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INTRODUCTORY.
Sixteen continuous and splendidly successful years of absolutely original and inimitable production have entirely convinced many millions of people in both Europe and America that BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST AND CONGRESS OF ROUGH RIDERS OF THE WORLD is the only genuine, legitimate, and possible enterprise and entertainment of its scope and kind; wherein the historian on horseback has Truth for his amanuensis; where nothing approaching misrepresentation or deception is ever, or for one moment, tolerated; and where the conclusive proof of perfect and spotless realism and international educational value and recreation is unanimously overwhelming as voiced in the unqualified admiration and recommendation of the world's greatest generals, rulers, statesmen, scientists and divines; spread broadcast upon the pages of the press in every language, and chronicled with enduring honor in current history, official record and governmental indorsement.
It is the grandest and most cosmopolitan Object Teacher ever projected by the exceptional experience and executive genius of man, scrupulously truthful in every respect, with every feature herein or elsewhere announced forthcoming, every historical and personal reference authentic, and every narrative, indorsement and criticism correct in spirit, context and application, as regards incident, person, time and location. It presents with a colossal perfection and verisimilitude utterly impossible under any other management, living spectacles of heroic deeds of patriotic devotion and savage resistance; the pomp and circumstances of royal and republican martial array and wildly picturesque and fearsome panoply; the rush, the rally, the splendid force and action of embattled mounted hosts; artillery in skilled and stirring evolutions; the most superb horseman of every continent in rivalries of daring, style, successes and accomplishments beyond description or comparison; the greatest surviving frontier experts of the rifle, pistol, bowie-knife, tomahawk and lariat; the reckless feats, and strange pastimes of the Border, the Sahara, the Pampas, the Prairies and the Steppes - a vast, varied, veritable apocalypse of days and deeds, of men and methods, that can return no more; a marvelous, masterly, glorious and instructive incarnation of romantic fact, such as the world has read of but never elsewhere seen, and when it passes from the Wild West's grand arena shall never look upon again.
It is something of which intelligence, morality and patriotism approve, because it is history not vaudeville; not cheap and ephemeral theatrical mimicry, confined within the limits of four walls, but the perpetuation and magnificent material re-introduction of a crowning epoch, of transcendent, electrifying Reality, whose natural stage dwarfs that of Caesar's Coliseum and is illuminated by the lamps of heaven.
It is an exceptional and remarkable fact, repeatedly demonstrated by experience under exacting circumstances, that when people find out what BUFFALO BILL'S WILD WEST really is, they not only patronize it, but return to it again and again, at each recurring visit finding fresh food for reflection, wonder and delight, and all the more appreciating its extraordinary magnitude and its exclusive merit and magnetism. The record of its reception and receipts in the greater cities of both Europe and America may be cited in its behalf as a test of both time and popularity, not only without precedent or parallel, but entirely beyond the reach of any other kind of exhibition, and which will undoubtedly stand forever unrivaled. This experience includes two entire seasons in New York City, succeeded by one in London. Next a whole season in Paris, which was incidently accepted as the greatest attraction of the World's Exposition, then being held in that city. Then another succeeding entire season in London, royally recognized and signalized by a command to appear before Queen Victoria, at Windsor Castle, although the Court was at that time in mourning. And, as a culminating triumph and national home indorsement, both afternoon and evening performances from the opening to the closing of the World's Fair in Chicago, whose patronage rivaled that of the stupendous exposition itself.
It was long ago remarked that at no time does a man feel so superior to fate and fortune, so confident of himself, and so much above his fellow creatures, as when he looks down upon the things of this world from the back of a good horse. Certain it is that in all ages from Troy to Texas the man on horseback has been the heroic central figure and the leader of nations and of armies. Collectively and historically it is in Buffalo Bill's Wild West that the man on horseback finds his apotheosis, and in the leadership of Colonel W. F. Cody, an equestrian paragon, whose personality is more familiar to the general public on both sides of the Atlantic than that of any other horseman that ever lived. It is for others to testify of the Atlantic than that of any other horseman that ever lived. It is for others to testify to his services to his country and to the record and personal qualities for which he is distinguished.
NATE SALSBURY, Vice-President and Manager.
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HON. W. F. CODY - ("BUFFALO BILL")
was born in Scott County, Iowa, whence his father, Isaac Cody, emigrated a few years afterward 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 smoldered until they burst into the burning flame of civil war. This state of affairs among the white occupants of the 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 ponyexpress 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 service 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 buffaloes in one day to Comstock's forty-six - became scout and guide for the now celebrated Fifth Cavalry (of which General 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 and indorser of Buffalo Bill. He is, in fact, the representative man of the frontiersmen fo the past - that is, not the barroom brawler or bully of the settlements, but a genuine specimen 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 on our maps as the "Great American Desert." By the accident of birth and early association, a man who became sensibly injured 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
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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."
Therfore, 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 overcome any unlooked-for difficulties, by a thorough student of nature, a self-taught weather-prophet, 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, 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, wood 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 history of the West has such difference 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. Pil. 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, Royall, 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 frontiersnamship, 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, Early Dunraven, James Gordon Bennett, Duke Alexis, Gen. Custer, Lawrence Jerome, Remington, Professor Ward of Rochester, Professor Marsh of Yale College, Major J. G. Heckshe, Dr. Kingsley (Canon Kingley's brother), and others of equal rank and distinction. All books 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 recorded references.
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 as 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 of the roughness of the typical frontiersman. 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 miles 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 most 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 in the right place, and his information 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 occasion 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.
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"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. Afterward he was with the Big Horn and Yellowstone expeditions. 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 practicable routes, have been invaluable."
Thus it will be seen that, notwithstanding it may sometimes be thought his fame rests upon the pen of the romancer and novelist, had they never been attracted to him (and they were solely by his sterling 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 praire friend, Major North, in rehearsing the old time eyars 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. Sturdy and agile, 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 CONTINET 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 historicla record of its officers, among whom are numbered many of the most distinguished military leaders known in our national annals, such as Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, Gen. George H. Thomas, Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gen. John Sedgwick, Gens. 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 regimen, 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."
"COLONEL W. F. CODY ('BUFFALO BILL')
went to Pike's Peak during the excitement which followied the discovery of gold in Colorado, but failing of success returned to Kansas and became a trapper on the Republican River. In the fall of 1861 he was a Government scout and guide at Fort Larned, Kan, and in 1862 served as a scout and guide for the Ninth Kansas Cavlary, being chiefly employed in Arkansas and Southwestern Missouri, In 1863 he enlisted in the Seventh Kansas Cavalry, and served in Tennesse, Mississippi, Missouri and Kansas, and participated in several battles. He was made a non-commissioned officer, and served as a scout as for his regiment after the battle of Tupelo. He was honorably discharged at the end of the war, and engaged in various business pursuits until the spring of 1867, when he made a contact, for a montly compensation of five hundred dollars, to deliver all the buffalo meat that would be needed for food purposes for a number of laborers on the Kansas Pacific Railway in Western Kansas, and during this engagement - a period of less than eighteen months - he killed four thousand two hundred and eighty buffaloes. This remarkable success gained for him the name of 'Buffalo Bill.' When hunting buffalo, Cody would ride his horse whenever possible to the right front of a herd, shoot down the leaders, and crowd their followers to the left until they began to run in a cricle, when he would soon kill all that he required. Cody again entered the Government service in 1868 as a scout and guide, and, after a series of dangerous rides as bearer of important dispatches through a country which was infested with hostile Indians, was appointed by General Sheridan chief scout and guide for the Fifth Cavalry, which had been recently ordered from reconstruction duty in the Southern States for a campaign against the hostile Sioux and Cheyennes. He joined a detachment of the regiment at Fort Hayes, Kansas, and was engaged, during the fall of 1868, in the combats on Beaver and Shuter Creeks and north branch of Solomon River. He then served with the Canadian River expedition during the winter of 1868-69, and became deservedly conspicuous for cheerful service under dispiriting circumstances and the sccessful discharge of important duties. He marched
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with a battalion of the regiment across the country form Fort Lyon, Colo, to Fort McPherson, Neb., during May, 1869, and was engaged en route in the combat of Beaver Creek, Kan., where he rendered an important and brilliant service by carrying dispatches from a detached party to the calvary camp after a soldier courier had been driven back by the Indians; and again at Spring Creek, Neb., three days later, where, when the advance guard under Lieutenant Babcock was surrounded by a large force of the enemy, he was distinguished for coolness and bravery.
"Cody was appointed chief scout and guide for the Republican River expedition of 1869, and was conspicuous during the pursuit of the Dog Soldiers, under the celebrated Cheyenne chief, Tall Bull, to Summit Springs, Colo. He also guided the Fifth Calvary to a position whence the regiment was enabled to charge upon the enemy, and win a brilliant victory. He afterward participated in the Niobrara pursuit, and later narrowly escaped death at the hands of hostile Sioux on Prairie Dog Creek, Kan., September 26, 1869. He was assigned to Fort McPherson when the expedition was disbanded, and served at that station (was a Justice of the Peace in 1871) until the Fifth Cavalry was transferred to Arizona. He served during this period with several expeditions, and was conspicuous for gallant conduct in the Indian combat at Red WIllow and Birdwood Creeks, and also for successful services as chief scout and guide of the buffalo hunt which was arranged by General Sheridan for the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia.
Cody was then assigned to duty with the Third Calvary, and served with that regiment until the fall of 1872, when he was elected a member of the Nebraska Legislature, and thus acquired the title of 'Honorable.' But accepting the advice of Eastern friends, he resigned his seat in the Legislature and also his position of scout and guide at Fort McPherson, and proceeded to Chicago, where he made his first appearance as an actor in a drama entitled 'The Scouts of the Plains,' winning an instant success.
"At the beginning of the Sioux War in 1876, he hastened to Cheyenne, Wyo, joined the Fith Cavalry, which had recently returned from Arizona, and was engaged in the affair at War Bonnet (Indian Creek), Wyo., where he killed in a hand-to-hand combat the Cheyenne Chief, Yellow Hand, He then accompanied the Fifth Cavalry to Goose Creek, Mont., and served with the Big Horn and Yellowstone expedition until September, when business engagements compelled him to return to the Eastern States. Cody abundantly proved in this campaign that he had lost none of his old-time skill and daring in Indian warfare. He enjoys a brilliant reputation as a scout and guide, which has been fairly earned by faithful and conspicuous service.
"He is modest and unassuming, and free from the common faults of the typical frontiersman. His present lucrative business has made him widely known throughout the country. He has valuable property interests at North Platte, Neb., and is owner of an extensive cattle ranch on Dismal River, 65 miles north of North Platte, having for a partner in the business Major Frank North, who is well known as the whilom commander of the celebrated Pawnee scouts.