The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-01-09
THE BoYHooD OF BUFFALO BILL.

Buffalo Bill is great hero with young Ameri-
cans everywhere And we'll he may be, for he has
always been an honest earnest, reliable, energetic
man: and il is these qualities, and not good luck,
that have made him what he is. Colonel William
F. Cody. for that is the real name of Buffalo Bill,
was born in Iowa in 1874. His father moved to
Kansas while the boy was still very young, and
there his childhood was passed. Kansas then
territory threatened with civil war because of Diff
ferences of opinion on the slavery question. Will
hams father was killed III dispute in which he
favored the free state side, and at the age of Il
wears the boy was left to support himself.
As Bill had been familiar with horses almost
from his boyhood and could ride any horse no mat
ter how vicious it might be, he naturally sought
employment 'in which this knowledge of horses
could be used. His first work as one of a band
of men who drove a herd of cattle the west
ern plains to Utah. the cattle to feed are army
sent against the Mormons The next year he was
engaged as wagon masters assistant for another
trip to Utah, at $50 a month.
When Bill was only IA he was made "pony ex-
press" rider The pony express was the first mail
across the continent. The riders made their trips
of from forty to seventy-fve miles in about three
hours changing horses three more times. A
light bag of mail carried the horse sad
die As the company charged 81 So for trans
porting a letter from the plains to California, it
was valuable load which the rider had III his
The work was hard and dangerous, the plains
were infested with Indians, and the horses were
many of them ugly and unreliable.
Bits mother worried so much about her sons
danger as a pony express rider that he gave up
the work and tried trapping. He did pretty we'll
as trapper until he slipped on a bit of stone and
broke his leg. His companion set the leg in most
primitive fashion and started for the settlement,
100 miles away, to get help. For nearly a month
the boy lay in hole in the ground rooted over with
grass and dried leaves. lie had sufficient food to
last until help should come but the twelfth day
,-+o1o of tbn all
Then heavy snowstorm came and wolves began
to prowl about All in all it was a terrible expert
ence but the boy hardy and still alive when
the long help arrived, and he could be re-
moved to civilization once more
The civil war began when Bill was Il years old.
Though he was still but boy in years, he was old
in experience, and his knowledge of the Indians
made him valuable a scout. In this work he
served in the west and later in the SOUTH through
out the entire war.
1t was as buffalo killer that Mr. Cody gained
his well known nickname, Buffalo Bill. While the
Kansas Pacific railway in process of construc-
ton the company's men had to be supplied with
food. Our hero was employed to furnish meat from
the wild buffalo on the plains In less than two
years he had killed more than 1000 of the ami
mails and since that time he has been known as
Buffalo Bill.
In 1868 General Sheridan took the field against
the Indians and made Mr.. Cody his chief of
scouts. His reason for appointing the plainsman
to this important position General Sheridan tells
in his autobiography. Mr.. Cody was first brought
to his notice. he says, by bringing dispatch dis
lance of So miles through section infested with
Indians. The message contained intelligence that
it was necessary should be carried ninety five miles
further on. As this also a very dangerous jour
ney, one could be found to undertake it. Once
more Buffalo Bill came to the rescue, and after a
few hours of rest he took fresh horse and started
off again. Once only on the way did he stop for
rest; then OH again he went. With the return and
all, the brave frontiersman rode almost $50 miles
III less than sixty hours. Probably few such rides
have been made in this country. for it not
simply the distance that called for skill and endur
ance but it undertaken in the worst of weather,
and where every stop carried him further into dan
ger from the Indians.
Buffalo Bill had learned in early youth that
frontier life did not necessarily mean the life of
rufian He is gentleman, in the best sense of
the word. His life history is worth studying not
because of any success that has been his but that
we may profit by knowing what elements of cour-
age, honesty, truthfulness, and making the most of
opportunity contributed to that success.-Our
Young People.
Child PLAYS With Lions