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

INDIANS AS SOLDIERS.

The Proposition Meets the Warm Approval of Buffalo Bill.

New York Herald: "Secretary Proctor's [1] idea of enlisting Indians as soldiers, up to the 25,000 limit, as he is legally empowered to do, is a good one," said Col. William F. Cody, who was drinking lemonade straight at the Hoffman House yesterday when I saw him. "It has my hearty approval. It can be done successfully, and it is a good thing all around. You know the special law failed to pass either house, but the Secretary of War has a good deal of authority as it is, and can do as he proposes without trouble. There is but one thing in the way of a success, and that would be the reluctance of the Indians to enlist for any such length of time as five years. The Indian is very chary about making long contracts. But he makes the best soldier in the world, and we have three companies of them now—about 150 men—who are unequaled as light cavalrymen. I wish you could see the magnificent formation of the Indians when they brought in the hostiles to Standing Rock Agency. It was only a bluff, of course, but it made a magnificent spectacle—fully equal to any by the regulars. The warriors surrounded the noncombatants, with their tepees, &c., marching in columns of four, and just as the soldiers would have done. The Indian is tractable and easily disciplined, and there could be no objection to him."