The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-07-11
.R|SKED LIFE FOR A PONY
Buffalo Bills Dual for Posses.
sion Of Tall Bull.
IN A DEATH VANCOUVER

This Horse at Fort McPherson--In
Vain Had the Indians Tried to Have
Their Fsvorite steed Beat Him In
Races.
over the grave OF Tall Bull, a little
gray horse buried at Fort Mcpherson,
Neb., is a marble shaft bearing a brief
record of the achievements which
made him the dearest possession of
Col. William f. Cody, or Buffalo Bill.
AT the risk of his life Iduffalo Bill had
made Tall Bull his property at the
battle of Summit Spring.
Renegade Sioux, Cheyennes and Ara
pahoes 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. h. A. Carr,
had been sent against the Indians,
and was close on their trail. At the
head of Gen. Carr's scouts was Buffa-
10 Bill, and the Indians were found at
Summit Spring and a fight began.
While the engagement was under
way Buffalo Bill was so amazed at the
speed displayed by little gray horse
ridden by the Indian chieftain, Tall
Bull that he determined. IL possible,
to capture the horse and k.il its own
er.
The task, II 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 lne troops ana
rode nearly half mile to the mouth
OF ravine through which 1t was GER
tain the Indians would flee
Isolated and in danger Of his 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 In the rear, as though guarding
his tribesmen from attack, was Tall
Bull the Indian chief. In moment the
opportunity Cody had sought was at
hand and a manoeuvring duel follow
ed.
Time after time the scout had op-
portunities 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 toppling 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 the
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 a race at Fort
Sedgwick, the Indians had brought
horse from far In the interior. They
believed that at last they had found a
champion that could defeat the won
derful gray horse of Buffalo Bill, and
they stipulated that at the conclusion
OF the race which was to be for u
mile, the horse that lost was to be
shot They believed that at last they
saw way to 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 Bills pony
and wanted 1t killed
Buffalo Bill accepted the conditions
and rode Tall Bull himself. 1t was
close but again was the gray horse
successful. AS the gray fairly flew
across the finish line the Indian chief
tain who had arranged the race wan
Buffalo Bill drew rifle from the folds
of his blanket and shot dead the horse
he had brought hundreds of miles TO
beat Tall Bull
That was TAN Bulls last race
against Indian ponies. Tall Bulls I'm
al race was years later on the track at
Fort Mcpherson, which had been nam
ed after him. Undefeated, Col. Cody
had sent the little gray TO Fort Nc
Pherson to live out the rest of his life
In comfort and rest. Buffalo Bill had
intended that his little gray should
never run again, but on a Fourth OF
July the officers of the post decided to
hold race. Tall Bull had not been
ridden In a race for. some years and
1t was only after repeated solicitation
that Buffalo Bill permitted his pet to
contest once more. and again he won.
II was shortly after that race that Tall
Bull died and Buffalo Bill always be-
lieved his end had been hastened by
the la at raaa