William F. Cody - The Adventures of Buffalo Bill

With the death of William Frederick Cody, at Denver on January 10, 1917,there passed away the last of that intrepid band of pathfinders who gavetheir lives to the taming of the West, a gallant company of brave mensteadfastly pushing back the frontier year by year and mile by mile, andceasing from their labors only when the young and vigorous life of thePacific States had been linked up for all time with the older civilizationof the Atlantic seaboard.

The fame of Colonel Cody, or Buffalo Bill as he was popularly called,recalls that of Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Kit Carson, but he cannotbe said to rank with those earlier heroes in point of actual nationalservice. He played no large part in the upbuilding of our ContinentalEmpire. Yet he was made of the same stern stuff, and, on his morecircumscribed stage, he was a gallant and picturesque figure, a truesuperman of the brave old days. When, in 1883, Cody gave up his rovinglife and organized the Wild West show it meant that the Wild West itselfwas gone for good and all. Together with Boone, Crockett, and Carson hislife rounds out the century of continental occupation, counting from theyear Boone crossed the mountains into Kentucky to the final completion ofthe Union Pacific Railway. Boone was born in Pennsylvania and died inMissouri; Crockett was born west of the Alleghanies, in Tennessee, anddied in Texas; Carson and Cody were born west of the Mississippi, and diedin Colorado.

Perhaps the most picturesque period in Buffalo Bill's life was his serviceas a rider in the service of the famous Pony Express just before the CivilWar. This was perhaps the most perilous job that a man could undertake,and young Cody was barely fifteen years old. Yet he had had previousexperience in Indian fighting and at the age of eleven he had killed hisfirst Indian. Shortly afterward the Civil War began and Cody enlisted inthe Union Army, serving as a scout. When the fighting was over hereturned to the Far West. The transcontinental railways were in process ofconstruction, a romantic episode in American history fittingly depicted inthe glowing pages of Zane Grey's The U. P. Trail. The builders of theKansas Pacific Railroad wanted buffalo meat to feed their laborers andCody undertook the contract. In eighteen months (1867-68) he killed 4,280buffaloes, and thereby earned his title of Buffalo Bill.

In 1868 Cody rejoined the army as scout and guide, and quickly made areputation as a man of infinite endurance and daring. He was attached toGeneral Sheridan's headquarters at Hays City, Kansas; and soon afterreporting for duty he learned that the commander wanted a dispatch sent toFort Dodge, a distance of ninety-five miles. The Indians had recentlykilled two or three dispatch riders on this route, and none of the scoutswas anxious to take on the job. Even a promised bonus of several hundreddollars found no takers. Cody volunteered and made the dangerous trip insafety. But at Fort Dodge he found that the commanding officer there wasvery anxious to send dispatches to Fort Larned, and again the regularscouts shunned the task. On went Buffalo Bill to Fort Larned, sixty-fivemiles farther. About half-way he stopped to water his mule and the animalgot away from him. For thirty-five miles Cody trailed the obstinate bruteon foot, never quite able to get within clutch of his bridle rein. Atdaybreak Fort Larned came in sight and the danger from roving Indians wasover. "Now, Mr. Mule, it is my turn," exclaimed the exhausted andthoroughly infuriated scout, raising his gun to his shoulder. Like themajority of Government mules he was not easy to kill. He died hard, but hedied.

After a few hours' sleep it was necessary to begin the return journey, asanswering dispatches had to be sent to General Sheridan. Again the ridewas made in safety, and one of the greatest feats in all scout history hadbeen accomplished. It should be explained that, previous to beginning theride to Fort Dodge, Cody had been in the saddle for twenty hours, coveringa distance of 140 miles. His grand total for a period of fifty-eighthours was 365 miles (including thirty-five miles on foot), an average ofover six miles an hour.

A little later Cody was appointed chief scout and guide for the FifthCavalry in a campaign against the hostile Sioux and Cheyennes, and he hadmany narrow escapes from the tight places into which his adventurousdisposition was always leading him. He also served as chief scout for theRepublican River Expedition of 1869.

While living near Fort McPherson, Nebraska, in 1870, Cody was appointedjustice of the peace by General Emory to take care of certain civilianoffenders against the common law. Buffalo Bill protested that he knewnothing about law, but General Emory was insistent and Cody went over toNorth Platte and was sworn in. That very night he was aroused by a man whohad a complaint to make. One of his horses had been stolen by the boss ofa passing herd, and he wanted a writ of replevin. "I don't know what areplevin is," answered 'Squire Cody, as he took down his old Lucretiarifle and patted it gently, "but I guess this will do as well." Incompany with the complainant Cody galloped after the cavalcade and soonovertook the offender against the ethical code. At first the boss wasdefiant, but when he realized who the 'Squire was he quickly weakened. "Ididn't care a blank about you being justice of the peace and constablecombined," he explained, "but when I found out you were Buffalo Bill itwas time to lay down my hand." The 'Squire read the fellow a lecture onthe iniquity of horse stealing, collected a fine of one hundred and fiftydollars, reclaimed the animal, and declared that court was adjourned.

In 1872 the Russian Grand Duke Alexis visited this country, and a Far Westhunting expedition was arranged in his honor. Buffalo Bill acted as guideand chief huntsman. The Grand Duke, under Cody's tutelage, succeeded inbagging several handsome heads, and, in token of his appreciation, hepresented to Buffalo Bill his almost priceless fur overcoat and awonderful set of sleeve links and scarfpin studded with diamonds andrubies. In this same year Cody was elected a member of the NebraskaLegislature. Later on he resigned and went to Chicago, where he made hisfirst appearance on the stage as an actor in a play written around himselfand entitled, "The Scout of the Plains."

In 1874 Cody acted as guide to a grand hunting party given by GeneralSheridan to a number of wealthy and distinguished Eastern men. Cody becamea great favorite with everybody, and the next winter he went on to NewYork to visit his new friends. He wore his famous sombrero and his fringedhunting suit of buckskin everywhere, and they created a mild sensation onBroadway and Fifth Avenue. Then he went back to the West and tried thehum-drum life of a farmer and ranchman.

The famous Wild West show was staged for the first time at Omaha on May17, 1883. It was a tremendous success from the start, and Colonel Cody wasbesieged with applications from all over the country. He went to Englandin 1887; royalty patronized this truly original and thrillingentertainment, and Buffalo Bill's fortune was made. In later yearsseveral successful European tours were undertaken.