The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1901-07-18

Col. w. F. Cody buffalo Bid is, as
"a general rule, rather economical In
the matter of giving interviews to the
public press, but while in Boston with
his great educational exhibition the
other day he was induced to say a
few words about himself and the de-
velopment of the great West which
will be of interest to readers gener-
ally. Speaking of his early life he said:
There were a heap of occupations
for boys in those days, and | guess
tackled 'em all; driving loose cattle
behind a bull train, carrying dispatch
.es for freighting outfits, following and
going with trappers for furs on differ
eent streams. That's how | learned to
know the Indian-by going with trad
-ers who trade with EN- for furs. When
I was along in my teens l was per-
fectly familiar with all the country
from the Canadian river in the south
to the Yellowstone of the north, and
the lands between the Rocky noun
tains and the Missouri river. | became
thoroughly acquainted with the In
dams, knew their favorite haunts, their
camps and their bad lands"
"What was the real cause of the first
Indian ~uprising?"
ct was the effect of the bad exam
pie set them by the white men. Dur
ing the war of the rebellion the In
dian heard that the white men were
killing each other off. They kept
hearing about it for two years, until
y L $1,000 441JS~x about thu
gradual extinction of the white man,
who had wonderful guns and ammu-
milton. At last they held a grand
meeting which led to a general up
rising. They obtained modern guns
and armed themselves like the white
men, and it was their impression that
they could sweep across the continent
clear through to the great river the
Atlantic, and ~recapture their country
from the whites
The material for western romance
began at this time with a vengeance,
and followed the dramatic flavor that
literature had gained from the sor-
rows Of the civil war. The United
States government is not a romantic
organization, however, and as soon as
peace was declared in Washington be-
tween the North and the South, the
entire forces of the regular army were
hurried out to the frontier, command
ed in turn by such men as Sherman,
Sheridan, Hancock, Custer, Carr, Miles,
Crook, Augur, Ord, Hazen, Emery,
Duncan, Forsythe, King, Reynolds,
Terry, P~enrose, Palmer, Gibbon, Can
by, Henry, Whistler, Crosby, Greedy,
SudIey, Mills, Hayes, Schwitzer and
many others. Most of these officers
were totally unfamiliar with the
plains. and hen came into existence
the man of whom bill" Cody is an
ideal representative-the scout.
"You see, when these army fellows
came out our way" continued Col
Cody, "the question was, Who could
they find to act as guides and scouts
The miners were inefficient; they
didn't tell much about the hiding
places of the Indians, SO they began tx
look around for fellows like me, whC
had been raised out there. Whe1
Gen. Sherman came West in '65 ant
$50 to make his great treaty with thu
Kiowa and the Comanche Indians,
was first employed as a scout and dis
patch carrier. Well, he 500 foun'
that l knew the country better thai
any man in his command, and h
made me his guide. felt considerabl
pride in my responsibility, too, for
was pretty young to have an old arm
veteran like Sherman leaning O
me-" He paused.
"How young?" l asked.
"Nineteen!" he said, emphatically
and in two years-that is, in '6S-whe
Sherman took command of the fielt
he made me chief OF scouts and guild
of the United States army"
Scouting was a trader" l asked.
tits a gift. The Indian is the nat
ural scout, and he'll keep a white ma
hustling, with all his clothes on, an
no sleep either to beat him"
''The scout knew his gamer"
eyes, sir, as we'll as the Indian coul
hunt his. A scout had to have eye
ears and brain working overtime whe
he was on the trail. I can tell YOU
"You followed the tracks of the II
dian ponies?"
Tracks, nothing!" said "Bill" col
temptuously. "That's no sawdu
country out there; it's all grass. Yc
couldn't see a hoof print. I've TO
lowed a single horse file by watchir