A PARTING TRIBUTE
TO
COL. WILLIAM F. CODY
ON HIS FAREWELL TOUR
Hail to the chief! With banners unfurled
Salute the "Old Scout" -the prince of his clan-
Bearing our flag aloft over the world;
Western-born type of the pioneerman;
Hail, conquering spirit-American!
Hail to the chief of the pony express;
Dauntless boy rider-a wild Lochinvar-
Heedless of bullets, or scalp knife caress,
Desert or canyon-his trail fast and far-
Solving the pathfinder's route by a star.
Hail to the chief of the old army scouts,
Tracker of savage hordes-blazing the way-
Answering warshoops with battle-cry shouts;
Most war hero of many a fray,
When Sheridan, Custer, or Miles won the day.
Hail to the chief! With his comrades in arms
Fronting two wars to their glorious end;
Friend of the settler in savage alarms,
Friend of the red man deserving a friend,
Ready to fight-as prompt to defend.
Hail to the chief of the old border life,
Strenuous, long years of life on the plains.
Herald and sharer of peace-winning strife,
Conquering spirit of courage and brains,
"Westward Ho" pilot when wagons were trains.
Hail to the chief! With his "Wild West" to-day
Graving time's footprints on history's page;
The red man's grim passing, the paleface's sway,
The birth-throes of empire portrayed stage by stage,
Re-living the scenes of a fast-fading age.
Hail to the chief! 'Tis a "Hail and Farewell;"
Answer, vox populi, your part fulfill;
"Our of the saddle," at ease may he dwell
World-honored at home in his own Codyville'
Prince of good fellows, our "Buffalo Bill."
"So say we all of us,
so say we all."
New York, February 2, 1910
For the Veterans of the Old Army
J.H.J., U.S. Vola '61-'65
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