trip, where he saved
+the coach and the lives of all in it by a daring rush through a stream in
+the face of a party of Indians. But shortly after this he was told by the
+division superintendent, as he left Fort Kearny, that in the coach was a
+very large amount of money being sent in a box to Plum Creek. It was a
+question whether the existence of this treasure had become known or not.
+At any rate, Cody said he would be on the watch. First, before mounting on
+the box, he looked over the passengers--and here again was the same habit
+of looking at everything and everybody that might have any relation to the
+situation. He did not like the looks of two of the passengers, and as the
+conductor, who always traveled with the driver on the trip, was suddenly
+prevented from going, his suspicions became keener.
+
+Again the keen boy decided that the thing to do was to take time by the
+forelock. He had proceeded only a part of the distance after all but the
+two passengers had left when he pulled up the coach and got down as if to
+examine the running gear. Then he asked the two men to help him. As they
+started to come out of the coach Cody pointed two revolvers at them and
+held them up in the most approved fashion. He made them throw out their
+revolvers, then bound them and put them back in the coach.
+
+Something that one of the men had said made him think that they were part
+of a gang, the other members of which were somewhere in ambush along the
+trail. On reaching the first relay station he deposited his prisoners with
+the agent and then started on.
+
+There were no other passengers. He had no sooner gotten away from the
+station than, stopping again, he cut open one of the cushions of the
+coach, and taking the money from the box, put it inside the cushions and
+then patched up the opening. After that he remounted the box and rode on.
+
+Within an hour, while driving through a bit of timber, the expected
+happened. The coach was held up by half a dozen men. They started to look
+for the treasure. Cody told them a long story of two men who had been
+riding as passengers, who had held him up in a lonely spot, taken the
+treasure, and disappeared into the timber. The gang immediately recognized
+their confederates, and in a fury at being thus deceived, they waited only
+long enough to ask him if they were mounted. On receiving an answer that
+they were not and also a description of the direction they had taken, the
+highwaymen left him in peace and rode in hot haste after their
+confederates.
+
+And the driver of the overland stage finished his journey and deposited
+the treasure into the hands that it was intended for.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE INDIAN CAMPAIGNS WITH THE ARMY
+
+
+Anyone who will read the history of the United States after the Civil War
+will come upon a long series of campaigns of the United States army in the
+West against the American Indians. These Indians, as has already been
+said, constantly being more and more confined, had now only the great
+American desert and the Rocky Mountains to live upon. They existed there
+in enormous numbers. They hunted the almost limitless herds of buffalo and
+deer. They fought, whenever opportunity offered, whatever white men came
+upon them. The attempt of the government was to give the Indians certain
+territories on which they could live in different parts of that country.
+These territories were called Indian reservations, and some of them still
+exist; but at that time--that is, between 1870 and 1880--the Indians were
+still in their native wild civilization, and declined to be limited to
+these reservations.
+
+They had no desire to become farmers. They wanted to roam over the plains,
+and hunt, and fish, and live as they were born to live. They could not be
+made like white men. And hence the result was a series of campaigns which
+gradually exterminated most of them and killed the spirit of the others.
+One of these campaigns was the famous fight of General Custer, whose
+command was practically annihilated in the famous battle of Little Big
+Horn. Here again the qualities of Cody came into great demand. He was one
+of the greatest scouts in these Indian campaigns. His experiences, his
+fights, would number into the hundreds in a short decade. General
+Sheridan, who was put in command of the troops to quell the Indian
+uprising, made him the chief of his scouts, and during these years he was
+constantly at work leading the American troops against the Indians.
+
+Some time before he had acquired the name which now every boy in this
+country and almost every boy in the civilized world knows him
+by--"Buffalo Bill"--and the story of how this name was given to him is
+well worth the telling.
+
+Cody had always been a great shot--not only an accurate, but a wonderfully
+quick shooter. This skill and quickness had saved his life many times.
+When he was not at work at some specific duty he would hunt buffaloes,
+riding forth over the plains on a horse he had trained to hunt. As a herd
+of buffaloes--and there were hundreds of them--was seen approaching some
+camp where Cody was, he would mount his horse, throw the reins on his
+neck, and sit quietly while the animal ran diagonally toward the herd at
+full speed, selected of his own will the last of the herd, and worked with
+all his keen, nervous ability until he brought his rider close alongside
+the shaggy animal. There is but one spot that is very vulnerable in a
+buffalo. You may shoot a dozen times and hardly wound him, but if one shot
+reaches the vital spot, the animal drops dead in his tracks. Again and
+again the men of the plains have seen Cody start out on his horse and
+within a few minutes from the firing of the first shot drop ten or a dozen
+of the wild beasts of the prairie.
+
+The story of how the name of Buffalo Bill came to be given to him by
+common consent is this: There was a man named William Comstock who had
+been called by his friends "Buffalo Bill" because he was such a successful
+buffalo hunter. When he heard that Cody was being called "Buffalo Bill"
+too, he disputed his right to that title. Cody heard of it, and told some
+of the officers of the army post that if there was any dispute, he for one
+was willing to settle it by an actual contest in buffalo killing. Comstock
+was as game as Cody, and accepted the challenge. And so the plainsmen
+arranged the contest.
+
+They settled upon a huge tract of prairie near Sheridan, Kansas, and when
+the appointed day arrived everybody who could reach the spot came to
+witness the contest. Officers, soldiers, railroadmen, scouts, pioneers,
+and all the inhabitants of that country gathered in a large crowd. Judges
+were appointed and the two claimants to the title were on hand. It was an
+easy matter in those days and in that place to find a herd of buffaloes,
+so that within an hour after the start they had sighted a herd and started
+for the hunt.
+
+As soon as the herd was sighted the two men separated, each working on his
+own account and getting all the buffaloes he could. Cody killed
+thirty-eight, to twenty-three for Comstock, and the sight of sixty-one
+buffaloes lying dead upon the plain must have been a wonderful one.
+
+Then they had a gala lunch, and in the afternoon started again. And then
+the final crowning feat was apparent. In the second contest Cody, in order
+to leave no doubt of the matter, rode his horse without either saddle or
+bridle, and even then he killed eighteen to the other's fourteen. From
+that time on to this day no one has questioned his right to the title of
+"Buffalo Bill."
+
+It would be impossible here to go into the many episodes that occurred
+while Bill, under the title of Colonel William F. Cody, was chief of the
+United States Army Scouts. It is only possible to say that in that
+capacity he not only made it possible for the United States army to
+accomplish a work impossible without scouts who had been brought up in
+that kind of fight, but it is safe to say that if General Custer had had
+him with him, the frightful massacre of Little Big Horn would never have
+occurred. But in all that time Buffalo Bill was at work upon his chosen
+profession, with the exception of a short time when, against his will, he
+was made a justice of the peace.
+
+There is an interesting and amusing episode told of his short legal career
+that is worth mentioning briefly here. Shortly after his appointment,
+which was made because of the necessity of having a justice of the peace
+at hand in the army post, a couple came to him to be married. He was very
+much disturbed and embarrassed, scarcely knowing what to do, but he got
+along all right until the end of the service, and then, to the amazement
+of the assembled party, he ended all by saying:
+
+"Whom God and Buffalo Bill hath joined together, let no man put asunder."
+
+In the midst of these years of scouting in the Indian fights the great
+Western scout was always in difficulty as to the management of his
+financial affairs. He always has said that he was not born a business man.
+When he had money he spent it like a gentleman, no matter how much it was.
+Once when he was not busy in Indian campaigning he conceived the idea of
+representing on the stage certain phases of life on the plains in order to
+make some money. The first venture took place in Rochester, New York. In
+order to make the show as realistic as possible, he himself and two other
+scouts were put into a play written especially for them, and the
+descriptions of the first performance make an episode in Buffalo Bill's
+life that must have been as amusing and as extraordinary as the episodes
+of his life on the plains were exciting and dangerous. The three were
+stagestruck from the time the curtain went up, and all of them forgot
+their lines. But Buffalo Bill, finding that nothing was going to happen
+and realizing that the audience were sitting in their seats expecting
+something to happen, answered the questions put to him by the manager and
+told a story. That poor manager must have had a bad quarter of an hour.
+He was also taking part in the piece, and was utterly at a loss what to
+say or do. Bill told a story of one of his experiences on the plains in
+his own language. This proving to meet with the approval of the audience,
+the manager continued asking questions, drawing forth story after story,
+so that when the play ended the audience felt full of enthusiasm for the
+extraordinary show, which in reality did not contain one single line of
+the original drama.
+
+The scheme was not successful, however, and some years later Buffalo Bill
+got together some friendly Indian chiefs and some frontiersmen and
+constructed a simple play of the plains which was an immense success. At
+different times for five years this play--"The Scout of the Plains"--was
+played in nearly every city of any size in the United States. Frequently
+it would be having a run in some town when word would come from a
+commanding officer at a Western army post that the Indians were on the
+warpath again. Then the play would be closed, and the scouts, with their
+chief at their head, would hasten to the plains and begin again their
+real warfare, returning to the sham fights of the play when the real ones
+were over.
+
+And it was this remarkable success in representing to people in Eastern
+cities the actual life on the plains that gave Colonel Cody the courage to
+carry out an idea which had been in his mind for many years--that is, of
+putting before people a true representation of the different phases of the
+life in that immense country, thousands of miles in length and width,
+which existed between 1840 and 1870, and which has now gone forever.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+BUFFALO BILL AND HIS SHOW
+
+
+There is only a word to be said of Buffalo Bill's "Wild West," because the
+space at our command does not make it possible to tell the whole story in
+detail. The enterprise is now one of huge proportions, but it started much
+smaller. The reason for its enormous popularity and increase is that it is
+almost unique among plays or shows of every kind. For it gives to the
+audience a real picture, with real characters, of a most exciting period
+of civilization in this country that never has existed anywhere else, and
+that never will exist again. The Indians that have mock fights in Buffalo
+Bill's arena to-day are absolutely the same men who used to track him and
+try to kill him in the Indian campaigns twenty or thirty years ago. The
+Deadwood coach that is attacked in the arena by Indians with the shooting
+of guns is the same coach that used to run across the plains and that has
+time and time again been attacked in the same way, but with very different
+intent. The cowboys and frontiersmen who ride are the same men who used to
+live on the plains and herd cattle, and the ponies they ride are the
+bucking bronchos of the West.
+
+There have often been doubts expressed as to the reality of some of this.
+One instance is enough to show the contrary. When the great Wild West Show
+went to Europe and traveled about in the ancient cities of Italy, they
+came finally to Rome and gave their daily exhibition there. In one of the
+boxes sat an Italian nobleman, the Prince of Sermonetta, who made the
+statement to his friends that he doubted whether the broncho busters--the
+men who ride the bucking bronchos--were really as good riders as they
+seemed. He thought the ponies were trained to buck.
+
+This came to the ears of Buffalo Bill, and he answered it in his usual
+polite but sturdy fashion. Then the nobleman met him and told him that he
+had some wild horses on his estate in the country that had never been
+ridden and could not be controlled except in a mass. Buffalo Bill at once
+said that if he would have the horses brought to his arena some afternoon
+during the show he would like to have his men make a try at riding them.
+Nothing pleased the nobleman more, and of course the experiment was
+advertised all over Italy.
+
+On the appointed day the horses were brought on in cars. There was
+considerable difficulty and a good deal of excitement in getting them out
+of the cars and into the arena. As soon as they found themselves loose
+after being cooped up in such undignified fashion, they were wild indeed.
+The arena was cleared of everything except those furious beasts, and then
+half a dozen cowboys calmly walked in with their lariats to make the
+trial. It was probably the most interesting exhibition ever given by the
+Wild West Show. Quietly and warily the cow punchers threw their lassoes,
+wound them about the feet of the horses, threw them, and held them down.
+Then they saddled and bridled them, and then the riding began. The show
+was not materially delayed; the audience left and got home at the usual
+time; but before they had quitted the arena every one of the wild horses
+was ridden quietly and in dignified fashion around the ring and up in
+front of the nobleman's box, and it was reported that no one was more
+pleased than that same nobleman himself.
+
+There are many additional and interesting features to Buffalo Bill's show
+to-day, such as the Cossack riders, the San Juan battle, and the regiments
+of different European armies. But they do not add to the value of what
+will go down in history as "Buffalo Bill's Wild West." That is all true as
+gold. That is justly remarkable because of the real way in which it tells
+a real story, and if the boy of to-day who reads this would like to see
+what the Indians and the white men of the Western plains were in those
+days, how they fought, how they traveled, and how they lived, he may see
+it still by going to see the show. He will never see it anywhere else
+again.
+
+In ending this little sketch of a remarkable man it is worth telling an
+episode of the experience of these natives of the wilderness in the midst
+of the centuries-old cities of the Old World. Everywhere the company went
+in England, in Europe, the famous scout was entertained by royalty and
+entertained them in return. One day after they had opened in London the
+King, then the Prince of Wales, expressed a desire to see the show. A box
+was prepared and the royal party attended. The whole exhibition was so new
+and interesting that in a short time the Prince went again, and expressed
+a desire to ride around the ring in the Deadwood coach. Buffalo Bill was
+ready and called for five passengers. The five passengers who accepted
+were the Prince of Wales himself on the box beside Buffalo Bill, and four
+kings who happened to be visiting in England--the King of Denmark, the
+King of Saxony, the King of Greece, and the Crown Prince of Austria. As
+usual, the coach started. But this time the Indians who attacked and the
+cowboys who rescued the coach had been instructed to "do something a
+little extra," to give a little louder yells, to fire a few more shots.
+And it is no wonder if, as the rumor goes--though proof does not
+exist--that before the ride was over some of the four kings were under the
+seats. When the trip was finished and the Prince of Wales congratulated
+Buffalo Bill, he said to him:
+
+"Colonel, did you ever hold four kings like that before?"
+
+And Cody replied: "I have held four kings more than once. But, your Royal
+Highness, I never held four kings and a royal joker before."
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Buffalo Bill, by
+Col. William F. Cody
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