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

Col. William F. Cody — ("Buffalo Bill") Who recently obtained a permanent injunction against the Yankee Film Company to restrain them from using his name, and restrain the distribution of a film entitled "The Terror of the Plains: or, Buffalo Bill's Downfall," recently beat death in a terrible ride. Mrs. Helen Cody Wetmore, sister of the famous frontiersman, and widow of the late Hugh A. Wetmore, a famous writer and editor, died recently at a Pasadena hospital. Col. Cody was some 300 miles inland from Tucson, Ariz., inspecting some mining property, when he received word that his sister lay dying in a Pasadena hospital. Three minutes later he had leaped into a saddle and started for the nearest railroad station, more than 100 miles away. For more than 100 miles he rode through a desert sandstorm. The desert trails were obliterated with shifting sand and rain. Twice he faced death fording swollen rivers, finally reaching Tucson safe. From there the trip was made by train, and he arrived at the bedside of his dying sister eight hours before the death angel.