Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1909-01-29


circle. l have killed from twenty
five to forty buffaloes while the herd
was circling, and they would ali be
dropped very close together-that is to
say, in a space covering about five
acres
When I had the number I wanted I
would stop shooting and allow the bal
ance of the herd to get away. The
wagon would drive up, and my men
would instantly begin to secure the
hams, the tenderloins, the tongues and
che choicest meat Of each buffalo, in
Guiding the heads, which were after
ward mounted and used for an adver-
tfsement for the said road, loading the
wagon until it was full. We would
then drive back to our camp or to 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 Bill
with lot Of nice buffalo!" For awhile
they were delighted with the fresh,
tender meat, but after time they
tired of it and, seeing me come, would
say, "Here comes this old Bill with
more buffalo," and finally they connect
ed the name buffalo and Bill together,
and that is where the foundation was
laid to the name of Buffalo Bill"
which afterward defended as a title
with Comstock before the officers at
Fort Wallace with success.
killed buffaloes for the railroad com
pany for twelve months, and during
that time the number 1 brought into
camp was kept account of, and at the
end Of that period I had killed 1880
buffaloes on old Brigham. This was all
accomplished with one needle gun. or
breechloader, which I named 'Lucre-
tia Borgia."
During those twelve months I had
many fights with the Indians. On sew
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 US
after our wagon was loaded with buff
falo hams, for we fnd rehearsed our
little stockade SO oftan that it 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 to the wheels. We
would make our brea astworks 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 OF 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.
I,or 1rs1 I1I ,~sr
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 kill buffa-
loes, were very desirous Of backing
him in q match against me. 1t was
accordingly arranged that 1 should
shoot him buffalo killing match, and
the preliminaries were easily and sat
isfactorily agreed upon. We were to
hunt one day Of eight hours, begin
ming at o'clock in the morning and
closing at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
The wager was $500 side, and the
man who should kill the greater num-
ber Of buffaloes from horseback was
to be declared the winner.
The hunt took place about twenty
miles east of Sheridan, and as it had
been pretty we'll advertised and noised
abroad a large crowd witnessed tho
interesting and exciting scene. An ex-
cursion party, mostly from st. Louis,
consisting of about hundred gentle
men and ladies, came out on a special
train to view the sport, and among tho
number was my wife, with little Baby |
Arta, who had come to remain with |
me for awhile.
The buffaloes were quite plenty, and |
it was agreed that we should go into
the same herd at the same time and
make run as we called it, each |
one killing as many as possible. A
referee was to follow each Of US on |
horseback when we entered the herd |
and count the bunaloes killed by each |
man. The st. Louis excursionists, as |
we'll as other specta tors, rode out to |
the vicinity of the hunting grounds in |
wagons and on horseback, keeping |
we'll out Of sight Of the buffaloes, SO
as not to frighten them until the time
came for US to dash into the herd, |
when they were to come up as near |
as they pleased to witness the chase.
We were fortunate IN the first run |
in getting good ground. Comstock
was mounted on one Of his favorite
horses, while I rode old Brigham. !
felt confident that l had the advantage
Of Comstock in two things-first, I had
the best buffalo horse that ever made
track; the second, was using what
was known at that time as the needle
gun, a breechloading Springfield rife, !
caliber 50-it was my favorite old
"Lucretia," which has already been
introduced to the notice Of the reader
while Comstock was armed with
Henry rife, and, although he could fire
q few shots quicker than I could, yet