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1869, and was engaged en route in the combat at Bearer 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 Babcock 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 daring the pursuit of the Dog Soldiers, under the celebrated Cheyenne chief, Tall Bull, to Summit Springs, Col. 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 afterwards 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 Peace in 1871) until the Fifth Cavalry was transferred to Arizona. He served during this period with several expediitons, and was conspicuous gor gallant conduct in the Indian combat at Red Willow and Birdwood Creeks, and also for successful services as chief scouts and 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 as a member of the Nebraska Legislature, and thus acquired the title of "Honorable." But, accepting the advice of Eastern friends, he reassigned his seat in the Legislature and also his position of scout and guide at Fort McPherson, and proceeded to Chicago, where he made his first appearance as an actor in a drama entitled "The Scouts of the Prairie," winning an instant success.

He continued in the theatrical business until the beginning of the Sioux war in 1876, when he discharged his company, hastened to Cheyenne, Wyo., joined the Fifth Cavalry, which had recently returned from Arizona, and was engaged in the affair at War Bonnet (Indian Creek), Wyo., where he killed in a hand-to-hand combat the Cheyenne chief, Yellow Hand. He then accompanied the Fifth Cavalry to Goose Creek, Mon., 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 during this campaign that he had lost none of his old-time skill and daring in Indian warfare. He enjoys a brilliant regulation 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 frontierman. His present lucrative business has made him widely known throughout the country. He has valuable property interests at North Platte, Neb., and is part owner of an extensive cattle ranch of Dismal River, sixty-five 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.

William F. Cody is one of the best scouts and guides that ever rode at the head of a column of cavalry advance, riding another "Buckskin Joe" and carrying his Springfield rifle, "Lucretia," across the pommel of his saddle.

FROM COL. DODGE'S "THIRTY YEARS AMONG THE INDIANS," PAGE 628.

"Of ten men employed as scouts, nine will prove to be worthless; of fifty so employed one may prove to be really valuable, but, though hundreds, even thousands of men have been so employed by the Government since the war, the number of really remarkable men among them can be counted on the fingers. The services which these men are called on to perform are so important and valuable that the officer who benefits by them is sure to give the fullest credit; and men honored in official reports come to be great men on the frontier. Fremont's reports made Kit Carson a renowned man. Custer immortalized California Joe. Custer, Merritt, and Curr made William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) a plain's celebrity "UNTIL TIME SHALL BE NO MORE."

A Legistlator.

Phocian Howard journalistically recalls the fact: -- "We were present in the Nebraska Legislature when Mr. Cody's resignation was read, and knowing his practical qualities, his thorough knowledge of important questions then demanding attention in border legislation, his acquaintance with the Indian problem - the savage's deadly foe in battle, their generals friend in piece -- great was our disappointment in his refusing to continue in political life, choosing to be what he really is -- a true "Knight of the Plains."

"On the frontier, even there his name a household word, deservedly is the famous scout popular throughout the land, standing as he has, a leader amonger the manly pioneer barrier between civilizationand savagery, risking all, that the "Star of Empire might force its westward way."

"We know Bill Cody well, having been with him in three campaigns among the Indians, the last being the memorable Custer campaing under Crook, on the Big Horn, against the Sitting Bull Sioux, and we bear kind witness that Buffalo Bill in the idol of the army and frontiersman, and the dead and terror of the war-bonneted Indian. At the last session of the Nebraska Legislature he received a alrge complimentary vote for United States Senator."