| 3024
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 | 3024
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 |
