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CHIEF OF SCOUTS

Frontier Hero Whose Name Will Live in History.

Colonel William F. Cody and His Valuable Services to His Country.

His Valor and Courage the Theme or the Great Writers of the War--Praised by Custer, Logan and Sheridan, and Indorsed by Buell, Emory, Merritt and Sherman--Endured the Terrors of the West for the Protection of the People and Not for Cheap Notoriety.

In the mind of the rising generation there exists considerable doutbt as to whether or not such a thing as a real live frontier scout ever existed. Yet along the borders of the Arkansas river and its numberous tributaries, on the sides of the black hills, are hundreds of little graves where no loving hand has set even a headstone to mark the spot where a scout lies, while on the great prairies and in the river bottoms and valleys hundreds of little heaps of whitened bones show where faithful scouts, in twos and threes, have fallen beneath the shower of hostile arrows.

Greatest of Them All.

Among those who have survived the awful privations of this hazardous life, the most conspicuous of all the heroes of the plains is Colonel W. F. Cody, or as he is better known, Buffalo Bill. During the past thirty years no name has been so often mentioned in the war office reprots as that of Colonel Cody. In the writings of Generals Custer, Logan and Sheridan, as well as many other famous Indian fighters, Colonel Cody is a prominent figure and is held to the light as the ideal scout, a courageous soldier and a patriot of the stamp to which the west owes its present prosperity. No thoughtful person can hesitate to give such men as Wild Bill Hitchcock, California Joe, Frank Gruard, gallant Jim White and Buffalo Bill the undying credit they deserve. Of these brave men who guided our little frontier regiemtns in and out of the hostile countries, who rode by night and day to fight and die beside the wagon train or adobe cabin of some unfortunate settler, Buffalo Bill alone remains. The history of his life is but a part of that of his country.

Name Lives in History.

Thousands of letters from such men as Generals Sheridan, Custer, Logan, Buell, Emory, Merritt and Sherman, show how high Colonel Cody was held in their estimation and how much confidence these warriors placed in his abilities and advice. In late years Colonel J. W. Forsyth and General Miles have shown the same confidence, which the records of the war department prove was never violted. Though in the service of his country many years and the hero of a thousand desperate rides, and though he could justify claim the credit of a dozen battles, Colonel Cody has asked nothing from the government beyond the ordinary pay of a scout when on actual duty, and, while holding a colonel's commission, he has always preferred to assume the more dangerous duties of a scout.

It is as it should be, that the honor or conveying to the residents of foreign lands at least a faint idea of the hardships and privations that marked the onward march of the pioneers in bygone days, should devolve upon the man whose very name was held in reverence by those of the weaker sex who, by chance or fortune, had found their way into the far west; whose name has in war times brought something akin to fear to the stoic red men.

Buffalo Bill is proud of his title; he thinks more of the uncouth appellation than of the military handle "Colonel," which his army connection connection entitles him to use. Nor is this altogether to be wondered at. It was under this cognoment that he learned the cunning of the copper skinned aboriginals and became an adept in fighting them with their own weapon - devilish stealth. Under this title W. F. Cody earned the reputation of being the "greatest scout on earth."

In all the broken country known as the far west there is not footbath, perhaps, where the treacherous warrior has trod, but Buffalo Bill can point it out. No man today, either in or out of the army, is better acquainted with the general topography of that territory.

Led the March.

The march of civilization has been gradual. In 1865 there were fully 165,000 Pawnee, Sioux, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Arapahoe Indians in and about the Bad Lands and No Man's Land districts. Each succeeding year saw the great tribes lessened in strength of numbers, and their decadene could only be likened to the disappearance of the mighty herds of buffalo that once roamed the plains. Perhaps the Sioux uprising in 1891 is the last revolt of Indians the world will have to contend with. To the young minds the tales of early struggles are always welcome as well as beneficial and no one will argue but that an illustration of those pioneer

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CHIEF OF SCOUTS

Frontier Hero Whose Name Will Live in History.

Colonel William F. Cody and His Valuable Services to His Country.

His Valor and Courage the Theme or the Great Writers of the War--Praised by Custer, Logan and Sheridan, and Indorsed by Buell, Emory, Merritt and Sherman--Endured the Terrors of the West for the Protection of the People and Not for Cheap Notoriety.

In the mind of the rising generation there exists considerable doutbt as to whether or not such a thing as a real live frontier scout ever existed. Yet along the borders of the Arkansas river and its numberous tributaries, on the sides of the black hills, are hundreds of little graves where no loving hand has set even a headstone to mark the spot where a scout lies, while on the great prairies and in the river bottoms and valleys hundreds of little heaps of whitened bones show where faithful scouts, in twos and threes, have fallen beneath the shower of hostile arrows.

Greatest of Them All.

Among those who have survived the awful privations of this hazardous life, the most conspicuous of all the heroes of the plains is Colonel W. F. Cody, or as he is better known, Buffalo Bill. During the past thirty years no name has been so often mentioned in the war office reprots as that of Colonel Cody. In the writings of Generals Custer, Logan and Sheridan, as well as many other famous Indian fighters, Colonel Cody is a prominent figure and is held to the light as the ideal scout, a courageous soldier and a patriot of the stamp to which the west owes its present prosperity. No thoughtful person can hesitate to give such men as Wild Bill Hitchcock, California Joe, Frank Gruard, gallant Jim White and Buffalo Bill the undying credit they deserve. Of these brave men who guided our little frontier regiemtns in and out of the hostile countries, who rode by night and day to fight and die beside the wagon train or adobe cabin of some unfortunate settler, Buffalo Bill alone remains. The history of his life is but a part of that of his country.

Name Lives in History.

Thousands of letters from such men as Generals Sheridan, Custer, Logan, Buell, Emory, Merritt and Sherman, show how high Colonel Cody was held in their estimation and how much confidence these warriors placed in his abilities and advice. In late years Colonel J. W. Forsyth and General Miles have shown the same confidence, which the records of the war department prove was never violted. Though in the service of his country many years and the hero of a thousand desperate rides, and though he could justify claim the credit of a dozen battles, Colonel Cody has asked nothing from the government beyond the ordinary pay of a scout when on actual duty, and, while holding a colonel's commission, he has always preferred to assume the more dangerous duties of a scout.

It is as it should be, that the honor or conveying to the residents of foreign lands at least a faint idea of the hardships and privations that marked the onward march of the pioneers in bygone days, should devolve upon the man whose very name was held in reverence by those of the weaker sex who, by chance or fortune, had found their way into the far west; whose name has in war times brought something akin to fear to the stoic red men.

Buffalo Bill is proud of his title; he thinks more of the uncouth appellation than of the military handle "Colonel," which his army connection connection entitles him to use. Nor is this altogether to be wondered at. It was under this cognoment that he learned the cunning of the copper skinned aboriginals and became an adept in fighting them with their own weapon - devilish stealth. Under this title W. F. Cody earned the reputation of being the "greatest scout on earth."

In all the broken country known as the far west there is not footbath, perhaps, where the treacherous warrior has trod, but Buffalo Bill can point it out. No man today, either in or out of the army, is better acquainted with the general topography of that territory.

Led the March.

The march of civilization has been gradual. In 1865 there were fully 165,000 Pawnee, Sioux, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Arapahoe Indians in and about the Bad Lands and No Man's Land districts. Each succeeding year saw the great tribes lessened in strength of numbers, and their decadene could only be likened to the disappearance of the mighty herds of buffalo that once roamed the plains. Perhaps the Sioux uprising in 1891 is the last revolt of Indians the world will have to contend with. To the young minds the tales of early struggles are always welcome as well as beneficial and no one will argue but that an illustration of those pioneer

NOT FINISHED