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

AT THE WILD WEST.

NEW AND DRAMATIC FEATURES IN BUFFALO BILL'S SHOW.

Buffalo Bill has made his remarkable show more interesting than ever by two new performances, which were introduced yesterday afternoon. The first is an illustration of the way in which the savages treat their captives. A pioneer train crossing the prairie is captured by Sioux Indians. The women are bound and left lying helpless on the ground. The men are reserved for more sensational treatment. The Crows, in all their paint and feathers, range themselves in two lines, and one of the victims is selected to "run the gauntlet." At his greatest speed he dashes down the narrow avenue, while the Indians belabor him with clubs and tomahawks, and make shots at his feet with revolvers. He escapes from the crowd, but two of the savages follow him and
MAKE HIS ULTIMATE FATE SURE.
This, however, is merely the playfulness of the Redskin. Another victim illustrates the more cruel mood. He is bound to a stake and a slow fire is lighted beneath him. But ere his torture has well begun, succor arrives, and the Indians are dispersed by a band of whites. The second incident depicts a feature of Western life, of which Englishmen still hear frequently. It represents the methods of Judge Lynch. The judge is a smart man, and his justice is swift. The crime and the penalty follow more closely on one another under his rule than they do in the more indolent regions of the East, as the illustration at Earl's - court shows. A man comes in, apparently tracking some one. Finding a convenient shelter he lies down and goes to sleep. By-and-by a cowboy riding a horse appears, and decides to rest awhile. He ties his horse to a stake and then takes a nap in his rug. The first comer wakes and finds his opportunity. He crawls stealthily to the sleeping cowboy, unties his horse, mounts it, and gallops away. When the robbed one opens his eyes, and finds his horse gone, his irritation leads him to track the thief. He strikes the trail, but
SOON GIVES UP THE CHASE.
Turning back, he is met by another party of cowboys, and, hearing his tale, they go in hot pursuit. Ere long they come up with the fugitive, and a lasso drawn tight round his chest brings him swiftly to the ground. At the horse's tail he is drawn to a tree, a noose is put round his neck, the free end of the rope is thrown over a bough, and a moment later the thief is dangling in mid-air. A few parting shots from the cowboys, and the whole business is over, save that the man's body is discovered a little later and carried off by the sheriff. It is a very simple process. No trial takes place, not even afterwards; wherein the men of the prairies are behind the standard of the men of Jeddart, who hanged first and inquired if it were a just penalty when the victim had done kicking. These new features are distinctly dramatic, and they give a new relish to the already fascinating program of the "Wild West."