Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-10-18
R|SED LIFE FOR A PONY
Buffalo Bills Dual for Posses
sion Of Tall Bull.
IN A DEATH VANCOUVER

Monument Erected over the Grave Of
This Horse At Fort mePherson--sn
Vain Had the indians Tried 70 Have
Their Favoriie sfeed Beat Him N
Races.
OTer the grave Of Tall Bull. little
gray horse buried at Fort McPneTson,
Ns0.. Il a marble shaft bearing brief
record Of the achievements which
made him the dearest possession Of
Ccl William r. cody. or BuhaIo Bill.
Al the risk Of his life .luffalo Bill had
made Tai Bull HIS property at the
battle Of Summit Spring.
Renegade Sioux, Cheyennes and Ara
pshoes had been on the warpath for
weeks numbering and committing dep
relations through Kansas and Nebras-
ka. The Fifth United States Cavalry,
under the command Of Gen. Il. a. Carr.
had been sent against the indians.
and was closc on their trail. ~ the
head Of Gen. carr's scouts was Buffa-
10 Bill, and the Indians were found al
Summit Spring and fight began.
While the engagement was under
way Buffalo Bill was 50 amazed at the
speed displayed by little gray horse
ridden b. the Indian chieftain, Tall
Bull that he determined, If possible,
to capture the horse and kiiI its own
er.
The task, If accomplished at all,
must be done after the battle and
while the Indians were in full fight.
When the result was no longer in
doubt Buffalo Bill detached himself
from the main body of the troops ana
rode nearly half mile to the mouth
OF ravine through which it was GER
tain the Indians would fee.
Isolated and In danger of bis life,
Buffalo Bill waited and, true to his
calculations, the Indians in less than
half an hour broke into flight and
headed direct for the hidden scout.
Well I'm the rear, as though guarding
his tribesmen from attack, was Tall
Bull the Indian chief. In a moment the
opportunity Cody had sought was at
hand and a manoeuyring duel follow
ed.
Time after time the scout had op-
portunitiess to wound and possibly
kill his antagonist at the. risk Of in
juring the horse, but each time he
refrained. The animal was the prize
for which he was striving and in
the end he succeeded The Indian was
sent topping from his saddle and the
animal he was riding.
From that memorable afternoon un-
til his death the little gray, whom
Buffalo Bill named Tall Bull, after his
former owner knew no other rider
and master than the scout. The his
tory of Tall Bull from then on Is WISE
ly linked with that of the frontier
during the perilous days of Indian
warfare that followed.
From one fort to another, as the
constant changes in the scene OF tho
Indian warfare carried him, Buffalo
Bill found time between the fights TO
race his horse in long or short dis
tances, II made no difference, against
the best horses of the Pawnee Indians
who were friendly to the whites and
against the horses OF the regulars, and
the little gray was always victorious.
On the occasion OF race At Fort
Sedgwick, the Indians had brought
a horse from far I'm the interior They
believed that al last they had found a
champion that could defeat the won
derfnl gray horse OF Buffalo Bill, and
they stipulated that az the conclusion
OF the race which was to be for
mile, the horse that lost Was 10 be
shot. They believed that AZ last they
saw a way 10 get rid OF Tall Bull and
again make their own horses supreme
on the plains. They had reached the
conclusion that there was something
supernatural about Buffalo BilI's pony
and wanted II killed.
Buffalo Bill accepted the conditions
and rode Tall Bull himself II was
close but again was the gray horse
successful AZ the gray fairly new
across the finish line the Indian chief
tain who had arranged the race wien
Buffalo Bill drew a rife from The folds
Of his blanket and shot dead the horse
he had brought hundreds Of miles 20
beat Tall Bull.
That was Tall Bulls last race
against indian ponies. Tall Bulls fin
al race was years later on The track AZ
Fort Mcpherson. which had been nam
"a after him. Indicated. Col. Cody
had sent the little gray 70 Fort Mc-
pbersoD 20 live out the rest Of his life
IN comfort and rest Buffalo BlIl had
intended that his little gray should
never run again, but on Fourth Of
July the officers " the post decided 10
hold race Tall Bull had not been
ridden IN a race for some years and
II was only after repeated solicitation
that Buffalo Bill permitted his pei 70
contest once more. and again he won.
II was shortly after that race that Tall
Bull died and Buffalo Bill always be-
Iieved HIS end had been FASTENED By
"a.