| 6151
COSSACKS WITH THE WILD WEST.
In pursuance of their intention to assemble together at the World's Fair, a congress of the representative horsemen of the world, MESSRS, CODY and SALS BURY have had their agents in all parts of the earth looking for rough riders who could compete with or excel the original riders of the Wild West, the native product of America. In the Russian Cossack, they found a horseman whose style was new, novel and striking, and one who could compete with the finest in the world. These Cossacks, in the picturesque garb of the Caucasus, form the latest acquisition of the Wild West. They are a troop of "Cossacks of the Caucasian Line," under the command of Prince Soucca.
The Prince and his comrades, it is interesting to the public to know, belong to the same branch of the great Cossack family, the Zaporogians, immortalized by Byron's "Mazeppa." Mazeppa was the chief of the Zaporogian community of the Cossacks of the Ukraine.
When Byron's famous hero came to grief at the Battle of Poltava, the Cossacks fled to the Crimea, then Turkish territory, to avoid the vengeance of Peter the Great. Subsequently, they were deported to the Kuban and settled along the river as military colonists to defend the Russian frontier against the marauding tribes of the Caucasus.
On this dangerous frontier the qualities of horsemanship that made the name of Mazeppa and his warlike followers household words throughout the whole of Europe, became still further developed in the following generations, so that the Kuban Cossacks quickly became, in many respects, the most remarkable riders in the world.
On their lithe steppe horses, as fierce and active as themselves, they proved themselves more than worthy of their sires. During the heroic struggle of the Circassian mountaineers, te maintains their independence against Russia, the sons of Mazeppa's Zaporogians were found to be the only Cossacks sufficiently skilled to cope with Schamyl's wild mountain horsemen on equal terms. The Don Cossacks were lancers, and the Circassians quickly learned to dodge within their guard and cut them down, they being among the most expert swordsmen in the world.
FOREIGN TOURS AND TRIUMPHS.
Since the visit of "BUFFALO BILL'S" Wild West to England and its remarkable engagement in London, at West Brompton, in 1887, a history and tour have been made such as no organization of its magnitude and requirements ever accomplished.
A slight reference to this will be instructive and interesting, and the practical mind can, partially, at a glance, recognize the difficulties and arduous duties involved in its completion. A volume would be more fitting to relate its travels, its trials, and triumphant experiences. After the production in an especially erected mammoth building at Manchester, of an allegorical, pantomimic, and scenic representation of the history of American settlement, a return to the United States was made in a chartered steamship, Persian Monarch, of 6,000 tons
| 6151
COSSACKS WITH THE WILD WEST.
In pursuance of their intention to assemble together at the World's Fair, a congress of the representative horsemen of the world, MESSRS, CODY and SALS BURY have had their agents in all parts of the earth looking for rough riders who could compete with or excel the original riders of the Wild West, the native product of America. In the Russian Cossack, they found a horseman whose style was new, novel and striking, and one who could compete with the finest in the world. These Cossacks, in the picturesque garb of the Caucasus, form the latest acquisition of the Wild West. They are a troop of "Cossacks of the Caucasian Line," under the command of Prince Soucca.
The Prince and his comrades, it is interesting to the public to know, belong to the same branch of the great Cossack family, the Zaporogians, immortalized by Byron's "Mazeppa." Mazeppa was the chief of the Zaporogian community of the Cossacks of the Ukraine.
When Byron's famous hero came to grief at the Battle of Poltava, the Cossacks fled to the Crimea, then Turkish territory, to avoid the vengeance of Peter the Great. Subsequently, they were deported to the Kuban and settled along the river as military colonists to defend the Russian frontier against the marauding tribes of the Caucasus.
On this dangerous frontier the qualities of horsemanship that made the name of Mazeppa and his warlike followers household words throughout the whole of Europe, became still further developed in the following generations, so that the Kuban Cossacks quickly became, in many respects, the most remarkable riders in the world.
On their lithe steppe horses, as fierce and active as themselves, they proved themselves more than worthy of their sires. During the heroic struggle of the Circassian mountaineers, te maintains their independence against Russia, the sons of Mazeppa's Zaporogians were found to be the only Cossacks sufficiently skilled to cope with Schamyl's wild mountain horsemen on equal terms. The Don Cossacks were lancers, and the Circassians quickly learned to dodge within their guard and cut them down, they being among the most expert swordsmen in the world.
FOREIGN TOURS AND TRIUMPHS.
Since the visit of "BUFFALO BILL'S" Wild West to England and its remarkable engagement in London, at West Brompton, in 1887, a history and tour have been made such as no organization of its magnitude and requirements ever accomplished.
A slight reference to this will be instructive and interesting, and the practical mind can, partially, at a glance, recognize the difficulties and arduous duties involved in its completion. A volume would be more fitting to relate its travels, its trials, and triumphant experiences. After the production in an especially erected mammoth building at Manchester, of an allegorical, pantomimic, and scenic representation of the history of American settlement, a return to the United States was made in a chartered steamship, Persian Monarch, of 6,000 tons
|
