Milford chronicle., 1909-02-19

five 10 forty buffalOes while the herd
was circlng. and they would all be
dropped very close together is to
say. in space covering about 1--WE
acres.
When | had the number l 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 tendeNoins. the tongues and
the choicest meat of each buffalo. in.
/ Guiding the heads, which were after
ward mounted and used for an adver.
tisement for the said road, loading the
wagon until il was full We would
then drive back 10 our camp or 10 the
end of the track where the men were
at work, and when the men would see
me coming with load Of fresh meat
they would say. "Ah. here comes Bill
with a lot of nice buffalon' 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 70 the name of Buffalo Bill"
which afterward ! defended as a tit.
with Comstock before the officers at
Fort Wallace with success
killed bunaloes for the railroad con
pany for twelve months. and durin.
that time the number / brought inn,
camp was kept account of. and at the
end Of that period had killed AS
bufalues on old Brigham. This was mi
accomplished with one needle gun. or
breechoader, which named sLurrc
tin Rorgia."
During those twelve months I haC
many fights with the Indians. On sev
eral occasions they jumped myself |
and little party while several mile,
froW the end of the grade. We woul1 |
always prefer to have them jump u /
after our wagon was loaded with buf /
falo hams. for we had rehearSed our |
little stockade so often that it did not
take more than 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 breastworks 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 tw,
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
had five men killed during my con
nection with the Ugion Pacific rail
road. three drivers and the Others
butchers
Shortly after the adventures just
recited / had my celebrated hunt Will
Billy Comstock. noted scout guide
and Interpreter. who was then chief Of
scouts at Fort Wallace. Kansas Com
stock had had the reputation for
ong time of being a most successful
buffalo hunter and the officers in par
icuiar. who had seen him kill buffa-
Oes. were very desirous Of backing
him in a match against me. 1t was
accordingly arranged that ! should
,hoot him buffalo killing match. and
he prelminaries We're easily and sat
sfaet0rily agreed upon We were to
iunt one day Of eight hours. begin Z
ling at s o'clock in the morning and I
losing at o'clock in the afternoon d
The wager was $500 a side, and the t
nan who should kill the greater num-
,er Of buffaloes from horseback was I
o be declared the winner q
The hunt took place about twenty v
niles east Of Sheridan. and as it had v
cen pretty well advertised and noised &
broad a large crowd witnessed the /,
Interesting and exciting scene. An e1 C
ursion party. mostly from st. Louis v
OF about a hundred gentle q
zen and ladies, came out ON a special u
rain to view the sport, and among the b
umber was my wife, with little Baby o
rita. who had come to remain with d
le for awhile. 81
The buffaloes were quite plenty, aud Il
was agreed that we should go intO K
le same herd at the same time and
make rum" as we called il. each G
Ne hillAAk as many na hOHHlblN- n ~
fierce was 10 follow each Of US on VI
lrseback when we entered the herd II,
nd count the buffaloes killed by each pi
an. The st. Louis excurSionists, as
ell as other spectators. rode out to 4
e vicinity Of the hunting grounds in
agons and on horseback keeping
ell out OF sight Of the buffaloes, 50
not to frighten them until the time
me FOR US to dash into the herd,
hen they were to come up as neaI ne
they pleased to witness the chase. Sc
We were fortunate in the first run pr
getting good ground ComstOck he
as mounted on one Of his favorite rel
rises, while l rode old Brigham. TC
1t confident that had the advantage wi
ComstOck in two things-frst. had be
e best buffalo horse that ever made fol
track; the second, 1 was using what an
IS known at that time as the needle tnl
n, a breechlOading Springfield rife, the
liber 50-it was my favorite old to
ucretia," which has already been mi
reduced to the notice Of the reader thu