Omaha daily bee., 1911-07-09
BACK TO The BUFFALO DAYS
Recollections Of the Crack Hunter Of
the Kansas Plains.
JEFF DURFEY WAS A SURE SHOT
Herd Forty Miles wide that
Drank a River Dry-NObIe
Red Man FIouSed NJ


Buffalo Bill said recently in New York
that the best rife shot he ever knew was
JEFF Durfey OF Kansas
'Durfey was the only man ever knew
who could beat me shooting buffaloes on
the rum" said Buffalo Bill
Jeff Durfey lives in Osborne county,
Kansas, nine miles south Of the county
seat. His marriage in 1872 was the first
wedding that ever took place in Osborne
county. and ne took his bride 10 live in
the house he had Just built, the first one
In the county That house, built of oak
logs that he cut forty-one years ago.
stands today about a rod from the big
farmhouse that he built later when he
became rich from enormous wheat crops.
The old log house is typical of the old
pioneer civilization OF Kansas, as the
new and bigger home near it is typical
OF the modern Kansas.
The old log cabin is used now as a
storehouse for odds and ends of the farm.
Its loft is cluttered with parts of reapers
and binders, threshers and disk drills, and
from among them Durfey fished out the
other day some old horns Of buffaIoes that
he shot forty years ago on that very
farm
Before he became a wheat farmer Dur
years on the Kansas plains. Buffalo hides
brought him the money that paid for the
first one hundred and sixty acres that he
bought from the government. Wheat paid
for the other 1190 acres In his big farm.
Durfey keeps books on the smooth pine
door OF the old log house. Chalked upon
that door is this record:
Wheat raised in 191O-4,s361k bushels"
Durfey tells Of the time when Buffalo
Bill rode nine miles across the plains to
see what kind of rifle he used in shoot
ing buffalo.
IL Was the Man Behind the Gun.
That was when Buffalo Bill was sup
plying the Kansas Pacific railroad with
buffalo meat" said Durfey the other day
Il was shooting buffalo on the head of
Walnut creek. Bill heard a good deal
about what I was doing. He rode over to
sec what kind OF a rifle 1 was using
He supposed had some new tangled kind
OF gun and when he drove up he SAYS
to me; JEFF, heard Dave Willis telling
about you going after nine buffalo bulls
and killing seven of them on the run.
There's no man can do that with any
kind OF gun I've ever seen, and II YOU
don't mind I'd like to see your gun
You'd ought to have seen his face when
1 handed him my rifle. 1t was an old gov
eminent Springfield musket made oyer into
needle gun. I had paid S25 for it in
Solomon City. It was not so much the
Gun as the man behind the gun, 1 guess"
Durfey was asked how many buffalo he
had killed IN those days.
Il don't know-thousands Of them.
used to XIII from twenty to fifty a. day
One day I killed fifty-six. I could have
hiandrnno IN Jo.,
waste cartridges on cows and small
bulls. A bull hide was worth more than
COW hide, 80 we used to pick out only
the biggest bulls I had a way of my
own. herd OF Suffalo wouldn't STAN
pede as long as the hunter kept out Of
sight, so l used TO creep up within good
shooting distance and kill the big bun
that always led the herd The herd
would become excited, but would soon
settle down 20 grazing again and another
bull would step out as leader l would.
shoot him and then the next one and so
on until the herd became frightened
away.
Millions of BuffaIoea.
I'm those days there were millions of
buffhloes on these plains. I stood once
on tho divide between the two Solomons
and looked down on a solid mass OF buff
talo az far as the eye could see in all d.
reetions, The plain was black with them
That herd was forty miles wide and don't
know how Ions. 1 was camped once on
the bank OF Beaver creek. which was six
feet wide and six inches deep, with swiftly
running water A buffalo herd came to the
creek aoove our camp and drank II dry
ror TOUR hours the creek bed was dry,
Until The great herd had passed on. In
1S13 Ror
Solomon river dry and the water IN Il was
twenty>stNe feet vide and a Zoo. deem.
"wAea I first came to I've here IN the
los Aesse the buffalo herds used to stream
pass my cabin within ten feet of II. but
wVo'dat shoot them then because
DIDN'T want the carcasses around IN hot
weather and the thousands OF wild tur-
Keys made better eating, I've seen 100
wiiS turkeys IN one drove right here on
my place And beaver, the Solomon was
teA os them. The last buffalo saw was
~ aStA when bunch OF eight came across
my place, and got two of them
DsTsey laughs when he is asked IL he
ever had any scrlrnmage with the rsdians
Noble Reds Are CswardH.
u newer saw an Indian that would fight;
tlrsS were all cowards,~ Ne says "a band
OF SissTteea Sioux Indians followed me for
Nsstose day once. We were hunting $50
mics soathwest OF here Wesea eigss sioux
chsssfSd 'one cs our men fsto camr, went
oct to tae top of a knot ssA signslea To-
theanso come on. T1ces g. tss-a cara.
t7tefA 10 come OF whsa tA=y go. vithsa
fiftS yards they ma4e eea-4ls, sav--s s,a4
aasa deRHA thetr gpns, yhey uron1 ir13
Carp with me and We 0pA thea and
smoked a PIPE with tneri- ThssA years
later I was hunting 2M Seres northwest
OF hero and was oat alec. when discor-
eree bane o. thsreesh sioux Indians
sneaktas ep toward me, An day long they
followed me ane tr1ea to sneak clos
eno1eA 10 shoot ma wttAou. DANCE to
themselves. but each tsyaa ] & Doc them
Off Al last l went to e,a tor C . Enoll
ana waved TO thern TO c-uaa c. Finally
one lRaSan rode out and came toward ro..
making friendly signs. Wesa h. go Close
he called nc by name Hs wca ora o. the
three Sioux had Fed three yosrs bef.r-.
We sat down 10 have a ralaNo1. and bye
and bye l happened to Loo around and
the whole hand OF twelve was creeping
up on mo. l got up and aimed M ride
a. the heart OF the Indian with me aad
said: signal them to halt or IN Kill Won.
He waved. they stopped. and then made
him march osf That band of thirteen
Sioux was afraid Of my rifle ard l took