The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-03-01
MRS. CODY ON THE
WITNESS STAND
Plain Story of the Wife of Buffalo
Bill.
MARRIED FORTY YEARS AGO
THE COLONEL WAS THEN A KAN
SAS Transfer.
ORTIZ PLATTE. Neb.. Feb. IS

years the wife, business partner
and helpmate of Colonel w. f.
Cody buffalo Bid, the celebrated
ex-scout, Indian fighter and show
man, today took the witness stand
in defense of her character and good
name, which have been assailed by her
husband in his sensational petition for
a divorce, and to tell her side of the
| family quarrel
! Mrs. Cody emphaticalIy denied that
| she had ever attempted to poison her
| husband, and that she had admins
| tered dragons blood or any poison to
| him for the purpose Of securing his love
or gaining control over him.
Behind Closed Doors.
The hearing was held behind closed
| doors in the law offices of Wilcox &
| Halligan, attorneys for Mrs. Cody, who
| have conducted her defense since Buff
| falo Bill filed his petition at Basin City,
| the county seat of Big Horn county,
| Wyoming
Mrs. Cody testified that she was mar
| ried to Colonel Cody in st. Louis forty
| years ago, when she was p years Of
| age.
..At the time we were married. she
! said, Colonel Cody was employed on
! the plains of Kansas as a teamster,
| and shortly after became engaged as
a buffalo hunter for the railroad con-
! tractors on the Kansas division of the
| Union Pacific. He killed thousands of
| these animals, which were used by the
| graders for meat.
Took In Sewing.
I'm 1865 we moved to what was then
! Fort Mcpherson, Neb., where Colonel
| Cody became a scout for the govern
/ ment. We lived a Fort Mcpherson fOC
| several years We were poor in those
! days, and I did what I could to assist
| in supporting the family by taking in
| sewing Colonel Cody and 1 did not
! have serious trouble during our resi-
! dence at Fort Mcpherson. The colonel
/ went on the stage in 1874. and shortly
! after this he took us to Rochester, y.
/ Y, where we lived for four years
! AT the expiration of this time we
/ came back to Nebraska and located
here at North Platte. We bought
| property here from time to time with
| earnings of the coloneTs show business.
| In 1893 we purchased our residence
| here in town. This was fixed up in
| good style, and ] prepared to welcome
! my husband home from England where
| he had been touring with his show"
Was this homecoming the occasion
of the big banquet rendered by the citi-
zens of North Platte to the colonel?"
| asked Mr.. Halligan.
Yes, sir
| Mrs Cody. did you ever administer
a drug to Colonel Cody. or any liquid
| that would injure him.
NO, sir. never did
! You frequently doctored the colonel
| when he suffered with minor ailments,
did you not?"
Yes, sir; I doctored him and gave
him different kinds of medicine for his
| little troubles when he drank
No Love Potion.
! Did you ever administer dragons
/ blood for the purpose of making the
colonel love you more and other women
! Iess?"
mo, sir; and I don't know what dra-
| CONS blood is. Never saw any and
| never heard of such a thing"
Did you ever give the colonel any
| thing to make him sick?"
| NO. sir
Did you ever poison him?"
| NO, sir
| Replying to further questions, Mrs
! Cody declared she had never told Mrs.
/ Boyer Ga witness for the PLAINTIFF or
| any person that she had ever drugged
| her husband to make him love her or
! to gain control over him so that he
would sign certain papers for her. She
also denied that she had ever poisoned
any of the coloneIs dogs Intentionally.
Dog Was Poisoned.
Il told the men at the ranch" she
explained, Ito put out strychnine or
other poison for the rats, which We're
getting bothersOme and accidentally
| the coloneIS dogs got some Of the
poison. One of the dogs in particular,
of which the colonel was very fond and
which / liked myself, for that reason.
was killed and 1 felt very badly over
it,
Mrs. Cody acknowledged that she had
punished her children whenever they
| needed it. and had occasionally caSti-
ga teG them with a small riding whip.
M~s- Cody denied that she was ever
| intoxicated, as had been testified by
witnesses for the plaintiff. She never
drank liquor except for medicinal pur-
poses, she said, and never used profane
or obscene language
DO you still love Colonel Cody?''
asked the attorney.
Yes, he is the father Of nv children
and / love him still"
DO you desire a reconciliation at this
! timer"
Yes, ! do; but think that the col
onel ought to retract the poisoning ac-
cusation.
Would you be glad to see him now?"
home"
Did you ever complain to Mrs. Bower
about the conduct of Colonel Cody?''
| NO, sir
Did you ever tell her the names of
y
| colonel was intimate?'
No. sir
Did Colonel Cody give YOU this
North Platte ranch and city propertv2.'
Yes. sir, and when he did he said.
| Mamma. you take this and keen for
| US for our old age"
Daughters Funeral.
Mrs. Cody recited the incidents of the
| funeral trip from Spokane to ROches-
| ter. y. Y. when they buried their
| daughter. Arta.
Did you at that time or at any time
| threaten to denounce Colonel Cody at
the grave of your daughter as his being
| her murderer"
No"
Did you ever send him a threaten
ing telegram in connection with the
matter?"
Il wired him that / thought he had
been the cause of breaking Arta'
! heart"
A pathetic scene occurred here when
| Attorney Wilcox introduced a letter
and asked Mrs. Cody to identify il