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

"BUFFALO BILL."

The lion of the London season of three years ago, "Buffalo Bill," has been summoned to the seat of war at Pine Ridge, Dakota. It is not, however, by virtue of the amazing skilfulness as a sure and rapid shot which he displayed at the Wild West Show of 1887 that Colonel William Cody—to give him his full title—has been called to the front. His capacities as a scout are pre-eminent, and universally known, and it is the recollection of the services he rendered during the Indian rising of 1868 that has occasioned the requisition of his skill in the present outbreak. At that time he was chief of the Government scouts, a post to which he was appointed by General Sheridan, who had the highest opinion of his prowess. General Carr, also a famous Indian fighter, under whom "Buffalo Bill" served on several occasions, averred that "his trailing, when following Indians, is simply wonderful," and that "his eyesight is better than a good field-glass." This extraordinary skill as a scout was due to a long course of training in camp and field, and his numerous adventures, if fully narrated, would fill a goodly-sized volume. At the early age of nine, even—that is in 1852, for he was born in 1843—he effected the capture of a trio of horse thieves in a manner which foreshadowed the marvellous coolness and courage he thenceforth invariably showed. Not long afterward he earned the soubriquet of "Buffalo Billy" for a daring bare-back ride on a buffalo bull which he singled out of a herd as it passed under a tree on which he was perched. He rode the animal right into camp with the herd at its tail, a feat which he repeated in 1868, when the diminutive "Buffalo Billy" was converted into the "Buffalo Bill" by his admiring comrades. Another of his early tòurs de force was an extraordinary ride of 320 miles, at an average of fifteen miles an hour. He had [drawing] PHIL E "BUFFALO BILL" (COLONEL WM. CODY), WHO HAS BEEN DESPATCHED TO THE SEAT OF THE INDIAN EXCITEMENT IN DAKOTA. ridden seventy-five miles with a mail-bag on a certain occasion, to find that the man to whom it was to be consigned for further conveyance had been killed in a skirmish. Buffalo Bill thereupon volunteered to ride out the dead man's run, a distance of eighty-five miles, and after accomplishing this he returned on his tracks, and re-rode the whole distance a second time. Of his feats of arms the most famous was his encounter with Yellow Hand, a chief of the Cheyennes, by whom he was challenged to single combat in the face of two opposing forces of Indians and American soldiers of the line. A fierce duel was fought, in which the white man proved victorious and the chief was killed. It was "Buffalo Bill's" services in this campaign of 1876, when the Indians were as troublesome as they now threaten to be, that his fame was sounded more widely abroad, and extended to regions more barren of exciting incident than were the borders. Hence resulted the production of a melodrama, "Buffalo Bill, the King of Bordermen," on the boards of a New York theatre. The real Buffalo Bill happening to enter the building during the progress of the play, he was received with a continued outburst of cheering, necessitating his rising to address the audience. Subsequently he was offered a thousand dollars a week by other theatrical managers merely to walk on the stage. He replied that he would "rather face a thousand Indians than attempt to speak to as may people in a play-house." Eventually, however, he was induced to appear in "The Scouts of the Plains," a specially written piece, the success of which was very great, the hero's portion of the profits amounting to ten thousand dollars. The Wild West Show was the ultimate outcome of this initial histrionic effort. The great show is of too recent occurrence to need any description. The portrait of "Buffalo Bill" is from a photograph by Messrs. Elliot and Fry, 55, Baker Street, W.