The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1909-01-10

say, In a space covering about ave
acres,
When had the number wanted |
would stop shooting and allow the bal.
anee OF the herd to get away, The
wagon would drive up. aud my men
would Instantly begin to secure the
hams, the tcnderlolns, the tongues and
the cholcest"meat Of each buffalo. 10.
cluding the heads, which were after.
7 ward mounted and used for an adver.
( tlsement for the said road. loading the
! wagon until II was full We would
4 then drive back TO our camp or 70 the
end Of the track where the men were
at work, and when the men would see
me coming with a load OF fresh meat
they would say. "Ah. here comes BIN
with lot Of nice bnffalor' For awhile
they were delighted with the fresh,
tender meat, but after time they
tired Of II and. seeing me come. would
say, Here comes this old Bnl with
more buffalo" and finally they connect.
ed the name buffalo and BIN together.
and that Is where the foundation was
laid to the name OF Buffalo Bill"
which afterward defended as title
with Comstock before the officers at
Fort Wallace with success,
| killed buifaloes for the railroad com
pany for twelye months. and during
that time the number brought into
camp was kept account Of. and at the
end Of that period | had killed 1850
bufraloes on old Brigham. This was all
accomplished with one needle gun, or
breechloader, which named "Lncre
tia Borgia."
During those twelve months had
many fights with the Indians. On sey
eral occasions they jumped myself
and little party while several miles
from the end OF the grade we would
always prefer to have them jump as
after our wagon was loaded with buf
falo hams, for we had rehearsed our
little stockade so often that Il did not
take more than a few minutes from
the time we saw them coming until
the mules were unhItched from the
wagon and tied 10 the wheels. We
would make our hreastworks around
the wheels OF the wagon by throwing
out the meat and would protect our.
selves by getting behind the buffalo
hams In this manner we held on from
forty to sixty Indians on one or two |
occasions until we received assistance. |
| would make my smoke signals at |
once, which the soldiers would IN
stantly see and rush to our rescue. |
had five men killed during my con-
nection with the Union Pacific rail-.
road, three drivers and the others
butchers
Shortly after the adventures Just
recited had my celebrated hunt with /
Billy Comstock. a noted scout guide |
and interpreter, who was then chief Of !
scouts at Fort Wallace, Kansas. Com
stock had had the reputation for a
long time Of being a most successful |
buffalo hunter, and the officers In par
ticular. who had seen him XIII buffa.
Ioes, were very desirous Of backing
him In match against me. 1t was
accordingly arranged that should
shoot him buffalo killing match, and
The prelimlnarles were easily and sat
sfactorily agreed upon. We were to
hunt one day Of eight hours, begin.
ming at s o'clock In the morning and
closing at 4 o'clock IN the afternoon.
The wager was $500 a side. and the
man who should kill the greater num-
Der Of buffaloes from horseback was
% be declared the winner.
The hunt took place about twenty
niles east Of Sheridan, and as It had
,een pretty well advertised and noised
abroad a large crowd Witnessed the
interesting and exciting scene. An ex-
'ursion party, mostly from st. Louis,
consisting Of about hundred gentle
men and ladies', came out on special
rain to view the sport. and among the
lumber was my wife, with little Baby
Arta, who had come to remain with
ne for awhile.
The buhaloes were quite plenty, and
was agreed that we should 60 into
he same herd at the same time and
make run" as we called It, each
me killing as many as possible. A
eferee was to follow each Of us on
Iorseback when we entered the herd
nd count the bufaloes killed by each
nan. The st. Louis excursionists, as
yell as other spectators, rode out to
be vicinity Of the hunting grounds in
wagons and on horseback, keeping
yell out Of sight Of the bufialoes, so
> not to frlghten them until the time
anne for us to dash into the herd,
1hen they were to come up as near
s they pleased to witness the chase.
We were fortunate in the first run
! getting good ground. Comstock 8
'as mounted on one Of his favorite :
orses, while rode old Brigham !
III confident that had the advantage
Comstock in two things first, had !
le best buffalo horse that ever made y
track; the second, was using what ?
rs known at that time as the needle =
IN, breechloading Springfield rifle. 2
tllber 50--it was my favorlte old Y
Lucretla" which has already been .
trodueed 10 the notice Of the reader 9
while Comstock was armed with 7
enry rife, and. although be could FIRE q
few shots quicker than could, yet Q
wac nrattv ca,4ot,, ghat a IA Sos II