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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 Hill regions, where he killed Yellow Hand. Afterwards 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 heas 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. 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 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 numbreed manu of the most distinguished military leaders known in America 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 other 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."

"COLONEL W. F. CODY ('BUFFALO BILL')
went to Pike's Peak during the excitement which followed 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 Cavalry, being chiefly employed in Arkansas and South-western Missouri. In 1863 he enlisted in the Seventh Kansas Cavalry, and served in Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri and Kansas, and participated in several battles. He was made a non-commissioned officer, and served as a scout for his regiment after the battle of Tupelo. He was honorably discharged at the end of the war, and engaged in various business pursuits unitl the spring of 1867, when he made a contract, for a monthly 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 circle, when he would soon kill all that he required. Cody again entered the Government service in 1898 as a scout and guide, and, after a series of dangerous rides as bearer of important dispathces through a contryi 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 successful discharge of important duties. He marched with a battalion of the regiment across the country from Fort Lyon, Colo., to Fort McPherson, Neb., during May, 1869, and was engaged en routein the combat of Beaver Creek, Kan., where he rendered an important and brilliant service by carrying dispatches from a detached party to the cavalry 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 Babcok 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 Cavalry 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) unitl the Fifth Cavalry was transferred to Arizona. He served during this period with several expeditions, ans was conspicuous for gallant conduct in the Indian combat at Red Willow and Birdwood Creeks, ans also for successful services as chief scoutand 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 Cavalry, and served with that regiment until the fall of 1872, when he was elected a member of the Nebraska Legislature, and thus acquired 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 proceededto 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 th Cheyenne, Wyo., joined the Fifth Cavalry, which had recently returned from Arizona, and was engaged in the affair at War Bonnet (Indian Creek), Wye., 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.

Image caption:
RED FOX.
"WATCHING AND WAITING"