The William F. Cody Archive: Documenting the life and times of Buffalo Bill

 

North Platt 1867 Was a Frontier town and many hard cases come the after the civil war the carried the law on the hip and was not slow in inforcing it their gamling hall was running in full Blass and large cards hung in the wall withe the the photo of kinfe and revolver withe the code of law this all dispute settle with gun and knife and linching combined them the Building round house but not finished yet as Sqade of Soliers garding the Platt Bridge Sevin hundred hostil Indian South of Platt River told by the Indian trader to look oute for them the were getting ugly Bording up of door and window and using ties for Brest Workes. We stope the linching our aful sufering for 3 nights and dayes blizzard Road Bloked to grand island snow 10 feet dep with dead leakey wood living [Engin?] Relieved the 3rd neary all snow Bling Foreman Hall and others taken to Fort Mcpherson for treatment for snow Blinf great sufering

 

North Platt in 1867 Building of the Union Pacific Railroad

Jack & Dan Casment track layers took his track men oute to North Platt in the month of March 1867 Getting think reddy to lay track when the whether permited the end of track a short discance West of North Platt Put up a large Building this was well stocked with Pervision for men and Beast Beside laying suplies of track suplies reddy to start Buidling as soon as the weather permited our outfit was made up as 3 sow Belly Pasinger Coaches one for sleeping 2 Pennservania Dining sitting beside 4 Box Cars for cooking and storage a flatt car for storage of tooles and Blacksmithing 2 lurry or small flats with 4 rollers to lay rails with an egin to do the swiching with our outfitt oute of the way we shoved our Suplie to end of track trow off suplied on both sides where mule teams waited ties Bridge Timbers the grade being reddy for the tie layer then comes the Iron Rails and track Works

over

A gang of mormon come to North Platt goin to Salt Lake

 

Comencing laying track our Foremen were most all milatary men

Jack & Dan Casement Contrastor

Col Wilcox Sectary of Suplies

Cap Cleton and horse Dilever of Suplies

Cap Mulvey tie hauling

Michel Guilford forman of track laying

Foreman Haull tie laying

Caplain Weed tie laying

Jim Daily forman of spiker

Paddy Miles liner and finisher

Killroy heder

Royan heder

Wilhelm Blacksmith

Two cooks

One Baker

One Butcher

herd of beef catle herded along

2. Waiter for table

1 Engin Enginear and fireman

2 herder

Blind Tom the horse that Pulled the iron Car

John the coloured man who drove the mules hauling Water to drink

Old Blind Tom start Pulled the car when laying the rails alway in right place took him back to [Orhio?]

 

Comenced laying track April 1867 layed from one to 2 mile a day gaining up to 8 mil on a test day making camp By correling our Waggin half-cicle pulling against our outfit cars putting our stock inside and watchen gaurding our news of 4 thousant indian under Chief red cloud was on the War Path near Rauling Wyoming at Oglally recived a consment of the first Brige loading rifles a company of Panee Indian scouts organezed By the goverment equiped with good horses good guns the Spenser Caribin Comand by Mayjor Frank North and Brother ther duty was to scoute around and keep the hostil from rusling on us unawer done good service a half Breed name Charly a Paunee Indian Scout were great friends he caried his bow and arrow and also a spencer Caribine and new well how to us them in one rade the Panee scouts captured 90 horses from the histole Sioux Brought them in to our camp and herded them in aboute 2 weeks the owners came and got them the proved to be Freighter horsed the hostil indians captured distroying and killing the whole outfit

 

Building UPRR

Starting laying track laying from one to 2 miles increasing to 8 miles a test day against CP track laying Indian Signels at Ofallens Bluffs by day and night on Frighter Seeking help our Preparation to meet chiefe red cloude heading East with four thousant indians recieved a suplie of arms called Burnside rifles Bridge loader indians running off the grade stock and horses correlled our stock making 1/2 Cirkle our stock inside our picket at night [] our pickets at night Bigg Springs Falls alarm Panee Souts under Frank North had to go to fort Macpherson for suplies away 2 weeks tought we heard a great Indian War Cry & call for Volinteer 50 responders the night dark and raining We lokated the troubles their hearing loaded teams got mired in the swamps and the raised a greate War Cry to make them pull oute of the swamp

Banner image: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming, U.S.A.; Original Buffalo Bill Museum Collection, P.69.118