64

BUFFALO BILL.

His Attempted Assassination at Omaha
-Three Shots Fired at Him.

The following particulars of the attempted
assassination Hon. W. F. Cody, better
known as "Buffalo Bill," are gleaned
from The Omaha Republican of Wednesday:

In Council Bluffs, on Monday evening,
as Buffalo Bill and wife and two daughters
and Dr. Powell and his wife, were walking to
the Ogden house after the performance at
the theater, a horseman rode up within
two rods of the party and fired three shots
at Buffalo Bill, who, with his companions,
narrowly escaped being hit. The unkown
horseman then turned and rode off. The
mystery was investigeated as soon as possible,
and it was found that a short time
before the shooting a man named Benedict
applied at a livery stable for a saddle horse
and for some reason the hostler refused,
and when the desperado drew a revolver and
ordered him to saddle the best horse in the
barn, which of course was promptly done.
After the shooting he rode a short distance,
threw away the saddle and turned the
horse loose. Several men witnessed the
shooting and could easily identify the
would-be assassin, and among them was
Mr. Josh E. Ogden, Buffalo Bill's business
manager. The police were notified of the
affair, and commenced searching the town.
The finding of the horse and saddle was
evidence that the man had not left the
city. Mr. Ogden went to several hotels,
and it was afterward found that Benedict
had followed him, and at one place inquired
who the man was who was looking
after him. Finally Benedict turned
up at the Ogden house and asked Buffalo
Bill if he thought he was the man who did
the shooting. Mr. Cody identified him,
and he was taken by the police. When
searched a revolver was found on him,
with chambers empty, and is supposed to
be the weapon with which he did the
shooting.

Yesterday he was brought before the police
court and was again thoroughtly identified,
and was held on the charge of highway
robbery, as he forced the liveryman
to give him a horse and saddle.

Buffalo Bill, owing to his business engagements,
could not remain to prosecute
him on the charge of shooting with
intent to kill. The prisoner is thought to
be a Western man, and is either crazy or
was drunk or had some fancied grievance
against Buffalo Bill. The motive of his
action is as yet a mystery.

Buffalo Bill emphatically denies that it
was a put-up advertising job, as he does
not care to advertise in that way as long
as printer's ink is plenty.