Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1901-06-22

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
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 1 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
ent streams. That's how learned to
know the Indian-by going with trad
ers who trade with 'em for furs. When
was along in my teens I 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. 1 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
all the tribes were talking about the
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 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, Penrose, Palmer, Gibbon, Can
by, Henry, Whistler, Crosby, Greedy,
Sudley, Mills, Hayes, Schwitzer and
many others. Most of these officers
were totally unfamiliar with the
plains. and then came into existence
the man of whom "Bill' Cody is an
ideal representative 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 to
look around for fellows like me- who
had been raised out there. When
Gen. Sherman came West in '65 and
'66 to make his great treaty with the
Kiowa and the Comanche Indians,
was first employed as a scout and dis
patch carrier. Well, he soon found
that 1 knew the country better than
any man in his command, and he
made me his guide. 1 felt considerable
pride in my responsibility, too, for
was pretty young to have an old army
veteran like Sherman leaning on
me-" He paused
"How young?" asked.
"Nineteeni" he said emphaticaIly
and in two years-that is, in '6S-when
Sherman took command of the field,
he made me chief of scouts and guide
of the United States army
Scouting was a trader" asked
TITS a gift. The Indian is the nat
ural scout, and he'll keep a white man
hustling, with all his clothes on, and
no sleep either to beat him."
1.-The scout knew his gamer
Yes, sir, as well as the Indian could
hunt his A scout had to have eyes.
ears and brain working overtime when
he was on the trail. can tell you
you followed the tracks of the In
dian ponies?"
Tracks. nothingi" said "Bill" con-
temptuously- That's no sawdust
country out there; it's all grass. You
couldn't see hoof print I've fol-
lowed a single horse file by watching
the grass and noticing how it was
broken. / could tell the way the grass
broke If the Indians were travelling
fast or slow, horses packed heavy or
light, ridden by Indians or running
loose. The manner in which a moe
casin shaped its tread on the prairie
would tell me what tribe our enemy
belonged to, and by their camp en-
bers whether it was a party on the
warpath or peaceful Indians Nothing
made an army man SO sore as to have
q guide make dry camp at night, SO
that a scout had to be conversant with
the country and reach water when
nightfall came.
The subsection of the Indians was