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BUFFALO BILL.

HOW THE CHIEF OF SCOUTS BECAME AN ACTOR.

The Story as Furnished by Col. Prentiss Ingraham the Author, an Ex-Confederate Soldier - Some Reminiscences of the late War of Local Interest.

The return of Buffalo Bill (Hon. W. F. Cody) with his attractive play nad combination as elsewhere announced revives of more than oridnary interest the story of how the widely known scout became an actor. It is laid before us by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, a well known writer of fiction and play wright, who has been in the city a few days guest of the Oliver House. Col. Ingraham is an ex-confederate soldier with whom a meeting revives some interesting recollections of the war in which some Toledo soldiers will be interested, The story is thus told in Buffalo Bill's own language:

"It was in the fall of '71," sadi Bill, "that Gen. Sheridan came to the plains with a party of gentleman for the purpose of engaging in a Buffalo hunt to extend from Fort McPherson, Nebraska, to Fort Hayes, Kansas, on the Kansas Pacific railroad, a distance of 228 miles through the finest hunting counrty in the world. In the party were James Gorden Bennett, of the New York Herald, Lawrence and Leonard Jerome, Carl Livingston, S. G. Heckshire, Gen. Fitxhugh, of Pittshurgh, Gen. Anson Stager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and other noted gentelmen. I guided the party, and when the hutn was finished I received an invitation from them to New York and make them a visit, as they wanted to show me the East, as I had shown them the West. I was then Chief of Scouts in the department of the Platte. And in January, 1872, just after the Grand Duke Alexis' hunt, which, by the way, I organized, I got a leave of absence, and for the first time in my life found myself East of the Mississippi river. Stopping at Chicago two days, where I was the guest of Gen. Sheridan, I proceeded to New York, where I was shown the 'elephant.' During my visit I attended the performance at the Bowery Theatre, in company with Col. E. Z. C. Judson (Ned Buntline), and witnessed a dramatization of Judson's story, entitled 'Buffalo Bill, King of Border men.' The part of Buffalo Bill was impersonated by Mr. J. B. Studley, an excellent actor, and I must say I thought the fellow looked like me, as his make up was a perfect picture of myself. i had not watched myself very long before the audience discovered the the original Buffalo Bill was in the private box, and they commenced cheering which stopped the performance, and they would not cease until I had shown myself and spoken a few words.

"At that time I had no idea of going on the stage, such a thought having never entered my head. But some enterprising managers, believing there was money in me, offered me as high on one thousand dollars per week to go on the stage. I told them I would rather face a thousand Indians than attempt to open my mouth before all those people. I returned to my duties as a scout, and during the summer of 1872 Ned Buntline was constantly writing me to come east and go on the stage, offering large inducements. As scouting business was rather dull, I concluded to try it for a while, and started east in company with Texas Jack. Met Buntline in Chicago with a company ready to support me.

"We were to open in Chicago in Nixon's Amphitheatre on December 16th, 1872. I arrived in Chicago December 12th, 1872. We were driven to the theatre where I was introduced to Jim Nixon, who said, 'Mr. Buntline, give me your drama as I am ready to cast your piece, and we have no time to lose, if you are to open Monday, and these men who have neber been on the stage will require several rehearsals.' Buntline surprised us all by saying that he had not written the drama, yet, but wuold do so at once Mr. Nixon said, 'No drama!and this is Thursday. Well, I will cancel your date.' But Buntline wwas not to be balked in this way, and asked Nixon what he would rent the theatre one week for. 'One thousand dollars,' said Nixon. 'It's my theatre,' said Buntline, making out a check for the amount. He rushed to the hotel, secured the services of several clerks to copy the parts, and in four hours had written the 'The Scouts of the Prairie.' He handed Texas Jack and I our parts, told us to commit them to memory and report next morning for rehearsal. I looked at Jack's and then at my part. Jack looked at me and said. 'Bill, how long wil it take you to commit your part? 'About seven years, if I ahve good luck. 'Buntline said 'Go to work.' I studied hard, and next morning recited the lines, cues and all, to Buntline. Buntline said, 'You must not recite cues; they are for you to speak from - the last words of the persons who speak before you.' I said, 'cues be d-d; I never heard of anything but a billiard cue' Well, night came. The house was packed. Up went the curtain, Buntline appeared as Cale Durg, an old trapper, and at a certain time Jack and I were to come on. But we were a little late, and when I made my appearance, facing three thousand people, among them Gen. Sheridan and a number of army officers, it broke me all up and I could not remember a word. All that saved me was my answer to a question put by Buntline, He asked, 'Waht detained you?' I told him I had been on a hunt with Milligan. You see Milligan was a prominent Chicago gentleman, who had been hunting with me a short time before on the plains, and had been chased by the Indians, and the papers had been full of his hunt for some time, Buntline saw that I was 'up a stump,' for I had forgotten my lines, and he told me to tell him about hunt. I told the story in a very funny was, and it took like wild-fire with the audience.

"While I was telling the story, Buntline had whispered to the stage manager that when I got through with my story to send on the Indians. Presently Buntline sang out, 'The Indians are upon us.' Now this was 'pie' for Jack and I, and we went at those bogus Indians red hot, until we had killed the last one and the curtain went down amid a msot remendous applause, while the audience went wild. The other actors never got a chance to appear in the first act. Buntline said, 'go ahead with the second act, its going splendid.' I think that during the entire performance neither Jack or myself spoke a line of our original parts. But hte next morning the press said it was the best show ever given in Chicago, as it was so bad it was good, and they could not see what Buntline was doing all the time if it took him four hours to write that drama.

"Our business was immense all that season, and if we had been managed properly we would have each mad a small fortune. As it was I came out ten thousand dollars ahead. In June, 1873, I returned to the plains, came east again in the fall, this time my own manager. I got a company, the the noted 'Wild Bill' with me, but could not do much with him, as he was not an easy man to handle, and would insist on shooting the supers in the legs with powder, just to see them jump. He left a few months later and returned to the plains. He was killed in August, 1876 in Deadwood.

"In the summer of 1876 I was Chief of Scouts under General Carr, afterwards with Gen. Crook and Gen. Terry.

"On the 17th of July I killed Yellow hand, a noted Cheyenne chief and took the first scalp for Custer. I returned to the stage in October, 1876, and during the season of '76 and '77 I cleared thirty-eight thousand dollars. I have generally been successful, financially, on the stage. I am now in the cattle business in Nebraska, which place I will return to in a few weeks, as the Indians are giving us some trouble in our country by stealing cattle."

Col. Prentiss Ingraham, the gentleman named above, to whom we are indebted for this sketch, is a fine type of the southern soldier, with straight, proud form, handsome black eyes, long black hair and mustache, and features regular and pleasing. He was the only son of Rev. Mr. Ingraham, of Natchez, Miss., a writer of reputation, from whom he inherited literary tastes. He left a southern college, when the war broke out, to go into the Confederacy with his State, and entered the army under the command of General Earl Van Dorn. His regiment served nearly all the time in the forces opposed to the Army of the Cumberland, and his was known as "Texas Rangers." Comparing notes with Col. Ingraham we found a peculiar personal interest in the part his command took at the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga, and those about Chattanooga. Stone River memories were particularly recalled. We found it was Col. Ingraham's command, attached to Ross' brigade, Wheler's division and Forrest's corps, which paid the division to which the 21st Ohio belonged (Gen Negley's) a visit in the rear, on the afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 31, 1862, and destroyed our wagon train numbering 500 wagons, killing the animals, over 3,000 in number, and burning up both wagons and animals. We took occasion to ask the Col. what he did with our sweetheart's love letters, but as he denied any knowledge of them, we conclude they perished, with our knapsack, in the flames.

Of the campaign just preceding Chickamauga we compared notes, and found the 21st several times tought his command, which was continually harrassing our flanks and rear, down the valley of McLemore's Cove. It was Ross' brigade which lay in front of, or within, Pigeon Gap when we got over the Lookout Range, and from his command that we (the 3rd Brigade of Negley's Division) so narrowly escaped capture on the afternoon and evening of Thursday, Sept 17, '63. It was his command which lay for the most of Tuesday and Wednesday preceding, underand around Bald Mountain, on whose "bald" surface the rebel signal corps was stationed in plain view of all our forces. At Mission Ridge Col. Ingraham was attached to Bragg's staff, and was at the General's headquarters on the crest when it was struck by a shot from our cannon and one of the staff killed. the writer of this was watching the headquarters at the moment our works with a glass, and saw the shot strike. The house was of logs, with a square, stick chimney built on the outside, after the fashion in the new parts of the Southern country. The guns playing upon that portion of the line were those in Fort Wood. To our view, at the time, the shot, - it was a shell, - seemed only to demolish the chimney. Col. I.'s statement is the first we knew it entered the building, as he says it did, before exploding.

The Col. was twice wounded, during the war, once at the battle of Fanklin, and another time through the ankle, at Port Hudson.

Since the war the Colonel has been engaged in literary pursuits as journalist, author and playwright. He wrote the play, "Knight of the Plains," for Mr. Cody, and is now engaged on another drama of still greater promise.

In politics the Colonel is a conservative Democrat. He greatly deplores the depressed business condition of the South, and spoke bitterly of the few agitators there, who, by their indiscretions, furnish the Radical Republicans with pretexts for waving the blood shirt. Secession, he says, was setteled forever,a and no considerable portion of Southern people, he says, have the remotest notion the question will ever be reopened.

ST. CHARLES THEATRE.

It is a pleasant sight to see the doors of the St. Charles Theatre open once more, as they are daily, for the sale of reserved seats for "The Knight of the Plains," commencing Sunday night. Buffalo Bill certainly deserves a liberal patronage from the public for having rented this favorite resort of theatre goers for Christmas week, and we predict he will have the crowded houses he deserves.

Buffalo Bill Again.

A tolerably full gallery and very thin chair audience was in the opera house last night. "May Cody, or Lost and Won," on the loud, sensational, cheap novel school was presented. The gallery gods were pleased. Buffalo bill handles a rifle well, and the donkey plays his part as though he appreciated it. He is the best actor of the company.

BUFFALO BILL.

HOW THE CHIEF OF SCOUTS BECAME AN ACTOR.

The Story as Furnished by Col. Prentiss Ingraham the Author, an Ex-Confederate Soldier - Some Reminiscences of the late War of Local Interest.

The return of Buffalo Bill (Hon. W. F. Cody) with his attractive play nad combination as elsewhere announced revives of more than oridnary interest the story of how the widely known scout became an actor. It is laid before us by Col. Prentiss Ingraham, a well known writer of fiction and play wright, who has been in the city a few days guest of the Oliver House. Col. Ingraham is an ex-confederate soldier with whom a meeting revives some interesting recollections of the war in which some Toledo soldiers will be interested, The story is thus told in Buffalo Bill's own language:

"It was in the fall of '71," sadi Bill, "that Gen. Sheridan came to the plains with a party of gentleman for the purpose of engaging in a Buffalo hunt to extend from Fort McPherson, Nebraska, to Fort Hayes, Kansas, on the Kansas Pacific railroad, a distance of 228 miles through the finest hunting counrty in the world. In the party were James Gorden Bennett, of the New York Herald, Lawrence and Leonard Jerome, Carl Livingston, S. G. Heckshire, Gen. Fitxhugh, of Pittshurgh, Gen. Anson Stager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and other noted gentelmen. I guided the party, and when the hutn was finished I received an invitation from them to New York and make them a visit, as they wanted to show me the East, as I had shown them the West. I was then Chief of Scouts in the department of the Platte. And in January, 1872, just after the Grand Duke Alexis' hunt, which, by the way, I organized, I got a leave of absence, and for the first time in my life found myself East of the Mississippi river. Stopping at Chicago two days, where I was the guest of Gen. Sheridan, I proceeded to New York, where I was shown the 'elephant.' During my visit I attended the performance at the Bowery Theatre, in company with Col. E. Z. C. Judson (Ned Buntline), and witnessed a dramatization of Judson's story, entitled 'Buffalo Bill, King of Border men.' The part of Buffalo Bill was impersonated by Mr. J. B. Studley, an excellent actor, and I must say I thought the fellow looked like me, as his make up was a perfect picture of myself. i had not watched myself very long before the audience discovered the the original Buffalo Bill was in the private box, and they commenced cheering which stopped the performance, and they would not cease until I had shown myself and spoken a few words.

"At that time I had no idea of going on the stage, such a thought having never entered my head. But some enterprising managers, believing there was money in me, offered me as high on one thousand dollars per week to go on the stage. I told them I would rather face a thousand Indians than attempt to open my mouth before all those people. I returned to my duties as a scout, and during the summer of 1872 Ned Buntline was constantly writing me to come east and go on the stage, offering large inducements. As scouting business was rather dull, I concluded to try it for a while, and started east in company with Texas Jack. Met Buntline in Chicago with a company ready to support me.

"We were to open in Chicago in Nixon's Amphitheatre on December 16th, 1872. I arrived in Chicago December 12th, 1872. We were driven to the theatre where I was introduced to Jim Nixon, who said, 'Mr. Buntline, give me your drama as I am ready to cast your piece, and we have no time to lose, if you are to open Monday, and these men who have neber been on the stage will require several rehearsals.' Buntline surprised us all by saying that he had not written the drama, yet, but wuold do so at once Mr. Nixon said, 'No drama!and this is Thursday. Well, I will cancel your date.' But Buntline wwas not to be balked in this way, and asked Nixon what he would rent the theatre one week for. 'One thousand dollars,' said Nixon. 'It's my theatre,' said Buntline, making out a check for the amount. He rushed to the hotel, secured the services of several clerks to copy the parts, and in four hours had written the 'The Scouts of the Prairie.' He handed Texas Jack and I our parts, told us to commit them to memory and report next morning for rehearsal. I looked at Jack's and then at my part. Jack looked at me and said. 'Bill, how long wil it take you to commit your part? 'About seven years, if I ahve good luck. 'Buntline said 'Go to work.' I studied hard, and next morning recited the lines, cues and all, to Buntline. Buntline said, 'You must not recite cues; they are for you to speak from - the last words of the persons who speak before you.' I said, 'cues be d-d; I never heard of anything but a billiard cue' Well, night came. The house was packed. Up went the curtain, Buntline appeared as Cale Durg, an old trapper, and at a certain time Jack and I were to come on. But we were a little late, and when I made my appearance, facing three thousand people, among them Gen. Sheridan and a number of army officers, it broke me all up and I could not remember a word. All that saved me was my answer to a question put by Buntline, He asked, 'Waht detained you?' I told him I had been on a hunt with Milligan. You see Milligan was a prominent Chicago gentleman, who had been hunting with me a short time before on the plains, and had been chased by the Indians, and the papers had been full of his hunt for some time, Buntline saw that I was 'up a stump,' for I had forgotten my lines, and he told me to tell him about hunt. I told the story in a very funny was, and it took like wild-fire with the audience.

"While I was telling the story, Buntline had whispered to the stage manager that when I got through with my story to send on the Indians. Presently Buntline sang out, 'The Indians are upon us.' Now this was 'pie' for Jack and I, and we went at those bogus Indians red hot, until we had killed the last one and the curtain went down amid a msot remendous applause, while the audience went wild. The other actors never got a chance to appear in the first act. Buntline said, 'go ahead with the second act, its going splendid.' I think that during the entire performance neither Jack or myself spoke a line of our original parts. But hte next morning the press said it was the best show ever given in Chicago, as it was so bad it was good, and they could not see what Buntline was doing all the time if it took him four hours to write that drama.

"Our business was immense all that season, and if we had been managed properly we would have each mad a small fortune. As it was I came out ten thousand dollars ahead. In June, 1873, I returned to the plains, came east again in the fall, this time my own manager. I got a company, the the noted 'Wild Bill' with me, but could not do much with him, as he was not an easy man to handle, and would insist on shooting the supers in the legs with powder, just to see them jump. He left a few months later and returned to the plains. He was killed in August, 1876 in Deadwood.

"In the summer of 1876 I was Chief of Scouts under General Carr, afterwards with Gen. Crook and Gen. Terry.

"On the 17th of July I killed Yellow hand, a noted Cheyenne chief and took the first scalp for Custer. I returned to the stage in October, 1876, and during the season of '76 and '77 I cleared thirty-eight thousand dollars. I have generally been successful, financially, on the stage. I am now in the cattle business in Nebraska, which place I will return to in a few weeks, as the Indians are giving us some trouble in our country by stealing cattle."

Col. Prentiss Ingraham, the gentleman named above, to whom we are indebted for this sketch, is a fine type of the southern soldier, with straight, proud form, handsome black eyes, long black hair and mustache, and features regular and pleasing. He was the only son of Rev. Mr. Ingraham, of Natchez, Miss., a writer of reputation, from whom he inherited literary tastes. He left a southern college, when the war broke out, to go into the Confederacy with his State, and entered the army under the command of General Earl Van Dorn. His regiment served nearly all the time in the forces opposed to the Army of the Cumberland, and his was known as "Texas Rangers." Comparing notes with Col. Ingraham we found a peculiar personal interest in the part his command took at the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga, and those about Chattanooga. Stone River memories were particularly recalled. We found it was Col. Ingraham's command, attached to Ross' brigade, Wheler's division and Forrest's corps, which paid the division to which the 21st Ohio belonged (Gen Negley's) a visit in the rear, on the afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 31, 1862, and destroyed our wagon train numbering 500 wagons, killing the animals, over 3,000 in number, and burning up both wagons and animals. We took occasion to ask the Col. what he did with our sweetheart's love letters, but as he denied any knowledge of them, we conclude they perished, with our knapsack, in the flames.

Of the campaign just preceding Chickamauga we compared notes, and found the 21st several times tought his command, which was continually harrassing our flanks and rear, down the valley of McLemore's Cove. It was Ross' brigade which lay in front of, or within, Pigeon Gap when we got over the Lookout Range, and from his command that we (the 3rd Brigade of Negley's Division) so narrowly escaped capture on the afternoon and evening of Thursday, Sept 17, '63. It was his command which lay for the most of Tuesday and Wednesday preceding, underand around Bald Mountain, on whose "bald" surface the rebel signal corps was stationed in plain view of all our forces. At Mission Ridge Col. Ingraham was attached to Bragg's staff, and was at the General's headquarters on the crest when it was struck by a shot from our cannon and one of the staff killed. the writer of this was watching the headquarters at the moment our works with a glass, and saw the shot strike. The house was of logs, with a square, stick chimney built on the outside, after the fashion in the new parts of the Southern country. The guns playing upon that portion of the line were those in Fort Wood. To our view, at the time, the shot, - it was a shell, - seemed only to demolish the chimney. Col. I.'s statement is the first we knew it entered the building, as he says it did, before exploding.

The Col. was twice wounded, during the war, once at the battle of Fanklin, and another time through the ankle, at Port Hudson.

Since the war the Colonel has been engaged in literary pursuits as journalist, author and playwright. He wrote the play, "Knight of the Plains," for Mr. Cody, and is now engaged on another drama of still greater promise.

In politics the Colonel is a conservative Democrat. He greatly deplores the depressed business condition of the South, and spoke bitterly of the few agitators there, who, by their indiscretions, furnish the Radical Republicans with pretexts for waving the blood shirt. Secession, he says, was setteled forever,a and no considerable portion of Southern people, he says, have the remotest notion the question will ever be reopened.

ST. CHARLES THEATRE.

It is a pleasant sight to see the doors of the St. Charles Theatre open once more, as they are daily, for the sale of reserved seats for "The Knight of the Plains," commencing Sunday night. Buffalo Bill certainly deserves a liberal patronage from the public for having rented this favorite resort of theatre goers for Christmas week, and we predict he will have the crowded houses he deserves.

Buffalo Bill Again.

A tolerably full gallery and very thin chair audience was in the opera house last night. "May Cody, or Lost and Won," on the loud, sensational, cheap novel school was presented. The gallery gods were pleased. Buffalo bill handles a rifle well, and the donkey plays his part as though he appreciated it. He is the best actor of the company.