2
BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST.
America's National Entertainment.
AN ILLUSTRATED TREATISE OF HISTORICAL FACTS AND SKETCHERS.
PUBLISHED BY BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST COMPANY
COL. W.F. CODY (BUFFALO BILL), PRESIDENT. JOHN M. BURKE,........ Genral Manager. ALBERT E. SUXIBLE,....... Business Representative. CARTER COUTERIER, ........ Advertising Agent. HARRY A. LEE, ............Excursion Agent.
NATE SALISBURY, VICE-PRESIDENT JULE KEEN,.......... Treasurer. LEW PARKER,.............. Contracting Agent. FRNAK RICHMOND,............. Orator. NATE SALISBURY,................. Director.
PROGRAMME OVERTURE.
1. GRAND PROCESSION REVIEW 2. ENTREE. Introduction of Individual Celelbrities, Groups, etc. 3. RACE between Cow-boy, Mexican, Indian on Ponies. 4. PONY EXPRESS. Illustrating the Mode of Conveying Malls on the Frontier. 5. RIFLE SHOOTING by Johnnie Baker, the Cow-boy Kid. 6. ILLUSTRATES AN ATTACK on an Emigrant Train by the Indians, and its Defence by Frontiersmen. After which A VIRGINIA REEL on Horseback by Western Girls and Cow-boys. 7. WING SHOOTING. 8. COW-BOYS' FUN. Throwing the Lariat, Picking Objects from the Ground while Riding at Full Speed. The Riding of Bucking Ponies and Mules by Cow-boys. 9. LILLIAN SMITH (The California Girl). Rifle Shooting. 10. LADIES' RACE by American Frontier Girls. 11. ATTACK ON THE DEADWOOD STAGE COACH, by Indians. Their Repulse by Scouts and Cow-boys, Commanded by BUFFALO BILL. 12. RACE between Sioux Indian Boys on Bareback Indian Ponies. 13. RACE between Mexican Throughbreds. 14. HORSEBACK RIDING by American Frontier Girls. A
3
Salutatory.
There is probably no field in modern American history more fascinating in the intensity of its interests than that which is presented on our rapidly-extending frontier. The pressure of the white man, the movement of the emigrant train, and the extension of our railways, together with the military power of the General Government, have, in a measure, broken down the barriers behind which the Indian fought and defied the advance of civilization; but the West, in many places, is still a scene of wildness, where the sternness of law is upheld at the pistol point, and the white savage and outlaw has become scarcely less dangerous than his red-skinned predecessor.
The story of our country, so far as it concerns life in the vast Rocky Mountain region and on the plains, has never been half told; and romance itself falls short of the reality when it attempts to depict the career of the little vanguard of pioneers, trappers, and scouts, who, moving always in front, have paved the way - frequently with their own bodies - for the safe approach of the masses behind. The names of "Old Bridger," "Kit Carson," "Buffalo White," "Wild Bill," "California Joe," "Texas Jack," "Buffalo Bill," Major North, and scores of other, have already become indentified with what seem to be strange legends and traditions, and yet the lives and labors of these men form a part of the development of the great West. Most of them have died fighting bravely, and all of them, in their way, have been men around whose exploits contemporaneous writers in and out of the army have thromn the halo of heroism. Our most distinguished officers have repeatedly borne tribute to their usefulness and valor, and to-day the adventures of the Army Scout constitute a theme of never-ending interest. Keen of eye, sturdy in build, inured to hardship, experienced in the knowledge of Indian habits and language, familiar with the hunt, and trustworthy in the hour extremest danger, they belong to a class that is rapidly disappearing from our country.
In the Eastern States, or even east of the Mississipi, the methods of these people are comparatively unknown, and it is for the purpose of introducing them to the public that this little pamphlet has been prepared. Hon. William F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill"), in conjunction with Mr. Nate Salsbury, the eminent American actor (a ranch owner), has organized a large combination that, in its several aspects, will illustrate life as it is witnessed on the plains; the Indian encampment; the cowboys and vaqueros; the herds of buffalo and elk; the lassoing of animals; the manner of robbing mail coaches; feats of agility, horsemanship, marksmanship, archery, and the kindred scences and events that are characteristic of the border. The most completely appointed delegation of frontiersmen and Indians that ever visited the East will take part in the entertainment, together with a large number of animals; and the performance. while in no wise partaking of the nature of a "circus," will be once new, startling, and instructive.
JOHN M. BURKE, General Manager.
North Platte, Neb, May 1, 1888.
(2)
4
Hon. W. F. Cody. ("BUFFALO BILL.")
Was born in Scott County, Iowa, from whence his father, Isaac Cody, emigrated a few years afterwards to the distant frontier territory of Kansas, settling near Fort Leavenworth. While still a boy his father was killed in what is now known as the "Border War," and his youth was passed amid all the excitements and turmoil incident to the strife and discord of that unsettled community, where the embers of political contentions smouldered until they burst into the burning flame of civil war. This state of affairs among the white occupants of teh territory, and the ingrained ferocity and hostility to encroachment from the native savage, created an atmosphere of adventure well calculated to educate one of his natural temperament to a familiarity with danger and self-reliance in the protective means for its avoidance.
From a child used to shooting and riding, he at an early age became a celebrated pony-express rider, then the most dangerous occupation on the plains. He was known as a boy to be most fearless and ready for any mission of danger, and respected by such men then engaged in the express services as Old Jule and the terrible Slade, whose correct finale is truthfully told in Mark Twain's "Roughing It." He accompanied General Albert Sidney Johnston on his Utah expedition, guided trains overland, hunted for a living, and gained his sobriquet by wrestling the laurels as a buffalo hunter from all claimants, - notably Comstock, in a contest with whom he killed sixty-nine buffalo in one day to Comstock's forty-six - became scout and guide for the now celebrated Firth Cavalry (of which Gneral E. A. Carr was major), and is thoroughly identified with that regiment's Western history; was chosen by the Kansas Pacific Railroad to supply meat to the laborers while building the road, in one season killing 4,862 buffaloes, besides deer and antelope; and was chief of scouts in the department that protected the building of the Union Pacific. In these various duties his encounters with the red men have been innumerable, and are well authenticated by army officers in every section of the country. In fact, wherever you meet an army officer there you meet an admirer of Buffalo Bill. He is, in fact, the representative man of the frontiersmen of the past - that is, not the bar-room brawler or bully of the settlements, but a genuine speciment of Western manhood - a child of the plains, who was raised there, and familiar with the country previous to railroads, and when it was known to our maps at the "Great American Desert." By the accident of birth and early association, a man who became sensibly inured to the hardships and dangers of primitive existence, and possessed of those qualities that afterward enabled him to hold positions of trust, and, without his knowing or intending it, made him nationally famous.
Gen. Richard Irving Dodge, Gen. Sherman's chief of staff, correctly states in his "Thirty Years Among Our Wild Indians": "The success of every expedition against Indians depends, to a degree, on the skill, fidelity, and intelligence of the men employed as scouts, for not only is the command habitually dependant on them for good routes and comfortable camps, but the officer in command must rely on them almost entirely for their knowledge of the position and movements of the enemy."
Therefore, besides mere personal bravery, a scout must possess the moral qualities associated with a good captain of a ship - full of self-reliance in his own ability to meet and voercome any unlooked-for difficulties, be a thorough student of nature, a self-taught weather-propher, a geologist by experience, an astronomer by necessity, a naturalist, and thoroughly educated in the warfare, stratagems, trickery, and skill of his implacable Indian foe. Because in handling expeditions or leading troops, on him alone depends correctness of destination, avoidance of dangers, protection against sudden storms, the finding of game, grass, woods, and water, the lack of which, of course, is more fatal than the deadly bullet. In fact, more lives have been lost on the plains from incompetent guides than ever the Sioux or Pawnees destroyed.
Our best Indian-fighting officers are quick to recognize these traits in those claiming frontier lore, and to no one in the military hisotyr of the West has such deference been shown by them as to W. F. Cody, as is witnessed by the continuous years of service he has passed, the different commands he has served, the expeditions and campaigns he has been identified with, his repeated holding, when he desired, the position of "Chief of Scouts of United States Army," and the intimate associations and contact resulting from it with Gen. W. T. Sherman (with whom he was at the making of the Comanche and Kiowa Treaty), Gen. Phil. Sheridan (who has often given him special recognition and chosen him to organize expeditions, notably that of the Duke Alexis), old Gen. Harney, Gens. W. S. Hancock, Crook, Pope, Miles, Ord, Augur, Terry, McKenzie, Carr, Forsythe, Merritt, Brisbin, Emory, Gibbon, Royal, Hazen, Duncan, Palmer, Pembroke, and the late lamented Gen. Custer. His history, in fact, would be almost a history of the middle West, and, though younger, equaling in term of service and in personal adventure Kit Carson, old Jim Bridger, California Joe, Wild Bill, and the rest of his dead-and-gone associates.
As another evidence of the confidence placed in his froniersmandship, it may suffice to mention the celebrities whose money and position most naturally sought the best protection the Western market could afford, and who chose to place their lives in his keeping: Sir George Gore, Earl Dunraven, James Gordon Bennett, Duke Alexis, Gen. Custer, Lawrence Jerome, Remington, Professor Ward of Rochester, Professor Marsh of Yale College, Major J. G. Hecksber, Dr. Kingsley (Canon Kingsley's brother), and others of equal rank and distinction. All books
(3)
5
of the plains, his exploits with Carr, Miles, and Crook, published in the New York Herald and Times in the summer of 1876, when he killed Yellow Hand in front of the military command in an open-handed fight, are too recent to refer to.
The following letter of his old commander and celebrated Indian-fighter, Gen. E. A. Carr, written years ago relative to him, is a tribute as generous as any brave man has ever made to one of his position:
"From his services with my command, steadily in the field, I am qualified to bear testimony to his qualities and character.
"He was very modest and unassuming. He is a natural gentleman in his manners as well as in character, and has none fo the roughness of the typical fronteirsman. He can take his own part when required, but I have never heard of his using a knife or a pistol, or engaging in a quarrel where it could be avoided. His personal strength and activity are very great, and his temper and disposition are so good that no one has reason to quarrel with him.
"His eyesight is better than a good field-glass; he is the best trailer I ever heard of, and also the best judge of the 'lay of country' - that is, he is able to tell what kind of country is ahead, so as to know how to act. He is a perfect judge of distance, and always ready to tell correctly how many miels it is to water, or to any place, or how many miles have been marched. * * * *
"Mr. Cody seemed never to tire and was always ready to go, in the darkest night, or the worst weather, and usually volunteered knowing what the emergency required. His trailing, when following Indians, or looking for stray animals or for game, is simply wonderful. He is a msot extraordinary hunter.
"In a fight Mr. Cody is never noisy, obstreperous, or excited. In fact, I never hardly noticed him in a fight, unless I happened to want him, or he had something to report, when he was always in the right place, and his information was always valuable and reliable.
"During the winter of 1866 we encountered hardships and exposure in terrific snowstorms, sleet, etc., etc. On one occassion that winter Mr. Cody showed his quality by quietly offering to go with some dispatches to Gen. Sheridan, across a dangerous region, where another principal scout was reluctant to risk himself.
"Mr. Cody has since served with me as post guide and scout at Fort McPherson, where he frequently distinguished himself. * * * *
"In the summer of 1876 Cody went with me to the Black Hills region, where he killed Yellow Hand. Afterwards he was with the Big Horn and Yellowstone expedition. I consider that his services to the country and the army by trailing, finding, and fighting Indians, and thus protecting the frontier settlers, and by guiding commands over the best and most pracicable routes, have been beyond the compensation he has recieved."
Thus it will be seen that, notwithstanding it may sometimes be thought his fame rests upon the pen of the roancer and novelist, had they never been attracted to him (and they were solely by his streling worth), W. F. Cody would none the less have been a character in American history. Having assisted in founding substantial peace in Nebraska, where he was honored by being elected to the legislature (while away on a hunt), he has settled at North Platte, to enjoy the fruits and minister to the wants and advancements of the domestic circle with which he is blessed. On the return to civil life of his old prairie friend, Major North, in rehearsing the old time years agone on the Platte, the Republican, and the Medicine, they concluded to reproduce some of the interesting scenes, on the plains and in the "Wild West."
The history of such a man, attractive as it already has been to the most distinguished officers and fighters in the United States Army, must prove doubly so to the men, women, and children who have heretofore found only in the novel the hero of rare exploits, on which imagination so loves to dwell. Young, sturdy, a remarkable specimen of manly beauty, with the brain to conceive and the nerve to execute, Buffalo Bill par excellence is the exemplar of the strong and unique traits that characterize a true American frontiersman.
Across the Continent with the Fifth Cavalry.
Captain George F. Price's history of this famous regiment recounts its experience from the time it was known as the Second Dragoons to the present, giving the historical record of its officers, among whom are numbered many of the most distinguished military leaders known in our national annals, such as Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston. Gen. George H. Thomas, Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gen. John Sedgwick, Generals Hardee, Emory, Van Dorn, Merritt, Carr, Royall, Custer, and others of equal note. Besides alluding in many of its pages to incidents, adventures, and conduct of the favorite guide and scout of the regiment, W. F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill"), Captain Price completes a narrative of brave men and daring deeds by "flood and field" with the following biographical sketch (page 583) of W. F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill."
(4)