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WASHINGTON, D.C., February 8, 1887. MR. CODY was cheif guide and hunter to my command, when I commanded the District of North Platte, and he performed all his duties with marked excellence. W. H. EMORY, Major-General, U. S. A. ------- Headquarters 7th Cavalry, FORT MEAD, Dakota Territoy, February 14, 1887. MY DEAR SIR, - Your army career on the frontier, and your present enterprise of depicting scenes in the Far West, are so enthusiastically approved and commended by the American people and the most prominent men of the U.S. Army, that there is nothing left for me to say. I feel sure your new departure will be a success. With best wishes, I remain, yours truly, JAMES W. FORSYTH, Col. 7th Cavalry. ------- HOTEL RICHMOND, Washintong, D. C., January 9, 1887. W. F. CODY (Buffalo Bill) was with me in the early days, when I commanded in Batalion of the 5th Cavalry, operating against the hostile Sioux. He filled every position and met every emergency with so much bravery, competence and intelligence as to command the general admiration and respect of the officers, and become Chief of Scouts of the Department. All his succuesses have been conducted on the most honorable principles. W. B. ROYALL, Colonel 4th Cavalry, U. S. A.
------- [IMAGE] "BUFFALO BILL'S" home and horse ranch on the old fighting ground of the Pawnee and Sioux. -------
HEADQUARTERS 1ST CAVALRY, FORT CUSTER, M. T. I often recall your valuable service to the Goverment, as well as to myself, in years long gone by, especially during the Sioux difficulties you were attached to my command as Chief of Scouts. Your indomitable perseverance, incomprehensible instinct in discovering the trails of the Indians, particularly at night, no matter how dark or stormy, your physical powers of enduarance in following the enemy until overtaken, and your unflinching courage, as exhibited on all occasions, won not only my own esteem and admiration, but that of the whole command. With my best wishes for your success, I remain your old friend, N. A. M. DUDLEY, Colonel 1st Cavalry, Brevet Bridgadier-General, U.S.A. ------- TALLAHASEE, FLA., January 12, 1887. Hon. William F. Cody, - I take great pleasure in recommending you to the public as a man who has a high reputation in the army as a Scout. No one has ever shown more bravery on the Western plains than yourself. I wish you success in your proposed visit to Great Britain. Your obedient servant, JNO. H. KING, Brevet Major-General, U. S. A.
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[IMAGE.] LASSOING WILD HORSES ON THE PLATTE IN OLD DAYS. ------------------- LINES INSPIRED ON WITNESSING THE PRAIRIE CHIEF CARESSING HIS BABY DAUGHTER, LITTLE IRMA CODY.
Only a baby's fingers patting a brawny cheek. Only a laughing dimple in the chin so soft and sleek, Only a cooking babble, only a frightened tear, But it makes a man both brave and kind To have them ever near. The hand that seemed harsh and cruel, Nerved by a righteous hate
As it cleft the heart of the Yellow Hand, In revenge of Custer's fate, Has the tender touch of a woman, As rifle and knife laid by, He cones and tosses the baby, Darling "apple of his eye." - RICHMOND ------------------- MR. NATE SALSBURY, VICE-PRESIDENT AND MANAGER.
Born 1846, February 28th, in Freeport, Ill., the family being descendants of the early Vermont settlers ; went out with the first Illionois troops ; served through the entire Rebellion was the youngest enlisted soldier in the Army of the Cumberland ; wounded three times ; is a member of Post II, G. A. R., Department of Massachusets; went on the stage in 1968; has acted before every English-speaking public in the world.
The Amusement Department will be tinder the personal supervisioun of this eminent actor, whose successful career is now a matter of American Stage History. Years of continued success as a caterer to the amusement-loving public of this country, Australia, India and Europe, both as actor and manager, are a guarantee that the "Wild West" will be presented in a manner and style commensurate with his well-known managerial ability and artistic judgment. MR. SALSBURY long ago incested heavily in the cattle business in Montana, and is now part owner of one of the largest and most valuable ranches in the Northwest. During his repeated visits to the same he became impressed with the scenes and episodes witnessed, and thought of the feasibility of presenting them as far as practical to the citizens of the East.
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An interchange of opinions with COL. CODY disclosed a similar intention, so that to the fertile brains of MESSRS. CODY and SALSBURY we are indebted for the first conjuring-up of this novel project. They spoke of it years ago, and SALSBURY went to Europe to see if it would be advisable to take such a show on the Continent. Meanwhile, with MR. SALSBURY'S know ledge, "BUFFALO BILL" started the enter prise to see if it could be made successful in this country. Last year's experiences were proof that it could, and now all bands will join in getting up a "Wild West," shows that will be remarkable in all respects.
JOHNNIE BAKER--THE YOUN MARKSMAN.
Johnnie Baker was born at O'Fallon's Bluffs, on the banks of the South Platte River, in Western Nebraska, in the year 1870. His father is the well0known "Old Lew Baker, the ranchman," and was the owner of Lew Baker's O'Fallon's Bluff Ranch, in its day an important landmark. This place was one of the most noted on the great overland trail--the scenes, inci dents, Indian attacks, etc., belonging to exhaustive pages in the early history of that, in old times exposed and dangerous section. Here Johnnie's babyhood was passed in unconscious proximity to dan gers seldom courted by the most sturdy, and his first "bug-a-boo" was not of the maternal imagining, but an existing fact,
JOHNNIE BAKER
continually threatening in the shape of the heartless, savage Sioux. Cradled amid such pioneer surroundings, and dandled on the knees of all the most celebrated frontiersmen, the genuine old buckskin trappers--the first frontier invaders--his childhood witnessed the declining glories of the buffalo hunter's paradise (it being the heart of their domain), and the advent of his superior, "the long horn of Texas," and his necessary companion, "the Cow-boy."
When the Pony Express, the Stage Coach, and the wagon-trains were supplanted by the steam horse, Baker's station became useless and "Old Lew" removed bag and baggage to North Platte, a little town of magical railroad growth. Here he built a fine house, which became the headquarters of the "old timers," and many a tenderfoot can remember the thrill ing incidents related of "life on the trail"--a life that now belongs alone to history and to romance--while "Old Lew" dispensed hospitality like a prince. But the ways of "city-life," a too big heart, of which the "shiftless, genial affinities" and rounders took due advantage, caused his former prosperity to be a remembrance only, and Johnnie set to work manfully for one of his age, to lend a helping hand. Perfectly at home in the saddle, he was never content unless with some cow-boy outfit, or at MR. CODY'S (whose homestead, extensive horse and cattle ranches, are near), where his active spirit found congenial associations, until he became recognized as "BUFFALO BILL'S boy." In the winter months he occasionally went to school, and being an apt scholar, has a fair education. MR. CODY, on organizing his distinctly Ameri can exhibition, could not leave little Johnnie out. He can be seen every day with the Wild
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West, mounted on his fiery little mustang, riding, roping, shooting--repeating on the mimic scene his own experiences, and the boyhood life of his elder, more famed associates: and any boy of his own age who can excel him in shooting, riding, and lassoing can "break every man in the outfit," as there are none who will not risk their pile on "THE COW-BOY KID."
ANNIE OAKLEY.
This celebrated Girl Shot was born at Woodland, Ohio. Ever since a toddling child she has had an inherent love for fire-arms and hunting, and at the age of ten she, as often as ammunition was obtainable, would smuggle he brother's musket and steal into the woods where game at that time was plentiful. Naturally, she was a good shot, and came home well supplied with game, At the age of twelve she was presented with a light, muzzle-loading shot gun, and also a breech-loading rifle. With the shot-gun she improved rapidly, and became such a fine shot that she rarely missed a quail or pheasant, and at the age of fourteen she had paid off a mortgage on her mother's homestead with money earned from the game and skins shot and trapped by herself alone--while her aim with rifle was so true that she was debarred from entering in the turkey matches which were the popular holiday amusement in that part of the country.
Then came a local reputation; and with improved fire-arms she attracted wider atten tion, and for the past several years she has been shooting before the public with great success, and although she has many times beaten all rec ords, like the modest little girl she is she never uses the word Champion in connection with her name. "SITTING BULL," the great Indian Chief, after seeing her shoot in St. Paul, Minn., adopted her into the Sioux tribe, giving her the name of "WATANYA CICILLA," or "LITTLE SURE SHOT."
The first two years before the public she devoted to Rifle and Pistol Shooting, and there is very little in that line she has not accom plished. At Tiffin, Ohio, she once shot a ten cent piece held between the thumb and fore finger of an attendant at a distance of 30 feet. In April, 1884, she attempted to beat the best rec ord made at balls thrown in the air--the best record was 984, made by Dr. Ruth, MISS OAKLEY used a Stevens' 22 cal. rifle and broke 943. In February, 1885, she attempted the feat of shoot ing 5,000 balls in one day, loading the gun her self. In this feat she used three 16-gauge ham mer guns; the balls were thrown from three traps 15 yards rise; out of the 5,000 shot at, she broke 4,772; on the second thousand she only missed 16, making the best 1,000 ball record, 984. Besides the thousands of exhibitions she has given in Europe and America, she has shot in over fifty matches and tournaments, winning forty-one prizes; her collection and medals and fire-arms, all of which have been won or presented to her, is considered one of the finest in the world.
MISS OAKLEY is also an accom plished equestrienne, and her success with the public has been greatly en hanced by the fact that in dress, style and execution she is as original as she is attractive.
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THE RIFLE AS AN AID TO CIVILIZATION.
There is a trite saying that "the pen is mightier than the sword." It is an equally true one that the bullet is the pioneer of civilization, for it has gone hand in hand with the axe that cleared the forest, and with the family Bible and school book. Deadly as has been its mission in one sense, it has been merciful in another; for without the rifgle-ball we of America would not be to-day in the possession of a free and united country, and mighty in our strength.
And so has it been in the history of all people, from the time when David slew Goliath, down through the long line of ages, until is modern times science has substituted for the stone from David's sling the terrible missiles that now decide the fate of nations. It is not, therefore, so harsh an expression as it seems to be at first sight, that it is indeed, the bullet which has been the forerunner of growth and development.
It is in the Far West of America, however, and along our frontier, that the rifle found its greatest use and become a part of the person and the household of the ventureso, settler, the guide, the scout, and the soldier; for nowhere else in the Christendom is it so much and so frequently a necessity for the preservation of life, and the defence of home and prop erty. It is here, too, among the hunters on the plains and in the Rocky Moutnains, that one sees the perfection of that skill in marksmanship that has become the wonder of those who are not accustomed to the daily use of weapons. yet if it were not possessed--if there were not the quick eye, the sure aim, coolness in the moment of extreme danger, whether threat ened by man or beast--life in that section would be of little value, and a man's home any thing but a safe abiding place.
There are exceptional cases of men like "BUFFALO BILL," Major North, and others whose names are more or less familiar among the mighty hunters of the West who excel the use of rifle and pistol, and to which, time and time agian, they and those around them have owed their lives. And they are the worthy successors of a long line of marksmen whose names are also "familiary as household words." Who does not recall David Crockett and his death-dealing rifle in the Alamo? Daniel Boone, of Kentucky, and the heroic exploits that have been written concerning them in the early pages of our country's history?
It is to the end that the poeple of the East, or rather those who are not acquanted with the rough life of the border and especially that portion of it in which the rifle plays so important a part, may personallly witness some of the feats of Western men, that MESSRS CODY & Co. have determined to introduce in their "great realistic pictures of Western life" a series of shooting exhibitions. The manner in which buffaloes are hunted, the exciting chase at close quarters, the spledidly trained horses who participate in the chase, the hunt for elk, the stealthy devices of Indians in capturing the fleet-footed animals--all these will be illus trated in a manner that has never been witnessed East of the Mississippi River.--Buell's Life on the Plains.
AN HISTORICAL COACH OF THE DEADWOOD LINE,
THE INDIANS' ATTACK ON WHICH WILL BE REPRESENTED IN "BUFFALO BILL'S" WILD WEST, AND ALSO ITS RESCUE BY THE SCOUTS AND PLAINSMAN.
The people of the Eastern States of the Union are accustomed to regard the West as the region of romance and adventure. And, in truth, its history and abounds with thrilling in cidents and surprising changes. Every inch of that beautiful country has been won from a cruel and savage foe by danger and conflict. In the terrible wars of the border, which marked the early years of the Western settlements, the men signalized themselves by performing prodigies of valor, while the women, in their heroic courage and endurance, afforded a spledid examples of devotion and self-sacrifice. The history of the wagon trains and stage coaches that preceeded the railway is written all over with blood, and the story of suffering and disaster, often as it has been repeated in only known in all of its horrid details to the bold frontiersman in who, as scouts and rangers, penetrated the strongholds of the Indians, and backed by the gallant men of the army, became the avant couriers of Western civilization and the terror and red man.
Among the most stirring episodes in the life of the Western pioneer are those connected with the opening of new lines of travel, for it is here, among the trails and cafions where lurk the desperadoes of both races, that he is brought face to face with danger in its deadliest forms, We better illustrate of this fact is furnished than in the history of the famous DEADWOOD COACH, the scarred and weather-beaten veteran of the original "star route" line