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"While I have been in the East I have
heard men say 'you ought to exterminate
the whole lot of them,' and I have
invariably replied, 'Did you ever take an
Indian by the hand and make him a
friend?' Of course they had not. Just
as after the civil war everyone but the
men who fought wanted to keep it up,
so now those who know nothing of
Indian war clamor most loudly for it. I
have fought Indians since I was a boy
and God knows I've killed many; but I
never sighted a rifle or put my knife in
one that I didn't have a feeling of pity for
them and regret at the act."
"How would it do to let each State
or territory take care of its own?" the
reported asked.
The scout turned a look of mild surprise
on his questioner as though he
thought to himself, "well you are green."
He answered:
"Why, if that had been done this last
time," referring to the Ute war, "there
would have been one of the most savage
massacres ever heard of. No that
wouldn't do."
Mr. Cody seemed to be of the impression
that a joint government of the
Indians by the Interior and War Departments
was the most sensible and most
likely to reult in a successful conversion
of the nomad into a farmer.
Speaking of his Histrionic career he said
that his appearances in the West were as
popular as in the East.
"I went into San Francisco," he said,
"and said I would play there five weeks
and everybody laughed at me. But I
did and made money where every one
else had been losing. Then I went
to the California theatre, that's the
Wallack's of 'Frisco, you know, and the
proprietor was angry becasue the manager
had made the contract. I played
there one week only because I wanted to
get home to my ranche. The first night
we took in $2,300 and the week brought
in over $9,000.
It was drawing near train time and the
famous frontiersman bad his guest
adieu with all the grace of aman bred in
city manners.