Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-12-19
WILLIAM MATTHEWS0N.
A GENUINE HERO OF THE WILD
WESTERN PLAINS.
How He Became a Favorite With the
Indians and How He Saved Much
BIoodshed-Some of His Thrilling Ad-
ventures-His Title Buffalo Bill"
Especial Corresponiencc.l

cut, square shuuldered; you would say a
man on the square You looked at him.
Modest as the brave ever are, not disposed to
talk until he is sure Of his man. But when
he does talk the days of Daniel Boone do not
seem so far away. See him as he sits in
front Of his ranch, grave as a Roman sen
ator. Wonder galloping across the plains
comes an Indian. As he comes nearer We
see he has the physique of a giant. Matthew
sons face kinileS.
At is Big Bow" he says
The Indian rides within forty PAGES Of us,
but veers of toward the Quaker agency.
As he does he shouts and points that way,
"Sinpah Zilhah, Come, agent"
There has beer trouble; he wants Slnpah
Zilhah-"the dangerous one with long hair on
his chin"-as the Kiowas have named
Matthewson, 20 help him get at this Quaker
agent, who seems 10 him half squaw man.
! How has this man made himself a power
with the fiercest chief among the Kiowas?
/ Years ago in the state of New York was
lad with bot, restless heart; that heart had
not been made restless by the cheap novel, for
the cheap novel was not yet. His heart was
restless because it was a big heart, full of
/ courage and high daring. That heart had
been fired by Il book, but it was a very noble
I book, the life Of one of our very bravest
Americans John {. Fremont Well the boy
did what my boy readers had better not
do unless they are absolutely sure they have
as lofty heart as William Matthewson had;
he ran away, and he struck for the path the
great pathfinder had found-the overland
route to California Out and out he went
into the heart of what was called once the
great American desert, but which never was
a desert, only a great plain, stretching,
stretching, as the great Lake Michigan
stretches, and which, perhaps was the bottom
Of great lake once The ranch where the
youth stopped was also in the heart Of the
Indian country. The Kiowas were there, and
fierce, fearless fellows they were, who could
I look you square in the face without finChing
The COmanches, too, occasionally swept up
there, short and sguatry, inferior looking
save on horseback, and they did not look well
square i'll the eye-they cast furtive side
wise glanCaS. The kiowas took lovingly to
him when they came in. And while he was
learning frontier lore from the ranchmen he
was learning as fast as he could the kiowa
language.
At - he pushed out further alone in the
kiowa country and established a ranch. II is
enough OF a trading ranch TO give him an ex-
cuse to stay among them. His ranch, being
the fartheSt out this side the Rocky noun
taius, is haven TO weary overlanders to Cal
ifornia.
MatthewsOn, besides the Kiowa language
had learned the sign language, which is the
common language between all of the tribes
If you ask an Indian how far any place is
and il he does not speak your language, he /
will tell you how many sleeps off it is. \
sleep is about twenty miles. II il il about |
200 miles off he will lay his head in his hand, /
close his eyes and then hold up both hands
it is ten sleeps off. II he wished TO tell you
you lied he would thrust out two iEiex I'm.
gers from his mouth, making an obUu.e angle, /
You talk forked.- Matthewson understood
this sign language perfectly, but the Indians /
did not know this. Some Indians Of another /
tribe had come in They were talking this /
sign language 10 group of Kiowas:
"What Is itf'
"A prisoner got away. Prisoner white !
and young girl Stole one Of their ponies ,
Got away in a storm. VIII give one, two,
three, four, five cattle Kiowa catch her"
'All at once it flashed over me-" he said /
"A young girl alone on the plains, two tribes .
banding to catch her! My brave one I'm on .
your side, | sold them or half gave them .
the goods to get them away. slipped away
myself cautiously, quietly. | saddled two
horses, my mare Bess and a splendid horse .
had. l took my carbine and two Colt re
volveTs; told some struggling kiowas that
were still there, Ny cattle gone; l must GO
hunt them | pushed Off on the course I
knew she would likely take. In few
hours | struck trail | examine it close;
yes it is hers! Before this l strike a
small band of Kiowa Indians who were scour-
81. II. 8 l.,
ing' Hunt my cattle; four got way; two
red, two spotted lpush on. follow the
trail as long as | can see; camp; partner was
young then, didn't sleep muchl As soon
as / can see the bent and crushed grass Of the
trail again | push on, east, ever eastward!
That girl has got sense Us well as pluck She
knows the settlement lies there. Bess tosses
her head and leads out in long stride. Sup
pose those red devils strike across and get
ahead Of me! Well, if it comes to the worst,
/ couldn't 80 down in a better cause. Hour
after hour nothing but the sweep and hateful
ssmeness Of the stretch of the prairie 1t is
in the middle of the second evening. By
God! there's a speck! Come BeSs, we'll
make that speck grow bigger Its a horse!
and there's come one on it.
Partner, I'm not the praying kind, but
around and saw me she was nigh frightened
TO death. Her eyes looked just like fright
ened fawn's, but the next time she turned
they looked like fawn's when it finds out its
mother has scared it. Her Indian pony was
shaky. had her ON my led horse in a jify.
We pushed for the srst station or ranch on
the route. We changed horses there and still
pushed on We were not safe yet. l carried
bar IN ha S,ati in, X spSaS
Her folks had all been murdered in Texas
She made her home there afterwards Part
ner, it would make pretter ending for ME
TO say | married that girl; but l didn't; my
time hadn't come yet Later on la lated
splendid girl up off a Kansas prairie"
In lSiJ William Mat;hewSon earned the
title of Buffalo Bill The Kansas droughts
had cut short two successive crops. Settlers
were absolutely starving. Kiowas, Sioux
and Cheyenres were on the warpath. Again
the chivalrous knight arose in Matthewson
Out in the range OF these hostile tribes were
plenty of buffalo He got wagon train
together and said, "Follow me-" In a few
days the wagons were back to the settle
ments, loaded down with buffalo meat,
while he remained out there. T.;n after
train goes out, to come back with life saving
meat Grateful settlers would say: Who
killed your buffalof' Buffalo killer him
SELF they would just say Then few Of
those who knew him would call him Bill
Then some teamSter, catching the name, when
he was ssked, would reply, at was Bill
Buffalo Bill" That was in 1850 Frontiers
men say there is no account of it being used
earlier.
During the latter part of the civil war ths