The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-05-19
THE. Chief Of ALL SCOUTS
A Frontier Hero Whose Name Will
Long, Live in = Country's
History.
sss stt aEAFfftitts8 Tats ~ ma
Col. William F. Cody and His Val
liable Services to the
Government.
f, N.e
Praised by Custer, Logan md Sheridan and
Endorsed by Buell.. Emory. Mer-
rltt and Sherman.

there exists considerable doubt % TO
whether OF not such q thing % . real live
frontier scout ever existed, says the Chi
cage Mail. YET along the borders Of the
Arkansas river and it, numerous tributs-
Eies. on the sides OF the black hills. are
hundreds OF little graves where no loving
hand has set even q hcadstons to mark
The spot where a scout lies. whilo ON II,
great prairies and in tho river bottoms and
valleys hundtsds OF little heaps OF whit
sned. bones show whore faithful scouts. IN
twos and threes. have fallen beneath the
shower Of hostile Arrows.
Among those. who have survived the aw-
full privations Of this hazardous lite, tho
most sonspicuous Of all the heroes of the
plains IL Col. w. F. Cody. or as he il better
known, Buffalo Bill. During the past
thirty years no name has been so often
mentioned in the war Office reports as that
of Col. Cody. In the writings Of Generals
Custer, Logan and Sheridan. as we'll as
many Other famous Indian fighters, Col.
Cody is n prominent figure and is held to
the light a. the ideal scout, q courageous
soldier and q patriot Of the stamp to which
the west owes its present prosperity. No
thoughtful person can hesitate TO give such
men as Wild Bill Hitchcock. California
Joe, 4 ank Gruard. gallant Jim White and
Buffalo Bill the undyinR credit they de-
serve. OF these brave mon who guided our
little frontier regiments in and out OF the
hostile countries. who rode by night and
day to fight and die beside the wagon tram
or adobe cabin Of some unfortunate settler.
Ruf1nlo Bill alone remains. The hlsto y
Of his life is but . part OF that OF his co1n-
Thousands of letters from such mon as
Gems. Sheridan, Custer, Logan. Buell.
Emory, Merritt and sherman. show how
high Col. Cody was held in their estimation
and how much confidence theae warriors
placed in his abilities and advice In late
Years Col. j.. W. Forsythe and Gen. Miles
have shown the same confidence. which the
records of the war department proved was
never violated. Though in the service Of
his country many years and the hero o. a
thousand desperate ,ides. and though he
souid Justly claim the credit Of q dozen
battles, Col. Cody has asked nothing from
the government beyond the ordinary pay
of a scout when on actual duty. and. whi!e
holding . colonel's commissions, he has al
why's preferred to assume the more danger
Gus duties of q scout. !.
Il IL as il should be, that the honor Of
conveying to the residents of foreign lands
a. least a faint idea of the hardships and
privations that marked the onward march
OF Gu6 plOA0UAu AL OyAoA
yolve upon the man whose very name was
held in reverence by those Of the weaker
rex who, by chanoo or fortune, had found
their way Into the far weat; whose name
has in war time. brought something AKIN
to fear to The stoio red man.
Buffalo Bill ia proud of his title; he thinks
moro ofrthe uncouth appellntion than Of
tho military handle "colonel," which his
army connection entities him to use. Ncz
Ia this altogether to be wondered at. IL was
-. Ait. 4n@-p4~oAu khot hn Las n al thA
cunning of the copper-sklnned RboriRinala
and became an adept in fighting them with
their own weapon-devilish stealth. Undes
this title w. +. Cody earned the reputation
of being the greatest scout on earth"
In all the broken country known ns the
far west there il not q footpath. perhaps.
where the treacherous warrior has trod, but
Buffalo Bill can point 1t out. No man TO-
day, either in or out Of the army. 10 better
acquainted with the general topography of
that territory.
The march of civilization has been grad
nal. In 1865 there were fully 1910 Paw
nee, Sioux, Cheyenne, Kiowa and A.ara-
hoe Indians in and about the Bad Lands
and No Mans Land districts. Each sue
ceedinR year saw the great tribes lsssensd
dence could only be liksned to the disap-
pearanoe Of the mighty he DIS of buffalo
that once roamod the plains. PERHAPS the
Sioux uprising in 1891 is the last revolt OF
Indians the world Will nave to contend
with. To the young minds tho tales OF
early struggles are always weleome as well
az beneficial and no ono will argue but that
an illustr alton of those pioneer times 10 a
great aid to the rising generation. Nor will
anyone contend that the effort could be
successfully accomplished by any other
than one who had spent a life on the plains.
William F.. Cody knew scarce any home
for years but the rolling p~rairies and broken
hills. To him the whizz of the hated red
mans arrow was sweet music for it por-
tended q fray; tho battle clouds were many
nights his only shelter from the heavens.
AZ the years rolled on William T. Cody was
lost to view and in his place Buffalo Bill at
tanned fame and honor. To-day he stands
above all 40 the best all around crack shot
and his steady arm has sent more than ont
rsd-faced warrior to the happy haunting
ground aud, %perchanoe. q long account
It is. then, fitting and proper that Buffalo
Bill should assume to teach the CROWNS
generation the great lesson Of life ON tn
frontier In bygone days. |