, 1876-04-23
BUFF'LEE BEN,


| The Tale Of the Wild Erappcr Of th'
Grcnt Plains.
Il Was up in saloon on West Van Buren street
| He was gaunt young man, whose face hadu'
been washed for two months, aud who more bis
| hair long bebiud. He waa attired in sIouch
hat, bucHskln brooches. red flannel shirt opes
at the neck, and rough coat. Ho had four re
volvors aud big knife in his bolt. When fou
dry~goods clerks camo in in i group aud orderes
some beer. the first dry-goods clerk said to tb
| bar-keeper:
"Say, John, who's that cuss over yonder ?"
That" said the saioon-keeper, dropping bill
voice to an ma swe,struck whlspe[ ''tnat Is Bunle1
him to drink. Perhaps he will"
The first dry-goods clerk did go, and the-Wild
Trapper replied:
"Wall, stranger. seein' as it's you, will just
take some fire-water- As heerd Old Rod Tail
between drlnks.' Here's to us. aud he engulfed
i dose Of whisky.
"fou are.'' said tho first drr-eooda clerk,
"conoected with the trapper bnsipetB?"
In the scalp and grizzly Ane, said the Sec
ond dry-goods clerk.
"Your "reminiscences OF personal character,
doubt not, would be exciting and interesting"
said the third dry- goods clerk. -
'Iruth is stranger than fiction Take
something ?" said tho fourth dry-Goods clerk.
WALL AU. shlu Ills LIhHpHT. = l u6FeT QIluk
when I'm off the uar-trail. Il kinder makes me
ugly, ger see, and Tn apt to dror my cutlery. I
killed seven men up to st. Jo, MeZzouri, onst
Beven men thai vas talking TO as friendly as
mout be to you, but eorter got Tileu-Wau.
gimme some more whiAky."
Z. Your hand" said one Of the dry-goods
clerks. s*has often been stained With human
blood?"
.'stranger, she hev. Ths fust time you come
un and sec me at my wickiup in Montana-sec-
ond lodge on the right beyond the Yellowstone
River, and be sure you turn to the left up by
the big boulders 800 miles this sde-ask any
Iojin, aud tell him yer want to see Buff'ier Ben
and ct he don't scalp yer hell show
yer the road L., plum straight, III show
g gs5 R.oas oa s3. ssxse ny e oafs sS ,na sa is
l6 feet long, and whenever wipe out white
man I make q notch on the barrel, and there's
notches all the way up one aide and feet down
the other. went up to SEQ youz graSeyards at
like nv private graveysrds, moro posies aud
statutes, and 80 on, though they mint 30 spa
csous. Nov, jiat about three months ago
turned loose in bar-room down to Lafayette
Arkansaw, and the Coroner Was kept busy for
three days after attending to seven ipquests.
And this was just because durn skunk stood
up at the bar and improved hs mind with my
conversation, and never asked me if would
take"
(Here one of the dry-goods clerks caught Buff
loI 1eu o>es aAo Ao ekd4A4n1AG WV aA 4af!lasoH
to fill her up again. Mr. Buf'ler Ben irrigated
himself, and in reply to question concerning
hia soluuon OF the Indian question, gaid):
1njinst Wall, no; ! never keep count of The
reds wipe out. / used to when l was young
and sort Of vain, but I grew oue'n it. It looked
too much like vanity. l suppose I've not taken
the trouble to lift the bar Of the last 150 200
Indians I've killed. Before that vas kinder
particular that way, aud took 50 maor scalps
that bust the Frisco chienon market, and sew
cnteen dealers IN false hair went into bankrupt
CT. Ipjins is poor trash. Gimme q whole tribe
Of 'eu aud III w,pe EN- out as fast IS cAn load
my revolver and put it to my Bhou1der."
(Here he paused again aud Vas promptly te-
freshed. Then he continued):
II tell you, boys, If you want to sec the
choicest country on the footstool jest you 60 to
them ar Black H.lls- The only thing agin tho
country ia the buf18loes. They hatch there, and
when they take to flight it's awful to ses them
in clouds so thick you can't see the sub, and
when they light they chaw up garden sass and
sour apple trees and coru and railroad ties. and
potatoes, and telegraph poles. But thar's gold
IN the Black Hills. I've seen it myself. When
you gel down to tue bedrock yon strike $50 and
$40 pieces, and you waah out eagles and dollars
in the Streams aud up ia the roots Of the grass
you find small scrip and nickeIs. No nuggets as
know %, though did hear at shgao Of one
worth 5165, ,000."
Thus, with anecdote and information, DufT'ler
Ben whled away the time. When the four d1y-
goods clerks had settled for the drinks their bill
Amounting to 2G6j, he ba3e them an a1ection-
ate farewell, aud made them promise to call at
his tepee II ever they we're up 10 Montana. |
When they had gone out. the bar-keeper ta,d +!
aim his 20 per cent commission on the drinks |
sold through his instruuentallty. and told him !
% recollect next time that it Was grasshopDers |
hat flaw not buffaloes