Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-05-07
PHOENIX, ARIZONA. MAY :, 1911
The ONLY Buffalo Bill.

The Only Buffalo Bill.
a few days ago The Republican
alluded TO the claim of a Kansas
man who claimed to be the original
Buffalo Bill" and charged Col. Cody
with being Il Usurper Of the title In
q spirit of POPULARITY The Republican
called upon our distinguished Ari-
zonian. the acknowledged holder Of the
title, to show cause why it should not
revert to the Kansan who claimed to
have seen it first" 1t was not sur
missed by The Republican writer that
any one would seriously suppose that
The Republican suspected that Col
Cody was not the only Buffalo Bill
Yet it appears that there has been
such a supposition on the part of Mr..
John N. Burke of Boston Mr. Burke
at his own expense, in a message
which came by direct wire from Bos-
ton to The Republican office last
night. furnishes the proof which was
asked for in q mood of levity. Though
We are under obligation TO Mr.. Burke
for this interesting matter concerning
Col. Cody We regret that he has been
subjected to the expense of proving
what is already universally accepted
by the world; that he has felt called
-
pedestal from which he could never
be removed.
MIR. Burke wires:
Boston, Mass, May 6.
To the Arizona Republican.
Referring to your request to hear
from Col Cody; he is very busy En-
cuse my butting in, but being familiar
with the subject, l reply for him.
VIII send you by mail data that
there is a difference between a Buff
falo Bill who was a buffalo hunter
and locally known in-tlre 40's when the
white mans best known Traits was the
ability To avoid Indians and the Buff
falo Biz of army fame, whom Gen
eral Sheridan chose chief of scouts
when he inaugurated the policy to
hunt down and attack the Indians in
the winter as well as summer. a
maneuver which XII. Carson, Jim
Bridger and the Oldest scouts pro-
claimed unfeasible.
Get data from General Sheridan's
autobiography in all Libraries; Read
General Dodge's Thirty Years Among
the Indians" printed forty years ago,
referring TO Carson, Bridger and W. F.
Cody CBuffalo BID as scouts made
famous by their commanding generals
until time shall be no more"
Read General Charley Kings Cam
paigning With Crook" Alexander
Majors Seventy Years on the From
tier" Colonel Inman's Santa Fe
Trail" General and Mrs. Clusters
References"
General Eugene A. Carr, who COM
manded at Fort Lowell. Arizona, in
the eighties. and fought in your ter
ritory. states that in an experience Of
forty years on plains and in noun
tains. I found that w. F. Cody was
king Of them all" General Sherman
eulogizes him for his successful guild
ing OF him in Kansas and Nebraska in
65 and &C.
He contested in front of the enemy
with ComstOck for the title outside of
Fort Hayes, and while ComstOck
killed fifty-two buffalo in two runs,
Cody killed sixty nine, taking the
bride and saddle off his horse without
dismounting, while killing the last
twenty. This is not hearsay but re-
corded facts.
Many good old hunters killed buffalo
and many. were named BILL" no one
wishes to detract from their status
as brave men under their limited re-
sponsibilities and conditions, but the
army records do not state that any
with that cognomen were prowling
around on the central plains seeking
personal interviews with Red Cloud,
Sitting Bull, American Horse, Tall
Bull Yellow Hand and their kith and
kin when on the war path. These last
two Buffalo Bill" killed in hand to
hand battles. one in 1869 and the other
i'm 1876, and came at great expense
from Europe to reach the field in the
Ghost Dance campaign in 1891, and
was recognized as influential in bring
ing about perpetual peace between the
red man and the white.
Cody was prominent enough to lead
the greatest Of all hunts in the annals
of the chase that he conducted for
the nations guest in 1872, the Grand
Duke Alexis hunt
Editors should be reminded that his
first visit east of the Mississippi to
New York was as guest of James
Gordon Bennett after hunt, with
Henry NJ Stanley. afterwards the At
rican explorer, attached as a reporter.
He was furloughed by the military to
furnish fresh meat for the employees
building the Pacific railways to pre-
vent sickness from the salted meats
supply, killing over 5000 antelope,
deer and elk in one season, at a time
when hunting was so dangerous that
the hunter was often hunted by the
red landed proprietors.
Prof. Marsh OF Yale was placed /