256
Sunday Democrat July 2"
Buffalo Bill.
The Wild West show still rivals the World Fair as a center of attraction, and is drawing the largest crowds that ever visited an entertainment presented by private individuals. The actors in this arena are selected from the best in their respective lines and stand without a peer. The whole show is but a presentation of everyday life on the wild western plains, a quarter of a century ago, when most of the actors in these scenes of real life, were participants in the scenes depicted. In all of there sports Buffalo Bill was a leader, and still does not hesitate to enter into any of the old time sports with his old time zest. The show is novel and intensely interesting from first to last. The old Deadwood stage being a reminder to many of the days gone by, when it was the only means of transportation, except horseback, west of the Mississippi river.
257
Dispatch July 2"
Buffalo Bill's wild west is proving one of the greatest successes of the world's fair season, and the big arena is packed twice each day. The famous cowboy band is gaining a great many friends, and is justly regarded as one of the features of the big show.
258
Inter Ocean July 3"
FAMOUS LONG RIDES.
Soldier and Scouts Who Rode on Imperative Orders
RECORD OF ENDURANCE.
Buffalo Bill's Great Ride for General Sheridan.
Colonel Stanton, Carrier Johnstone, and the Pony Express Riders Recalled.
The recent cowboy race from Chadron, Neb., to Chicago, and the excellent condition of the horses used by the riders at the conclusion of the trip, which goes to prove the stamina and enduring qualities of the Western bred horse, and was one of the marvels of the race, calling forth as it did, the admiration of rough riders everywhere and securing from the agents of the Humane Society a certificate that with few exceptions, the horses were in good health when they reached this city, brings to mind some famous long-distance rides by scouts, soldiers, and dispatch carriers on the Western plains. These riders performed feats with their horses that brought forth encomiums from generals in the army, and in the light of recent events are well worth the relating. All these trips were in the face of dangers not met with on the Chadron race; every man was riding in the performance of duty, and pluck and endurance were displayed by both men and horses.
From the nature of things there have been few long races under conditions, similar to those of the cowboy contest, but there have been many splendid examples of endurance on the part of American soldiers and plainsmen riding American horses.
A story is current In the Southwest that frontiersman named F. X. Aubrey years go galloped from Santa Fe to Independence, Mo., in a few hours less than seven days. The distance was 840 miles, and he had four changes of horses. He won a wager of $1,000, but was so exhausted that he had to be lifted from his horse at the end of his journey.
Buffalo Bill's Ride.
General Phil Sheridan has left a record in his autobiography of a ride by Colonel W. F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill") while carrying dispatches in Kansas in 1868, then an unsettled country 'with hostile Indians. It was in the winter, but "Buffalo Bill" rode 350 miles in less than sixty hours. He had several changes of horses. While a pony express rider, Colonel Cody covered his own division and that of another rider, who had been killed the night before by Indians. The round trip of 324 miles was made without a stop except for meals and to change horses, and Buell's "History of the Plains," which contains the record, says the riders were scheduled to average fifteen miles per hour.
On June 8, 1860, James A. Moore received an important government dispatch at Midway station, in Western Nebraska. He carried it to Julesburg, Colo., 140 miles, and met another government message coming east. The rider w o should have carried it had been killed by Indians the day before, and Moore started on the return trip after resting only seven minutes. He made the round trip of 280 miles in fourteen hours and forty-six minutes, perhaps the most remarkable speed ever made. The west-bound dispatch, which relieved John- stone from the command of the army on the coast, was carried from St. Joseph to Sacramento, over 1,900 miles, in eight days, nine hours and forty minutes.
Pony Express Riders.
On the pony express there were riders at intervals of seventy-five to 150 miles, and they changed horses every fifteen or twenty-five miles. The distance from St. Joseph to San Francisco was 1,996 miles. The first trip was made, in ten days the second in fourteen, and the third and many others in nine days. The trip from St. Joseph to Denver, a distance of 625 miles, was once made in two days and twenty-one hours.
During the late Indians war near Pine Ridge Agency Colonel Guy Henry's colored command rode 102 miles and fought two skirmishes in thirty and one-half hours. The actual time in the saddle was twenty-two hours. These cavalrymen carried extra ammunition and blankets weighing twenty-five pounds.
During the Indian troubles of 1879 that resulted in the Meeker massacre, Sergeant Murphy rode 170 miles in a little less than twenty-four hours to secure relief for Colonel Thornburg's command, which had been surrounded by Indians. The record is not explicit, but the presumption is that Murphy could not break through the Indian line with more than one horse. At any rate, considering the mountainous country, poor roads, and the night riding, it as a phenomenal performance.
Colonel Stanton Made a Record.
During the Indian troubles of 1876 Colonel Stanton rode with important dispatches from Fort Laramie in Wyoming to Fort Robinson in Nebraska, a distance of 10 miles, in the twelve hours between noon and midnight. He used but one horse.
In 1870 four men of Company H, First cavalry, rode with dispatches from Fort Harney to Fort Warner, 140 miles, the last twenty in sand, in twenty-two hours. The actual marching time was eighteen and one-half hours.
General Miles has a record of 150 miles in thirteen hours, stopping only long enough to change horses. This was made in New Mexico in 1885.
In 1877 Captain Ezra B. Fuller made a scout after Chief Joseph in the mountainous country of Montana, and covered 350 miles in five days. A part of his command continued the scout, and rode 600 miles in twelve days.
In 1882 Lieutenant Bell of the Seventh cavalry rode 105 miles in North Dakota in twelve hours with one change of horses.
A scout attached to Colonel Lawton's command once traveled 450 miles in the Sierra Madre mountains on eng horse in seven days and nights.
259
Herald July 8"
Cheers From Thousands of Throats.
The short run of the Oula from the Michigan to the entrance of the grand basin was accompanied by one continuous and deafening cheer that came from the throats of the thousands along shore, in the windows and on the roofs of the buildings near by. The eyes of Colombus' spirit must have been extended in wonder at the marvellous picture that greeted his eyes as the launch shot from under the peristile bridge into the grand basin. The great promenades and lawn in front of Manufactures Building, the pavement in front of the peristile, and the court of honor were black with the people gathered to welcome the Spanish visitors. But the color of the spectacle was over against the Agricultural Building. For there were congregated men and women from the four corners of the earth, attired in the garb of their native lands.
First to greet the spirit of Columbus were the true descendants of the red men who gazed in wonder at the landing of Columbus in the flesh. A score of bucks from Buffalo Bill's encampment leaned against the rail opposite the statue of the republic and awkwardly waved their arms in welcome. They were in full war-paint and feathers, and the Spaniards gazed in admiration and curiosity while they courteously returned the salute.
260
Mail. July 8"
At or Near the World's Fair.
Buffalo Bill's Wild West continues to be as great an attraction in proportion to its size as the Columbian exposition itself. Directly opposite the grounds, between Sixty-second and Sixty-third streets, it has been able to hold its own regardless of the attractions within.