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

 

WARRIORS GATHER TO ENACT BATTLES FOR MOVIE FILMS

Noted Soldiers Speed Toward Rushville, Neb., to Join Buffalo Bill.

GEN. MILES ON HIS WAY

Greatest Pageants Ever Photographed to Be Staged in Perfect Detail.

Rushville, Neb., Oct. 4 — The gathering in of the lines has begun. From everywhere there are speeding toward Rushville the men who will make possible the motion pictures of the great historical battles in the lives of Buffalo Bill and the generals who participated in the winning of the West.

And Rushville forms the meeting place. From the East, from the West, from the North and South, they are coming, generals who are returning to the scenes of youthful conflicts, returning to fight again the battles they fought in the days when Indians swarmed the hills and when dangers and death were everywhere. And chief among them is Lieut. Gen. Nelson A. Miles.

A telegram was received from General Miles this afternoon saying that he was on the way, arriving in Rushville early in the week.

MILES TO COMMAND TAKING OF PICTURES.

And on General Miles depends much, for it will be he who will command the taking of the great historical pictures. It will be he who will form the center of direction in the vast enterprise; it will be he who will see that every detail of the pictures which form the Indian fighting history of this country — and of Buffalo Bill, too — shall be absolutely correct. For it was General Miles who was in command at most of the battles, and who received the surrender of the Indians.

Now, while they wait for the arrival of the general, the motion picture directors are going over the scenarios written by Gen. Charles King, familiarizing themselves with the details of every scene, so that they may be ready upon the arrival of General Miles to go into the active plans of picture taking.

While Rushville is miles from the actual point of picture taking, yet it forms the gathering place for the men who are speeding toward it. With General Miles are also Brig. Gen. Marion P. Maus and others of the eastern brigade.

FROM THE WEST COMES BUFFALO BILL.

From the West there comes Buffalo Bill, leaving the hunting wilds of Wyoming for the old scenes of Indian days. Colonel Cody will arrive here tomorrow night. About the same time, Brig. Gen. Frank D. Baldwin, who leaves Denver tonight, will arrive. And one by one, the other generals who will participate in the greatest historical pictures that "movie men," ever have experienced, will make their appearance in Rushville, enter into conference with General Miles, and prepare for their parts in living over again the old days of death and danger.

It is planned that the actual taking of the pictures will begin about October 9. Just how long the work will continue will, of course, depend entirely upon conditions. In the pans of those directing the great undertaking, there is the desire that every feature of the battles which made history in the early days of the West, shall be reproduced with exactitude, even to the weather.

REPRODUCE WEATHER AS TOLD IN HISTORY.

If a battle was fought in the snow, then the taking of the pictures of that battle shall be in a snowstorm. Once a company of negro soldiers marched 100 miles in twenty-four hours and saved a regiment of white men pitted against the overwhelming numbers of Indians. And in the pictures that march will be shown — shown as accurately as the wonderful brain of General Nelson A. Miles can make it.

Every minute, it seems, the telegrams are pouring into Rushville today, asking for information regarding the taking of the pictures, and for permission to witness the undertaking. And the spectators, although the battlefield is far from cities or even towns, will be many. Newspaper correspondents from all over the country are to be present.

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